American Body

American Body is solo show written and performed by Deonna Kelli Sayed and directed by writer-actor Nicole Lungerhausen. Tickets on sale now!

American Body is a solo show exploring how our bodies impact the way we experience belonging. Through eleven different characters, Deonna Kelli Sayed humorously reveals how size, race, the American diet, and ancestral history intrudes upon our bodies. Deonna revisits her childhood in the Florida Panhandle, wears hijab in the Muslim world, and consults her indigenous Catawba ancestors to reveal the stories of an “imperfect” American physique. 

The show premieres October 12-15 at the Stephen D. Hyers theatre in Greensboro, NC as a Hyers Residency with Creative Greensboro and in partnership with the Arts Council of Greater Greensboro.

Nichole Lungerhausen is directing American Body. She is a theater creator and writer. Born and raised in California, she worked in the San Francisco Bay Area theater community for 10+ years. As a professional actor, she focused on ensemble-created work and new play development with a wide range of companies and organizations including the Playwrights Foundation, mugwumpin, Shotgun Players Theatre Lab, San Francisco Fringe Festival, Golden Thread Productions, and Brava Theater. She was a founding member of Precarious Theatre, which premiered two new plays: Chemical Imbalance and I’m Yours (Deranged by Love). The productions played to sold-out audiences and won praise from the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Bay Times, among other publications. Her additional regional theater credits include acting work with Theatreworks, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and Pear Avenue Theatre.

Nicole’s approach to theater creation is rooted in 15+ years training in sensory- and physical-based techniques, including commedia dell’arte, Suzuki Method, Viewpoints, Linklater voice work, Middendorf breathwork, and dance. She trained with Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, American Conservatory Theatre, and the American Academy of Dramatic Art. 

Nicole is a science fiction and fantasy writer. She has had her stories published in various magazines, such as The Future Fire, Abyss & Apex, and Apparition Lit. She is also going to have a new story published in Apex Magazine’s Strange Machines Anthology. Nicole has a degree in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

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