19 by O-Slice
Last seen at THEARC in the cast of HOMEGROWN, O-Slice is back and bolder than ever with 19. A dazzling new multimedia experience fusing theatre and live concert, 19 uses poetry, music, storytelling, and verse to tell the coming-of-age story of a Nigerian-American artist on the rise.
O-Slice is an introverted immigrant kid intrigued by lyrics. Inspired by rap battles at the bus stop, she finds the courage to share some raps of her own; expanding the world she sees through the music she hears, and the verses she shares. 19 is an introspective journey through the life of Slice; a story of passion, purpose, and perseverance.
19 by o-slice
PRESENTED BY WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY IN ASSOCIATION WITH THEARC THEATRE
HyerLearnin Team
Writer/Performer
O-Slice
Artistic Direction/Set Design
Tyannis Carter
Music Director
Victor Bello
Technical Coordinator
Segun Awe
Artist/Project Manager
Diamond Smith Business
Team Manager
Bongnwi Tangyie
The Band
Piano
Briley Harris
Drums
Victor Bello
Bass Guitar
Dave LaVeaux
Saxophone/Trumpet
Ricardo Stalwart
DJ
Lou Carlo
Guitar
Billi X
PRODUCTION TEAM
Creative Consultant
Jess McLeod
Stage Manager
Jazzy Davis
Technical Director
Michael Willis
Production Manager
Kerell Partee
Production Assistant
Roman Bennett
FOH Audio
Eric Harris, Chris Rettig
Lighting Designer
Colin K. Bills
House Electrician
Akira Belton-Edwards
The Core Partnership of Woolly Mammoth and THEARC is generously supported by Julie Rios
CONTENT TRANSPARENCY: THIS PRODUCTION CONTAINS MATURE LANGUAGE, INCLUDING USE OF THE N-WORD
+ BIOS
O-Slice (WRITER & PERFORMER) is a Nigeria-born, Prince George’s County native who began writing and performing raps at the age of 9. From elementary school to college her initial audiences were her classmates, specifically at the University of Maryland where her following then spread to other campuses in the DMV area. O-Slice’s popularity soared in 2016, shortly after graduation when she was named DC’s best freestyle artist in Verizon’s Freestyle 50 Competition. Since then she has amassed a huge following and consistently goes viral for her creative visuals and jaw dropping lyricism. With over a million views on her social media freestyles, this recognition has led to her sharing stages with Wale, Big Sean, and Ari Lennox, as well as creative collaborations with Microsoft, Comcast, and Google. In March 2022 she released her highly anticipated debut EP "Goodmorning, Goodnight" showcasing her artistic range and versatility. Rap Caviar notes O-Slice as a name to look out for and Okayplayer describes her as "one of the most technically gifted rappers coming out of the DMV."
Jess McLeod (CREATIVE CONSULTANT, she/her) is a director & social justice advocate specializing in risky, imaginative new work about america. Woolly Mammoth: BOLD Resident Director, Paola Lázaro’s There’s Always the Hudson, Ryan J. Haddad’s Hi, Are You Single? (Woolly/IAMA, co-dir. w/ Laura Savia). Resident Director, Hamilton (Chicago); Artistic Associate, Broadway Advocacy Coalition; Artist Ambassador, NYCLU. Regional credits include Michael Gene Sullivan’s The Great Khan (San Diego REP); Idris Goodwin’s Hype Man (ATL); Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf); Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s Hang Man, Hansol Jung’s Wolf Play, (The Gift); Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus (Steppenwolf); Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s Do You Feel Anger?, Abe Koogler’s Fulfillment Center, The Admiral (1492.0) (A Red Orchid); Sharyn Rothstein’s Landladies (Northlight); Earth To Kenzie (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Short Shakes! Midsummer (CST), and a reworked Marry Me A Little (Porchlight). Currently under commission at La Jolla Playhouse and Victory Gardens. Michael Maggio Directing Fellow, Goodman Theatre. @mcjessmc +www.jess-mcleod.com.
A NOTE FROM Kristen
Woolly Mammoth’s Connectivity Department was founded to pair the theatre’s artistic mission to produce invigorating and courageous new work, with its social mission to ignite dialogue and inspire social change. During my time with Woolly, I have worked to deepen relationships with our community partners, moving from the traditional arts partnership model, one which can be transactional, to a transformational one.
Nearing the end of its second season, the Connectivity Core Partner Program has allowed Woolly to build long and strong partnerships with organizations and artists that align with Woolly Mammoth’s values and that allow us to make a real impact in the community. These long-term mutually beneficial relationships allow us all to work together, with art as a tool in advancing our shared goals and values of inclusion, anti-racism, anti-oppression, and social justice.
Last Summer, HOMEGROWN sprung from a collaboration between Woolly and two of our inaugural Core Partners – Spit Dat, DC’s longest running open mic and THEARC Theater, a home for arts and culture east of the river. This collaboration with O-Slice was born out of HOMEGROWN, as she was one of the incredible featured performers who made up the cast. Together we developed the idea for 19, a multimedia theatre and music experience. 19 is her story, the story of nineteen years of work, struggle, determination, and mastery of craft. It’s a story centered here in the DMV, and in O-Slice’s start in PG County, and about how a shy young Nigerian-American immigrant finds her voice and herself through art.
I hope that this piece inspires you to think about the changing face and form of American theatre. Some in the audience are fans of O-Slice’s mind-blowing flows, some are supporters of THEARC, and some are drawn to the innovation that Woolly always brings to the stage. But all of you are intersecting in this moment, in the ways that theatre, music, and spoken word overlap in this piece, to create something bold and new. This intersection is Connectivity.
Under the co-leadership of Woolly Mammoth’s Artistic Director, Maria Manuela Goyanes and Managing Director, Emika Abe—and now in my next steps with Woolly as Associate Artistic Director and Director of Connectivity—Connectivity is woven into the fabric of all that we do. Thank you for joining us as we celebrate 19 as a beautiful representation of Connectivity, born from an artist’s vision, through the power of collaboration and community.
KRISTEN JACKSON
Associate Artistic Director and Director of Connectivity,
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Sponsor Ads
ABOUT THEARC THEATER
THEARC Theater, a program of Building Bridges Across the River, is a home for arts and culture East of the River providing state of the art performance venue spaces, programs for families, youth, and adults, and world class performances. Since 2005, THEARC Theater has served the Black and Brown community in Southeast DC, providing opportunities and access to experience programming rooted in the Black diaspora. THEARC Theater has also served as a training hub for youth production designers through our largest workforce initiative, the ICAN Technical Theater Internship program. THEARC Theater is located within the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC), a 203,000 square-foot facility providing access to best-in-class education, arts, recreation, health and social service programs for families living east of the Anacostia River.
ABOUT HYERLearnin
HYERLearnin is a DMV based art collective, artist management, and production company founded on the principle of artists getting further together.
+ Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Woolly Mammoth is “the hottest theater company in town” (Washington Post); priding itself on developing, producing, and making theatre that disrupts conventional processes and stimulates transformative experiences. For almost four decades, Woolly has held a unique position at the leading edge of the American theater, earning a reputation for staying “uniquely plugged in to the mad temper of the times” (New York Times). The co-leadership of María Manuela Goyanes (Artistic Director) and Emika Abe (Managing Director) is supported by a core company of artists that holds itself to a high standard of artistic excellence. Woolly is relentless in its desire to take risks, experiment, innovate, interrogate, and create a radically inclusive community. Located in Washington, DC, Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples.
Woolly Mammoth Board of Directors
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is proud to be supported by an active and engaged 27-member Board of Directors.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
J. CHRIS BABB, PRESIDENT
LINETTE S. HWU, IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
NANCY HARTSOCK, 1ST VICE PRESIDENT
CLARENCE J. FLUKER, VICE PRESIDENT
SCOTT SCHREIBER, VICE PRESIDENT
DAVID SHARMAN, VICE PRESIDENT
PAOLA ALLAIS ACREE, TREASURER
BARBARA STRACK, SECRETARY
KAITI SAUNDERS
SWATI AGRAWAL
COLIN K. BILLS
JON BOUKER
KIMBERLY DOUGLAS
JANE GROVE FISHKIN
MICHAEL FITZPATRICK
AVANI GALA
SARI HORNSTEIN
MARY MCINTOSH
PETE MILLER
SARA MINDEL
DALE A. MOTT
LIZ NORTON
MICHAEL E. RAMIREZ
STACY REED
JULIE RIOS
ERIC RUFFIN
SHELDON SCOTT
Mammoth Forever: A Planned Giving Initiative
We would like to thank the farsighted group of donors who have included Woolly Mammoth in their estate plans:
Donna Ari
Jim Asp & Perry Streidel
J. Chris Babb & James Martin
Susan Barrett
Elizabeth & Paul L. Friedman
Renee Gier
David Gorsline
Nancy A. Hartsock
Linette S. Hwu
Thomas M. Leahey
Karen Lefkowitz & Allen Neyman
Jean E. Osburn
Julie F. Rios
Evelyn & Scott Schreiber
Howard Shalwitz
Linda W. Sorkin
Marvin F. Weissberg
To learn more about how to make a planned gift, please contact our Development Department by calling 202-312-5276 or email us at development@woollymammoth.net
Woolly Contributors & Funders
Contributors & Funders Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company remains more dedicated than ever to the evolution of the American theatre and we could not produce ground-breaking new plays and world class artistry without our fearless family of donors. We would like to thank the following contributors who made gifts of $300 or more from January 1, 2021 through May 25, 2022. Thank you!
(+) Recognizes donors contributing $10,000+
(♦) Recognizes in-kind contributions such as goods & services
CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SPONSORS
321 Theatrical Management ♦ • Anonymous + • AARP • AC Hotel Washington DC Capitol Hill Navy Yard ♦ • Actor's Equity Foundation • Alice Shaver Foundation + • ArentFox Schiff LLP + • Arnold & Porter + • Awesome Con ♦• Bank of America Matching Gifts Program • Diane & Norman Bernstein Foundation + • Colonial Parking, in honor of Marvin Weissberg • Community Systems, Inc. • The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts + • DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities + • Doris Duke Charitable Foundation + • Downtown Business Improvement District • Eaton Workshop ♦ • FedEx Corporation + • GoldStar Events • Goodstone Inn & Restaurant ♦ • Google • Graham Holdings • Greene-Milstein Family Foundation • Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation + • Kenwood Golf & Country Club ♦ • Kirkland & Ellis LLP • Latino Economic Development Center + • Lee's Flower Shop & Card Inc. ♦ • Manhattan Theatre Club ♦ • Courtyard by Marriott ♦ • The Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. + • Morgan Fund at Seattle Foundation • Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management + • The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation + • National Capital Arts & Cultural Affairs + • U.S. Commission of Fine Arts + • National New Play Network • No Guarantees ♦ • Nora Roberts Foundation • Paul M. Angell Family Foundation + • Permanent Line ♦ • Rappaport Management Company, in honor of Marvin Weissberg • RJ Whyte Event Production + ♦ • Robert & Lillian Philipson Foundation, in remembrance of Marvin Weissberg • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation • Rogers & Co • Shakespeare Theatre Company ♦ • Share Fund + • The Shubert Foundation • TD Bank • TD Charitable Foundation • The Jefferson ♦ • Theater J ♦ • Total Wine & More ♦ • U.S. Small Business Administration + • The UPS Foundation + • The Venable Foundation • Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation + • Verizon Foundation + • Weissberg Foundation + • Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
INDIVIDUAL DONORS
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