Aziza Barnes
Playwright Bio
Aziza Barnes (she/her/they/them) is "blk & alive." They are a gender non-conforming playwright and poet born in Los Angeles, California. Aziza has published two full-length poetry collections, the bling pig (2019) and i be but i ain’t (2016), and one play, BLKS, which first premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago) in 2017. Aziza was born with polycystic ovary syndrome - a hormone condition that has caused hair growth on their face.
They frequently perform poetry at venues including Button Poetry, Da Poetry Lounge, Urban Word NYC, PBS News Hour, Nuyoricans Poets Cafe. Aziza graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2014 and then received their MFA in Poetry from University of Mississippi. Aziza is the host of the podcast called "The Poetry Gods" with Jon Sands and José Olivarez, and they are a co-founder of The Conversation Literary Festival, a multi-media company founded in 2015.
Aziza is currently working on two HBO adaptations of novels "Pride" and "The Vanishing Half." Poetry is a huge part of Aziza's life - they started memorizing poetry for elementary school contests and later won a big collegiate slam contest that gained them recognition. Aziza's writing focuses on themes of gender, race, class, liberation, and languages of identity.
Highlighted Play: BLKS
Aziza Barnes on BLKS
BLKS Trailer
(Steppenwolf Theatre production in 2017)
BLKS Synopsis
"Messed up stuff happens. After an unsavory wake-up call, Octavia decides to put off her troubles and have one last turn up with her friends. In poet Aziza Barnes’s ingenious portrait of a day in the life of four young black women discovering life’s uncomfortable truths in New York City, BLKS explores the joy and anguish of growing up and out. Riotously funny and distinctly rendered, Barnes’s playwriting debut marks the arrival of a truly original contemporary American voice" (Steppenwolf Theatre Company).
More from Aziza on BLKS:
“It made us really focus on ourselves as Black American people, as Black American women and gender-non-conforming people. Why is our experience so nuanced from the get? Why don’t we belong anywhere in Africa or the U.S.? Why isn’t our voice heard? We’d go into the club and the most absurd things would happen to us that didn’t make any sense.” (Barnes 2017).
“these three very different kinds of Black women in their early 20’s trying to deal with themselves through all the ways we self-medicate. They drink a lot. They smoke a lot. They try to have sex a lot. These are all ways of avoiding the actual acute problem: "WHICH IS THAT YOU’RE MISERABLE AND THAT NO ONE LISTENS TO YOU” (Barnes 2017).
(Steppenwolf Theatre Company)
Sample Activity:
Target Audience: college students
Learning Objective: Students will be able to write create a set design and/or write a one-minute play inspired by BLKS.
Application: This play is most appropriate and relevant for college students or individuals 18+. The following exercise can be used in an introductory theatre course where students are learning how to craft their own artistic voices and visions. Because of their background in poetry, Aziza Barnes is a useful playwright to examine for students who may be less familiar with plays and playwriting. BLKS can be used to explore themes of race, sexuality, relationships, sex, and consent for students in their late teens and 20s.
Procedures:
1) Quote from Aziza Barnes
Instructor reads the following quote from "The Poetry Gods" aloud and/or posts it on a classroom board: “we love the idea of, you know, conversations we’d be having with our homies you know like at the bar after the show that they would read at, or on the couch after our show" (Barnes, The Poetry Gods, 2016).
2) Think, Pair, Share
Students answer the following question: In what ways do you see snippets "at the bar" or "on the couch" in BLKS? Does this style deepen your understanding of the characters that Aziza has created?
3) On the Couch
Imagine that you are creating a play about you and your friends on the couch. Who are the characters? What are the events of the play? When does the play take place?
Students are given two options:
Students are given a blank sheet of paper with a drawing of a couch. Students are invited to design a set for their play that takes place on the couch.
Students are invited to write a one minute play about them and their friends on the couch.
4) Couch Crash!
Students are split into small groups.
In their groups, they will share their ideas and select 1 couch set design and 1 one minute play.
The students who's plays are not selected can be actors for the following exercise.
Students will stage and rehearse their one minute play. They are invited to gather objects around the space that may be included as a part of their set design. They are also welcome to mime any props that the set designer envisioned. Two-three chairs can be assembled to mimic the couch that the plays will take place on.
Students will present their one minute plays for the rest of the class. The set designer will be given the chance to explain their design concept.
5) Class Discussion
What did you learn from entering another's world on the couch? What similarities and differences in culture, friend groups, and social dynamics do the couch plays show us? How might our couch plays deepen our understanding of Aziza's work?
6) Extension: depending on interests and experience, students can write ten-minute plays.
Discussion Questions:
How does Aziza's background in poetry influence her stylistic choices BLKS?
How does Aziza use comedy to create a dialogue about racism, violence, privilege, sex, and boundaries? Do you think this is effective?
Do you think that this story would be told more effectively as a television series?
In an episode of the Poetry Gods (2016), Aziza says, “we love the idea of, you know, conversations we’d be having with our homies you know like at the bar after the show that they would read at, or on the couch after our show." In what ways do you see snippets "at the bar" or "on the couch" in BLKS? Does this style deepen your understanding of the characters that Aziza has created?
What do you anticipate about the style of Aziza's upcoming television works?
Annotated Plays
Pues Nada (2020)
Synopsis:
"In Pues Nada, two black femmes work at a bar in East L.A. until the crack of dawn, unable to leave or sleep due to a drunk ex-employee who refuses to go home. The cast will feature Ito Aghayere (Bernhardt/Hamlet), Alfie Fuller (Is God Is), Karen Pittman (Disgraced), and Kara Young (All the Natalie Portmans)" (Playbill.com).
Application:
This play would be most appropriately used in a college setting or with students 18+ because of their potential proximity to the material.
i be but i ain't (2016)
Synopsis:
"Aziza Barnes’ first full-length poetry collection i be, but i ain’t is a funhouse marathon through the quest for identity. The poetry takes readers on an excursion into identity where translucent boundaries bend but don’t break. However, the path is subtly transformative" (Up the Staircase Quarterly).
Application:
Aziza's poetry could be used in a high school elective poetry class that explores a variety of voices in poetry. Students can access videos of Aziza's poetry performances on Youtube, examining the potential of performing their own poetry.
Comprehensive List of Plays/Works
Plays:
BLKS (first performance, 2017)
Pues Nada (2020)
Full-length collections:
the bling pig (2019)
i be but i ain’t (2016)
Chapbook:
me Aunt Jemima and the nail gun (2013)
Television:
Snowfall (2018)
Teenage Bounty Hunters (2020)
The Vanishing Half (upcoming)
Pride (upcoming)
Additional Resources: The Poetry Gods Podcast
Bibliography
Website Compiled by: Sophie Gore (2021)