Eunice in Paris – a presentation of new work as part of 7 Stages’ Home Brew Series
January 27, 2024 at 5:30 PM after Service Saturday
January 28, 2024 at 3:00 PM followed by Art of Activism dialogue
Set in the 1980s in the Parisian nightclub Theatre Olympia, Nina Simone is confronted with her choices and relives experiences with James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, her parents and others in a piece that crescendos with an existential look into her mental health, her choices, and, of course, the motivations behind her music and songwriting.
This production, in development with Hush Harbor Lab, was performed at The Atlanta Black Theatre Festival in 2022. Now, a revised presentation will hit the 7 Stages Backstage Theatre with Parris Sarter as Nina Simone. Written by Amina S. McIntyre, and directed by Thandi DeShazor.
This presentation is part of 7 Stages’ Home Brew Series, which provides a platform and resources for works in development that exhibit promise, stimulation, and provocation. Performances will take place January 27 and 28 at 7 Stages, accompanied by Service Saturday and Art of Activism programs.
Accompanying Events
*Service Saturday – January 27 from 2-5 PM before the first Eunice in Paris performance.
Service Saturdays aim to help our community thrive by providing vital resources like food, clothing, and personal protection equipment, while bringing together local community-driven organizations under one roof. We have often collaborated with artists to make our Service Saturdays as entertaining as they are enlightening. These events are always complimentary, and they will continue to provide valuable resources to people of our community. Guests on January 27 include LifeSouth Blood Donation Centers, New Georgia Project, Fulton Co Board of Health, and Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative. Refreshments provided by Sip & Share Wines. Click here to sign up for blood donation with LifeSouth!
**Art of Activism – January 28 from 5-6 PM after the final Eunice in Paris performance.
Art of Activism brings together community experts, artists and patrons for powerful conversations. Throughout the year, community members gather to discuss social justice, othering, and the prevalence of intolerance. Conversations are often related to a specific 7 Stages production, but always cover topics of the utmost social importance and relevance. You don’t have to see the production to participate in the Art of Activism dialogue but we encourage participants to do so to fully understand how the art connects to the community conversations. The January 27 Art of Activism will follow a presentation of Eunice in Paris, relating to the themes and development of the production.
Bios
Parris Sarter (playing Nina Simone) is a working actor here in Atlanta. She is excited to be back at 7 Stages presenting her one-woman show – Eunice in Paris. Some of her credits throughout town are: Booty Candy, cullud wattah, and Angels in America (Actor’s Express); Angry Fags and The Revolutionists (7 Stages); Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre); The Cake (The Horizon); and Women in Jeopardy (Georgia Ensemble Theatre).
Thank you so much for supporting live theater as we try to make this world a little better through the power of art.
Amina S. McIntyre (Writer) is an Atlanta based playwright whose productions and readings include: Actor’s Express, Atlanta History Museum, Working Title Playwrights, Lenoir-Rhyne University, and Out of Hand Theatre. Her residencies include Blackacre Conservancy Writer’s Residency, Hambidge Center and the National Winter Playwrights Retreat. Her play, On the Third Day, produced by Vanguard Repertory Theatre, earned a Suzi Bass Award. Amina has studied and earned degrees in Anthropology, African American and African Diaspora Studies, Playwriting, and Theological Studies at Colby College, Indiana University, Spalding University and Emory University, respectively. She was a 2014-2015 playwriting apprentice and Black Women Speak Emerging Cohort member at Horizon Theatre Company, Managing Director of Karibu Performing Arts, 2014-2016 Atlanta Region Young Ambassador for the Dramatists’ Guild, Co-Producer of WeReckon: A Southern Chronicle and the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs 2014-2015 Emerging Theatre Artist. She currently serves as Co-Founder of the Hush Harbor Lab and is a Ph.D Candidate in Religion at Vanderbilt University.
Thandiwe Thomas DeShazor “Thandi” (Director) is an actor, writer, producer and director. He is the writer/director of “Natural Woman: Unofficial Aretha” and other plays. His recent directorial collaborations include True Colors Theatre, Theatre du Reve, Out of Hand Theater and Out Front Theater. His Atlanta theatre credits include Angels in America and The Legend of Georgia McBride. His Television credits include “Lodge 49”, Murder Calls”, “Fatal Attraction”, and Swamp Murders. He started Thandi & Company to collaborate with other creatives to bring their ideas to life.
Mia Kristin Smith (Co-director) is an actress, playwright, director, and producer whose work has previously been named one of Atlanta’s Best Bets, as well as Creative Loafing’s Top Ten Things to Do and Burnaway Magazine’s Top Five Things to Do. Smith, a native of New Orleans now living in Atlanta, is the former Artistic Director of Karibu Performing Arts.
Paris Benjamin (Stage Manager) is a French-American actress of Moroccan descent. After working on multi-award winning films, plays and radio dramas in London and Paris, she established residence in Los Angeles where she joined Tim Robbins’ theater troupe The Actors’ Gang. She continues to work in film and television, recurring in shows such as Stranger Things (Netflix) and Succession (HBO). Paris speaks fluent English, French and Arabic.
