The UNC Process Series PRESENTS: Evening of New Work by Students

The 2021-2022 Process Series season continues with a performance featuring four UNC Chapel Hill students. Evening of New Work by Students is a diverse program ranging from dance duets to historically set plays. A graduate student performance by AhDream Smith explores identity, legacy, land ownership, and Black wealth in /up·rooted/. Undergraduate performances include Dear Life Traveler by Annabelle and Rainey Scarborough, which focuses on the significance of unpredictable loss through movement explorations, Smirit Se by Grace Yannotta is a play that illuminates generational trauma, and Beyond the Roots by Imani Williams manifests as a reflection of the tragedies and triumphs of Summer 2020.

Process Series Producer, Heather Tatreau, notes, “These four student projects were selected through a submission process. We were looking for student work that was already well crafted but ready for the next stage of development. By offering these artists an opportunity to bring their work to an audience under the guidance of faculty, they will be able to see how their artistic choices create meaning. I am enjoying working with these students and encouraging them to make theatrical decisions that take risks. The Process Series provides space for this.”

Each of these student performances responds to current societal issues by allowing a personal narrative to impact their artistry. The thought process for many of these performances began here at UNC in creative based classes. Student and director Imani Williams explains, “I started creating Beyond the Roots during a COMM class at UNC. For the course, we were required to create our own shows and I just remember my classmates, many of whom were graduate students, having meaningful topics, which made me take a step back and ask what was important to me.”

Williams continues by commenting on the effects of the entire process, noting, “My favorite part of this experience has been pushing myself as a performer and a writer. I also have enjoyed being able to use this piece to explore my family history, heal trauma, and challenge ideas in society.”

The four pieces in this performance vary in genre and represent diversity in voice, yet each one dives into explorations of identity and losing one’s grounding. These students reflect our uncertain times by shining a light on our humanity. Please join us and become part of the artistic process. Each performance is followed by a talk back with the artists where audience members will be able to offer reflections of their experiences with the works.

Tickets are free, but reservations are required and $10 donations are recommended to support the artists and administrative costs of the Process Series. Visit this link to reserve your seat:
https://studentperformancetix

About The Artists

AhDream Smith is an actor, director, dancer and visual storyteller. She is set to receive her MFA in Acting at UNC-CH in May 2022. /up·rooted/, is a solo performance that explores the humanity of the individual and what it means to lose: lose land, your house, your name, your legacy and not have anything to pass down to future generations. How does the race of a person intertwine with lost identity? How do you grow up without roots?

Annabelle and Rainey Scarborough are 22-year-old creatives at UNC-Chapel Hill pursuing Media & Journalism with a concentration in Advertising/PR, and minoring in Studio Art. Dear Life Traveler is a dance duet and media performance that questions how important human connectivity is during disruptive circumstances when one loses everything and understands nothing, while also admiring the beauty of nature’s unpredictability.

Grace Yannotta is a junior majoring in English and History with a Minor in Writing for the Stage and Screen. Smirit Se is a play about a Czech student in Iowa learning English as he confronts his national identity and cycles of generational trauma following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Imani Williams is a senior majoring in Communications and double minoring in Entrepreneurship and Media & Journalism. Beyond the Roots was created to reflect and digest the times of Summer 2020. It is a journey that highlights the black experience, specifically for a girl growing up in Atlanta who chooses activism.

About the Process Series
Dedicated to the development of new and significant works in the performing arts, The Process
Series features professionally mounted, developmental presentations of new works in progress.
The mission of the Series is to illuminate the ways in which artistic ideas take form, to examine
the creative process, to offer audiences the opportunity to follow artists and performers as they
explore and discover, and by so doing to enrich the development process for artists with the
ultimate goal of better art and a closer relationship between artists and audiences. Immediately
following each performance, we ask our audiences to join in the creative process, providing
feedback critical to the development of the work as it moves forward. All performances are free
and open to the public. Now in its 14th season, the Process Series has supported over sixty artist
residencies since its inception, with many of the projects going on to significant future lives both
nationally and internationally. After a challenging year of shuttered venues and virtual platforms, this season’s theme, Close to Home, supports our local artists by featuring UNC faculty, students, and alumni. We are again navigating new waters as we integrate in-person and virtual audiences. Please visit our website for updated COVID policies.

For more information, you may contact Joseph Megel megel@email.unc.edu or Producer
Heather Tatreau htatreau@email.unc.edu

Please also visit the following links:
Website: http://processseries.unc.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theprocessseries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/processseries