A2A Originals

A2A ORIGINALS, an ongoing development program for new performance works by Black, Indigenous, and artists of color, women and LGBTQ2+ artists engaging communities in moving from art to action. These are some of our original works available for touring.

At Water's Edge / Al
filo del agua

By Celeste Miller & Dora Arreola

A bilingual dance theatre and dance work with storytelling and live music exploring the shifting of borders / edges / filos, the natural and political forces that shape them, and women who resist.

Sokwe: Look Human

An Immersive Multimedia Performance

Sokwe: Look Human transports participants to a world of chimpanzees and conservation, asking us to examine what it means to be human, to appear human, to make a humanistic choice… and what it means to face extinction.

11reflections ending_crop (credit-lamama

Eleven Reflections on September

A Multimedia Performance / Digital Film

A Spoken Word & multimedia performance on Arab American experience, Wars on/of Terror, and “the constant, quiet rain of death amidst beauty” that each autumn brings in a post-9/11 world.

Outside the Circle

A play by Andrea Assaf & Samuel Valdez

A play about unrequited love, and what happens to love when we internalize society’s phobias. Parallel, interweaving tales reveal the illusions of normalcy, and the liberation possible when choosing life…outside the circle.

DRONE

A Transdisciplinary Theatre Project

The journey of a drone pilot leads to an encounter with survivors of U.S. drone strikes—an encounter of worlds, in which the “drone” in global music forms a sonic backdrop to high-tech militarization.

Commissioned Works

In addition to creating new works, we also commission and support the development of new work by artists we believe in, and whose work is aligned with our mission. Here are a few of the projects we have commissioned.

women at water's edge (celeste & dora).j

Five Black Women

By Andresia Moseley

A one-woman show about religion and what happens when it fades, sexuality and what happens when it is explored, esteem and what happens when you risk everything to get it. What does it mean to be who you are, when it’s all said and done?

OFF THE RECORD: Acts of Restorative Justice

By James Scruggs

A theatrical intervention that actually changes lives. Due to the over-policing of BIPOC people in the US, Black people are five times more likely to be convicted of a crime. What would an honest attempt to restore justice look like, one person at a time?

Migration Play Cycle

By Heather Raffo

An ever-expanding narrative following migration and the global economy as we approach the moment when all populations will have to confront not only global migration, but their own.

The Seasoned Woman

By Andrea "Vocab" Sanderson & Lubana Al Quntar

A multidisciplinary, multicultural work combining poetry, music, and soaring vocals of reimagined jazz standards through the cultural and musical influences of the collaborating artists—including R&B, hip-hop, opera, and Middle Eastern music.