Photo by: Jeanette V. Miranda
Inspiration of “The Nuyorican”:
In 2013, Tamika was invited to participate in Victory Gardens Theater’s Access Project as an actress to help the writer’s with disabilities put a voice to their plays while they were a work in progress. It was then that she was invited by the instructor, Philip Dawkins, to join the group and write her own personal story. There it was that The Nuyorican was born.
“The Nuyorican” Play was conceived as a love letter to Tamika’s son Sebastian as a way to share her story with him in hopes that he would gain some insight of her dysfunctional upbringing and her exaggerated episodes of craziness when she thought that he was being indifferent or careless.
“The Nuyorican” Synopsis:
Tamika is trying everything to not fall victim to the vicious cycle that is life in the projects of Coney Island with her eccentric grandmother a.k.a. “La Mente”. Her unconventional upbringing forces her to navigate through drugs, sex, abuse, lies and death. What decisions will Tamika have to make in order to not become a victim of circumstance and how will those decisions shape her to become the woman she is meant to be?
History of “The Nuyorican”:
June 2017 – Present – Workshopping, Halcyon Theatre, Tony Adams
November 2015 – Public Reading, UrbanTheater Company R.A.W.
(Really Aggressive Writing) Series, Director Jo Cattell
September 2015 – Private play reading, Halcyon Theatre
July 2015 – Por fin - Completed first draft
October 2013 - First words finally hit the page, Victory Gardens Theater Access Project, Philip Dawkins
