The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group (TCG) have awarded Marissa Chibas (Professor at URTA-member University, CalArts) an Actor Fellowship in Distinguished Achievement, in partnership with Bootleg Theater.

Chibas plans to use the grant to develop The Second Woman, an interdisciplinary performance with themes from both John Cassavetes’ film Opening Night and Henry Rider Haggard’s novel She. Chibas describes the project as sharing “themes of the terrors of aging and the mysteries of the feminine.” In preparation, she will travel to Crete for intensive research and workshops in improvisation, clowning, Afro-Cuban dance, and vocal technique. In turn with the help of the grant, Chibas plans to conduct similar intensive workshops at Bootleg and open the sessions free of charge to High School students from the Downtown Los Angeles area.

As head of the CalArts Theater School Acting Program from 2003-2010, and current head of the Bilingual initiative Duende CalArt, Chibas has collaborated with innovative Latino(a) and Latin American artists to make adventurous theatrical work across the country.

Bootleg Theater is a year-round inclusive art space for original, boundary breaking live experience based theatre and performance “born from the diverse cultural and artistic landscape of Los Angeles.” Bootleg fully collaborates with emerging artists who dare to create striking, contemporary, non-traditional experiences.

The Second Woman will incorporate women from the local community to offer a ritual for embracing change and age. Chibas has described the dynamic creative teaming as a “soul stirring experience” and a “ritual for transformation inspired by these two great works.”

Chibas will perform the piece along with Paula Rebelo during the fall of 2016, with original music by Juli Crockett, video by Adam Flemming, and choreography by Fernando Belo, video cinematography by John Hawk, and directing by Zoe Aja Moore.