HartBeat Ensemble & Zulynette present A Little Bit of Death VII
Two unique storytelling events center stories by Area BIPOC and Queer Artists on November 11 & 12
HartBeat Ensemble and artist and activist Zulynette announced today A Little Bit of Death VII, a two-night collaborative event to be held on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12. Each evening will feature a different lineup of artists and storytellers allowing for community members to enjoy two distinct evenings of theatre. Both programs will be presented at 7:30pm at the Carriage House Theatre located at 360 Farmington Avenue in Hartford, CT.
A Little Bit of Death is an annual spell that uses the art of community storytelling as medicine while centering the narratives of the BIPOC community and the queer community. It’s about letting go, of gathering up pain, asking it hard questions, and turning them into lessons so that we can release the rest. It’s about having a skilled eye to see what parts of our lives no longer serve us, so that we can bring “Death” to it and create room to welcome the things that do serve us.
Producer and feature performer Zulynette states, “Folks have shared stories of trauma and triumph, fear and failure, loss and laughter. This is where community gathers to listen, to be heard, to be reflected back by the storytellers sharing their hearts on stage. It is a powerful night of healing. Join us.”
The storytellers for Friday November 11th are Jeanika Browne-Springer (she/her), Andrew Dean Wright (he/they), Patrick “Rico” Williams (he/him), and Tevyn(he/they). The performers for Saturday November 12th are Ehhsteph Sandoval (she/her), Patrick “Rico” Williams (he/him), Kenyatta Muzzanni (she/her), and Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (he/him).
Tickets for A Little Bit of Death VII are $25 for general admission; $20 for students and seniors; with no one turned away for lack of funds. Tickets, information and COVID safety protocols can be found at HartBeatEnsemble.org.
Additional support provided by the Department of Economic and Community Development, CT Office of the Arts, CT Humanities, Greater Hartford Arts Council’s United Arts Campaign, National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts Resilience Fund and Travelers.
About the Artists:
Joshua Alleyne (he/they), socially hailed as Tevyn, is from Hartford CT. Living by the pronouns of he/him and they/them, he is a certified life coach in 6 different fields and is working on more. But his current focuses are education in computer sciences, and building his business from the ground up. Tevyn speaks from the social and cultural perspective of a gay black man.
Jeanika Browne-Springer (she/her) has a B.A. from Trinity College in Theater & Dance, M. Ed from Saint Joseph University in the Multiple Intelligences and is a CT certified K-6 teacher. She has taught second grade, worked as a grant writer and programmer through the pandemic, and is now the Director of LifeLong Learning at HartBeat Ensemble. She enjoys connecting local creatives to opportunities in the classroom and Hartford community as well as writing curriculum with arts integration in mind. She is Board VP & part of the collaborative team at Night Fall Hartford, active member of Artists of Color Unite! an advisory council for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and a Quest 2022 participant for Leadership Greater Hartford.
Kenyatta Muzzanni (she/her) is a Brooklyn-born organizer, creator, and multidimensional being. She has performed in sageseeker production’s La Sala Femme: The ReEmergence, was a featured poet in Qommunity’s 2021 REVIVE Poetry Collection, and co-wrote and co-directed the play Istwa! Storytime for a Small World that was highlighted in the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival. Kenyatta is also the Director of Organizing at the Katal Center for Equity, Health, and Justice, a grassroots community-based organization devoted to developing the leadership and organizing capacity of neighborhood residents in Connecticut and New York. Hailing from a long line of performers and musicians, Kenyatta bridges the arts and organizing to build communities and destroy oppressive systems.
Ehhsteph Sandoval (she/her) from Mug Oddities is originally from New Britain, CT. Her work is inspired by horror films and special effects. Through sculpting and fabricating she’s focused on making one-of-a-kind mugs and other oddities that showcase her childhood obsessions, admiration to movies, and her Peruvian heritage. Her education in visual communications and advanced character design for special effects has allowed her to create pieces that tell a story and create a little magic.
Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (he/him) is an award-winning actor, producer, director, and playwright who has spent over thirty years amplifying the voices of marginalized people and communities. And he is a father to Samuel. He is Artistic Director for HartBeat Ensemble in Hartford, CT, where he has co-produced the Off-Broadway virtual production of American Dreams with Working Theater, . In 2012, he co-founded Civic Ensemble, a regional theatre in Ithaca, NY. For Civic, he directed Eugene O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings and appeared in Judy Tate’s Fast Blood and Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa!. He won the 1999 Audelco Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in John Henry Redwood’s Old Settler opposite Leslie Uggams at Primary Stages. He appeared in award-winning productions at Playwrights Horizons (Betty’s Summer Vacation, Obie Award-Best Play) and Round House Theatre (Home, Helen Hayes Award-Best Production). His radio show The Griot Hour appeared from 2015-2019 on the Ithaca, NY Community Radio station WRFI, where he has just begun co-hosting the Black Lives Matter Forum. Godfrey is a 2012 TCG/Fox Fellow and a lifetime member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.
Patrick “Rico” Williams (he/him) is dedicated to sharing stories. Through writing, content creation, youth development, consultation, workshop facilitation, and much more, he helps people find the inherent value in their stories confronting the ever-present danger of silence. A Jamaican, who immigrated to the States at fifteen, he is currently honing in on translating his experiences as a recently naturalized Black American – in a country that hunts them for sport. Patrick is an author; his booksI’ve Just Got These Words Fam… and Jesus is Black. explore the aforementioned themes. His left shoulder has also made an appearance on GQ.com.
Andrew Dean Wright (he/they) is a poet, digital artist, and photographer based in the Hartford, CT area. Having taken to poetry from an early age, Andrew’s pieces range from simple exercises in device to pieces penned with the intent to serve as catalysts for discussion and praxis— with a large focus on freeing ourselves from the things that hold us back from expressing ourselves fully, whether that be from oppressive institutions, or one’s own inhibition.
Zulynette (she/her/ella) is a queer, Puerto Rican, artist, social worker (MSW), poet, performer, and author who was raised in Hartford, CT. As the creator of the annual storytelling show A Little Bit of Death, she uses her artistry, research background, and social work background as tools for community transformation. Her work explores the themes of identities, our emotional resonance as humans, and death as a metaphor for change. She is the host of the podcast The Creative Alchemist where she shares the knowledge she’s gained as a full-time artist and knowledge shared by interviewing other creatives in the hopes of helping anyone wanting to pursue their artistry as a career. Recognized as the first Hartford Iron Poet champion and a 100 Women of Color honoree, she has chosen to dedicate her life to using the arts as her form of social work.
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