BECCA BLACKWELL

We kicked our residency program off with Becca Blackwell, a NYC based trans actor, performer and writer. Becca has worked collaboratively with playwrights and directors to expand our sense of personhood and the body through performance. Some of their collaborations and films have been with the Young Jean Lee, Half Straddle, Erin Markey, Sharon Hayes, High Maintenance, Marriage Story and Shameless. 

In a time when “nothing was really making sense in the world,” Becca somehow managed to make quarantine fun. At Summertime, they created My Body Had a Thought/ My Mind Complicated It, a video through the Invisible Dog and Raja Feather Kelly in conjunction with Pride Month. Watch the video here!

Becca described the creation process: “I couldn't find any way to point-fix myself into any sort of rhythm of the world anymore. And that song (Sia’s "Chandelier") tickled me, deep in something that didn't have language. It felt nice. Like I could scratch an itch in my guts. I sent it to my friend Raja. We have a standing once a week talk about whatever. I told him what I felt when I heard this music and the images it made me think of. He emailed me movement prompts. I think it turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Without any of us touching each other. Except Horsey (Becca’s chihuahua)."

Becca led Summertime’s Friday Free For All on June 12, 2020 and spent the afternoon with 30 artists from across the country drawing their superhero powers. To cap the residency, they sat with portrait artist and The Double Scoop reporter Mary T Bevlock (of Center for Creative Works) for Whatever You Like, I Like, an in depth interview and portrait session. With Summertime friend, Russell Janzen, Mary and Becca spoke about Tony Danza, their creative influences, potatoes in lasagna and their shared Irish descent.

Click here to read Whatever you Like, I Like in full.