{"product_id":"angelas-mixtape-the-history-of-light-9781732545298","title":"Angela's Mixtape \/ The History of Light","description":"\u003cp\u003eTrained\u003cbr\u003e in classical piano and Marxism and raised on jazz, gospel, pop, hip \u003cbr\u003ehop, and Black revolutionary politics, Pulitzer Prize finalist Eisa \u003cbr\u003eDavis's plays are marked by her stunning intimacy with the praxis of \u003cbr\u003emusic alongside radical change. In \u003cem\u003eAngela's Mixtape\u003c\/em\u003e, time shifts like a mixtape, and like a mixtape, the play is both a memoir and a gift--for us, of course, and for Davis's aunt, activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis, under whose tutelage Davis reads \u003cem\u003eDas Kapital \u003c\/em\u003eand\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003elearns to drive stick and hack her own way toward inheriting her legacy. In \u003cem\u003eThe History of Light\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cbr\u003e Davis counterpoints the intertwining fates of two couples under \u003cbr\u003eracialized pressures a generation apart. Lush with the sound of the \u003cbr\u003egrand piano, \u003cem\u003eThe History of Light\u003c\/em\u003e is a study in black and \u003cbr\u003ewhite, love and alienation. Underlying the political clarity and formal \u003cbr\u003evirtuosity of Davis's writing are the unexpected crackles of a voice \u003cbr\u003ewarming up, the crunchiness of missed notes. Because for an artist \u003cbr\u003econcerned, like Davis, with how we become who we are and might be, error\u003cbr\u003e is a necessary instrument--maybe the sounding weight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEisa Davis\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning actor, writer, and singer-songwriter working on stage and screen. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play \u003ci\u003eBulrusher\u003c\/i\u003e, and wrote and starred in \u003ci\u003eAngela's Mixtape\u003c\/i\u003e, named a best of the year by \u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e. Other plays include \u003cem\u003eRamp\u003c\/em\u003e (Ruby Prize winner), \u003cem\u003eThe History of Light\u003c\/em\u003e (Barrymore nomination), \u003cem\u003ePaper Armor, Umkovu, Six Minutes, Warriors Don't Cry, Mushroom\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003e: Girls:: Chance:: Music: \u003c\/em\u003e. Collaborations include \u003cem\u003eMaze\u003c\/em\u003e at The Shed, \u003cem\u003eThe House on Coco Road\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eActive Ingredients\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHip Hop Anansi\u003c\/em\u003e, and Cirque du Soleil's first ice show, \u003cem\u003eCrystal\u003c\/em\u003e. Works in progress include a sound art installation\/performance piece entitled \u003cem\u003eThe Essentialisn't\u003c\/em\u003e, and a musical version of \u003cem\u003eDevil In A Blue Dress. \u003c\/em\u003eEisa wrote for both seasons of the Netflix series \u003cem\u003eShe's Gotta Have It\u003c\/em\u003e, and is creating a limited series based on the memoir by Carlotta Walls LaNier, the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. Eisa is a 2020 Creative Capital recipient. She was awarded the prestigious Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, and was a resident playwright at New Dramatists, where she won the Helen Merrill Award and the Whitfield Cook Award, among others. She has received fellowships from Sundance, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, Cave Canem, and the Doris Duke, Van Lier and Mellon Foundations. As an actor, she is an Obie Award winner for Sustained Excellence in Performance. Eisa's recent work includes a microplay by Lynn Nottage in the virtual series Theatre For One, the role of June in the musical adaptation of \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Life of Bees\u003c\/i\u003e (AUDELCO award, Lortel nomination), \u003ci\u003eKings\u003c\/i\u003e at the Public (Drama League nomination), the 2017 Shakespeare in the Park production of \u003ci\u003eJulius Caesar\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePreludes\u003c\/i\u003e created by Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin, for which she received her second Lucille Lortel nomination. Other theatre performances include \u003ci\u003eAntigone in Ferguson\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cem\u003e Luck of the Irish\u003c\/em\u003e (Lucille Lortel and AUDELCO nominations), the world premieres of \u003cem\u003eThis\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Call\u003c\/em\u003e, the first revival of \u003cem\u003eThe Piano Lesson\u003c\/em\u003e at Yale Rep (also composer and music director), and the acclaimed Broadway rock musical \u003ci\u003ePassing Strange\u003c\/i\u003e, captured on film by Spike Lee. Current television work includes \u003ci\u003eBetty, Bluff City Law\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGod Friended Me\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRise\u003c\/i\u003e, Condi Rice on \u003ci\u003eThe Looming Tower\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSuccession\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cem\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"53rd State Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50508148539666,"sku":"9781732545298","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0f7c30bc-f296-45a3-8616-5ae687beeeab.jpg?v=1730873486","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/angelas-mixtape-the-history-of-light-9781732545298","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}