Hoops, a Boston premiere by Eliana Pipes
Directed by Tonasia Jones
Dramaturgy by afrikah selah
Artistic Advisor: Lois Roach
Adapted from The Hoops Project by Nicole Acosta
Hoop earrings are way more than just an accessory. They represent family, resilience, and self-expression. They represent the freedom to shine in a world that’s constantly trying to dim the lights. From Chicago to Oaxaca to right here in Boston, these earrings shout “I’m here, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Based on a series of intimate interviews with Black, Latine, Afrolatine, and Indigenous folks spanning in age from their 20s to 60s, this vibrant and playful collage of self-adornment and heritage shows off just how much power a pair of hoops can hold.
BPT is partnering with Company One Theatre and The City of Boston’s Office of Arts and Culture on this Boston premiere, which will run at The Strand Theatre in Dorcester. (Local audiences will remember Eliana’s thesis play, LORENA: a Tabloid Epic, which played BPT in 2021.)
Hoops features Brandie Blaze, Elijah Brown, Albamarina Nahar, Tiffany Santiago, Kaili Y. Turner, and Karimah Williams.
ELIANA PIPES is a playwright and filmmaker based in her hometown of Los Angeles. Her plays include Bite Me (world premiere off-Broadway—WP Theater and Colt Coeur); Dream Hou$e (world premiere co-production—Alliance Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, and Baltimore Center Stage, published by Concord Samuel French); Hoops (world premiere commission—Milwaukee Chamber Theater). She holds commissions from Two River Theater and South Coast Repertory. Her work has been developed or presented at the New York Theatre Workshop Dartmouth Residency, Playwright’s Realm Scratchpad Series, South Coast Repertory Pacific Playwright’s Festival, NNPN National New Play Showcase, Old Globe Powers New Voices Festival, Fire This Time Festival, and Drama League DirectorFest. Her writing awards include the Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship, Alliance Kendeda Prize, Leah Ryan Prize, KCACTF Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award, National Latine Playwrights Award, and Dr. Floyd Gaffney Award. BA English Columbia University, MFA Playwriting Boston University.
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TONASIA JONES Recent Theatrical Credits: Three Musketeers (Madam de Treville) with Greater Boston Stage Company, With Glittering Eyes (Coral) with Hibernian Hall, For Colored Girls… (Lady in Purple) with Praxis Stage, Finish Line (Lee Ann Yanni) with Boston Theater Company, Don’t Give Up The Ship (Martha) with Fresh Ink Theater Company, Full Term (Chrissy) with Artist’s Theatre of Boston, Mother Hicks (Alma and Ensemble), and Love Of The Nightingale (Niobe) with Emerson Stage. Staged Reading and Workshop credits: Untitled Play About Measurement (Nidia) and Common Ground (Ensemble) with Huntington Theatre, The Riot Play (Game Master) with ArtsEmerson, Diaspora (Sunny) with SpeakEasy Stage Company, The Cave (Yevi) with Huntington Theatre, The Last Catastrophist (Marina) with Company One, and Queen Of Sad Mischance (Kym) with New Repertory Theatre. She holds a BFA in Acting from Emerson College.
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See the slideshow below of Eliana’s play LORENA: a Tabloid Epic, produced by BPT in 2021:
