Mouths of Babes Theatre Company

11/25/2021

Feeling thankful! Thankful to have an amazing team, and an amazing audience, helping us make amazing work. Thanks you, thank you, thank you.

11/18/2021

A sneak peak at our work in progress play.

Sunday Nov 21st, 2pm
UNCW
Randal Library Auditorium (Rm2047)

In partnership with UNCW, MoB Theatre has developing a new play. Quilt Stories: a monologue play based on interviews from people who lost loved ones to the AIDS crisis. A meditation on life, love, and loss. The play revolves around the AIDS Quilt, which memorializes lives lost to AIDS. Each panel of the Quilt represents a life lost, and each Quilt tells a story.

Performed as a staged reading
Followed by a brief talk back
Roughly 60min in length

A sneak peak at our work in progress play.

Sunday Nov 21st, 2pm
UNCW
Randal Library Auditorium (Rm2047)

In partnership with UNCW, MoB Theatre has developing a new play. Quilt Stories: a monologue play based on interviews from people who lost loved ones to the AIDS crisis. A meditation on life, love, and loss. The play revolves around the AIDS Quilt, which memorializes lives lost to AIDS. Each panel of the Quilt represents a life lost, and each Quilt tells a story.

Performed as a staged reading
Followed by a brief talk back
Roughly 60min in length

09/28/2021

We did it! We’re finally ready to launch our ongoing podcast series. Out, NC: a MoB Pod is based on our play of the same name which highlights the stories and experiences of the LGBTQIA community in the south. We interview local folks on issues ranging from religion to top surgery. The first four episodes are live! Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

We did it! We’re finally ready to launch our ongoing podcast series. Out, NC: a MoB Pod is based on our play of the same name which highlights the stories and experiences of the LGBTQIA community in the south. We interview local folks on issues ranging from religion to top surgery. The first four episodes are live! Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

09/04/2021

We're looking for actors, designers, and anyone interested in being involved with the work we do.
We have the zoom link in our bio! https://mouthsofbabestheatre.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98aa1cf8c6f6db19fc08abda1&id=d7c8d02bbd&e=b5932422ce

Any students, regardless of major, who are Interested in exploring topics such as personal identity, local history, and current events through the lens of media, storytelling, and theatre are welcome to join! #mobtheatre

We're looking for actors, designers, and anyone interested in being involved with the work we do.
We have the zoom link in our bio! https://mouthsofbabestheatre.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=98aa1cf8c6f6db19fc08abda1&id=d7c8d02bbd&e=b5932422ce

Any students, regardless of major, who are Interested in exploring topics such as personal identity, local history, and current events through the lens of media, storytelling, and theatre are welcome to join! #mobtheatre

09/03/2021

MoB Theatre - Student Interest Meeting - https://mailchi.mp/9845df7c662e/mob-theatre-interest-meeting-10319928
Attention UNCW Students! We're looking for Student Artists for our 2021-2022 Season of play and media projects! We'll have an interest meeting on Thursday September 9th.

MoB Theatre - Student Interest Meeting - https://mailchi.mp/9845df7c662e/mob-theatre-interest-meeting-10319928
Attention UNCW Students! We're looking for Student Artists for our 2021-2022 Season of play and media projects! We'll have an interest meeting on Thursday September 9th.

08/03/2021

No one believed in you the way Joy believed in you. She had a light, a kindness, and a warmth that made you want to be better, and believe that you could.

Like so many, I am left reeling from the news that we lost Joy James (aka Livity the Poet) over the weekend. She was an actor, a singer, a poet, a teacher, a writer, a filmmaker, a loving mother, and I'm sure a dozen other things. I feel privileged to have known her, and to have worked with her for the time that I did; and as I think anyone who's worked with her can attest, I feel I'm a better artist for it. In her own quiet way, Joy was a community builder, and we can all learn from that.

Our heart goes out to Joy's family, and her son August.

Joy, you will be missed.
Trey K. Morehouse, MoB Director

07/02/2021

Some pics from our “OUT, NC” reading during the Pride Picnic last weekend!

06/26/2021

Don’t miss out on MoB’s staged reading of ‘Out, NC’ tomorrow 2:30 PM - 3 PM at Dreams of Wilmington during the Pride Picnic.

Don’t miss out on MoB’s staged reading of ‘Out, NC’ tomorrow 2:30 PM - 3 PM at Dreams of Wilmington during the Pride Picnic.

06/23/2021

#Repost @portcitypride with @get.repost
・・・
Join us on Sunday, June 27th, 11:30-4:00! All are welcome! Games, food, music, & family fun!
⭐Free hot dogs & hamburgers⭐
⭐Face Painting⭐
⭐Music by DJ GO AWFF⭐
⭐Slam Poetry from Tim Joyner⭐
⭐MoB Theatre⭐

#Repost @portcitypride with @get.repost
・・・
Join us on Sunday, June 27th, 11:30-4:00! All are welcome! Games, food, music, & family fun!
⭐Free hot dogs & hamburgers⭐
⭐Face Painting⭐
⭐Music by DJ GO AWFF⭐
⭐Slam Poetry from Tim Joyner⭐
⭐MoB Theatre⭐

06/04/2021

In May, MoB Theatre held a short documentary theatre workshop at DREAMS of Wilmington. The subject the student selected was Cyberbullying: An important topic we hope to go back to! #dreamsofwilmington #mobtheatre
@dreams_of_wilmington

06/02/2021

MoB is looking for an actor to complete it's cast for our staged reading for Pride Month! We are looking for a black female identifying actor between the ages of 18 - 25. We are performing a short (15 - 20 min version) of our Out, NC play.

Audition by appointment only, please. Either in person or via zoom. Monologues can be provided prior to audition. The reading will be performed as part of Wilmington's Pride on Sunday June 27th. Must be available for evening rehearsals the week of June 21st. Must be available for daytime performances on Sunday June 27th.

See link in bio for more details!

#mobtheatre #wilmingtontheatre #nctheatre

MoB is looking for an actor to complete it's cast for our staged reading for Pride Month! We are looking for a black female identifying actor between the ages of 18 - 25. We are performing a short (15 - 20 min version) of our Out, NC play.

Audition by appointment only, please. Either in person or via zoom. Monologues can be provided prior to audition. The reading will be performed as part of Wilmington's Pride on Sunday June 27th. Must be available for evening rehearsals the week of June 21st. Must be available for daytime performances on Sunday June 27th.

See link in bio for more details!

#mobtheatre #wilmingtontheatre #nctheatre

06/02/2021

Happy Pride from MoB Theatre!
Stay tuned for some exciting updates as we get back in the swing of things!

Happy Pride from MoB Theatre!
Stay tuned for some exciting updates as we get back in the swing of things!

02/22/2021

Making art responsibly in the age of covid #mobtheatre

02/18/2021

MoB networking in the age of Covid 😷
Repost from @uncw_cie
•
Mouths of Babes Theatre Company meets our scientist in residence, Troy Alphin. Ideation and connections being made for an oyster roast fundraiser for @mobtheatre, a CIE tenant. This is what co-working spaces are all about!

#community #CoWorking #Ideation

MoB networking in the age of Covid 😷
Repost from @uncw_cie
•
Mouths of Babes Theatre Company meets our scientist in residence, Troy Alphin. Ideation and connections being made for an oyster roast fundraiser for @mobtheatre, a CIE tenant. This is what co-working spaces are all about!

#community #CoWorking #Ideation

02/10/2021

In honor of Black History Month, this Playwright Wednesday we remember the forever great Lorraine Hansberry. Hansberry died far too young at the age of 34, just five years after the premier of her titan of a play A Raisin in the Sun, which made her the first female Black writer to have a play produced on Broadway. Her poetic and fierce family drama set the tone for 20th Century American theatre, and Raisin remains a staple both on the stage and in the classroom.

Folks from Wilmington, NC would be interested to know that one of her unfinished plays was a historical drama covering the events of the Wilmington Massacre and Coup of 1898. A play that she said was stuck in the phase of “first-draft-itis.”

Recent biographers have shed light on a life just as remarkable as her writing: She was, for example, a closeted le***an during her life, and accounts from friends and her own journals indicate that she was on the road to becoming a full on LGBT activist if her life hadn’t been cut short from cancer. She called a trip to Provincetown (a gay mecca both then and now) near the end of her life a “gathering of the clan.” #lorrainehansberry #araisininthesun #1898 #blackplaywrights #blackhistorymonth #wilmingtonhistory #wilmingtonnc #mobtheatre

02/01/2021

Our MoB Monday Spotlight this week is on Dustin Nguyen. Working behind the scenes, Dustin has been assisting with note taking at our board meetings, and research for our various ongoing projects, and generally trying his best to help keep us organized. His enthusiasm has been a huge help in our projects. Here's a little bit about Dustin:

1) What is your favorite MoB memory?
I would say that my favorite MoB memory so far has been researching The Paddock, a gay club that was in Greenville, NC, and connecting the "dots" from when I lived in Greenville.

2) What are you working on with MoB right now? Why does this project matter to you?
As of late, I have been working on transcribing interviews for the AIDS quilt project. This project is important to me because it brings to life the stories of AIDS patients and rather than mourn their lives, we celebrate them while also educating those about HIV/AIDS.

3) What inspired you to get into acting?
When I was younger, I always loved to perform in various ways but it wasn't until high school I found my love of performing. I think the main thing that pushed me was when I was volunteering for BOSS camp at the Hannah Block/USO building downtown I thought to myself why can't I do that? So, following my volunteer stint, I auditioned for the music review being held at Thalian Association's Children's Theatre and I have not stopped since. 4) What’s been your favorite role as a local actor?
It has been a while since I have been in a Wilmington production but when I was living in Greenville my favorite role was Leaf Coneybear from "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee."

5) What social issues matter most to you? And how do you (or how would you like to) tackle these issues with your art?
There are tons but if I had to narrow it down, I would say racial equity, LGBT+ issues, and mental health education. In an effort to tackle said issues, I hope to run a theatre company of my own or work closely with a company such as MoB that produces new and innovative theatre that reaches underserved communities. #poctheatreartists #wilmingtontheatre

01/27/2021

This week's Playwright Wednesday shout out goes to Michael R. Jackson. Only 40, Jackson is already an accomplished Playwright and songwriter whose works include the musical adaptation of the movie “Teeth” (lyrics and co-writing credit for the book) as well as book, music and lyrics for “White Girl in Danger,” and “A Strange Loop.”

His break out hit “A Strange Loop” follows a young q***r Black artist at war with a host of demons and complex inner thoughts voiced by a six-person all Black q***r ensemble. It's a trippy musical distilation of what it feels like to navigate a white / heteronormative world that continously tells you that you don't belong. The New York Times wrote, "A Strange Loop is a gutsy, jubilantly anguished musical with infectious melodies by the very deft Michael R. Jackson.”

In June 2020, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, the online magazine Queerty named Jackson among one of the 50 people "leading the nation toward equality, acceptance, and dignity for all people."

We'll be watching Jackson's career closely. We hope you will too.
#MichaelRJackson #playwright #BlackPlaywright

01/26/2021

With the events of the Capital Riots still fresh on our minds, many in Wilmington are reminded about the events of 1898. In November of 1898, on the heels of a local election, Wilmington became home to the only successful coup in the history of the United States when white supremacists violently overthrew the duly-elected government in Wilmington, attacked, burned, and destroyed Black owned businesses, and rounded up and expelled prominent Black community members - forcing them on a train and banishing them, stealing their homes and livelihood. The tragic loss of life from the coup is still not well understood, with estimates ranging anywhere between 60 - 300 dead depending on the source.

The comparisons to the events at the Capital are rampant, and the lessons of history, and the lessons of current events should be a clear signal of a profound need for change and a profound need to do better. We urge you to make a difference in your sphere of influence, whenever, and wherever you feel most passionate. The goal of anti-racism is multifaceted, and needs to happen everywhere, every day, in every sector.

Today we want to share a cause that matters and resonates with us. One of the great losses from 1898 was the destruction of The Daily Record, Wilmington’s prominent black owned newspaper. Flashing forward to today, another Black owned newspaper is in need of support. We would also like to encourage you to take some time to learn about the Wilmington Journal, and consider a donation to help preserve their work. The Journal has been in existence since 1927, but will shut its doors if it doesn't receive the proper funding.

Hate wins when voices of hope are drowned out. And while we lost a great institution, and important platform for Black voices to the violence of 1898, we don’t have to lose another to the slow burn of community neglect.

Please follow the link to learn more.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-wilmington-journal

#wilmingtonjournal #ilm #blacklivesmatter #1898coup #1898massacre

12/07/2020

Once a month, we'll be featuring one member of our MoB community to highlight to the community in a post we call MoB Mondays. Today we're highlighting Amber Moore. Amber’s a recent graduate of UNC Greensboro's theatre program, and has worked with MoB on devising for Out, NC, devising for Wilmington Reconstructed, and performing in Out, NC. Lately Amber has been helping MoB Artistic Director (Trey) run all of MoB's social media. Amber wants everyone to know that Trey made her do this, and this definitely isn't Amber writing right now it's totally Trey.

What is your favorite MoB memory?
Working on Wilmington Reconstructed [MoB's in progress play about 1898] That cast was so relaxed and chill. So while we were unpacking this serious and complicated history of Wilmington that was so important, there were also times that we would break into laughing fits to ease the darkness of the subject. It was also incredible to mention the 1898 massacre on the local news. People are scared to talk about it but I’m not.

What’s been your favorite role as a local actress?
One of my favorite roles was Helynea Spotts in Out, NC. One of the scenes in it I really enjoyed because it was so badass and blatant! They came out to their father by telling him that just like him, they “loved making love to a woman.” I can’t imagine ever saying something that blatant to my parents so I really loved Helynea’s fearlessness.

What social issues matter most to you? And how do you tackle these issues with your art?
Fighting against racism, homophobia and anti-Blackness are some of the most important issues to me personally. I want people to be honest with themselves because we all have hidden biases against Black folks no matter our background and by not confronting them is how we’ve been stuck in this cycle of racism forever. I like doing work that makes people uncomfortable so they’ll ask themselves why it makes them feel that way. I like art that allows Black people to be themselves and also not have to hold hands and educate others. Art that allows us to express whatever we want without having to explain ourselves. #BlackTheatreArtist #PocTheatre #WilmingtonTheatre