Shakara Wright
Founding Member of Alumni Theater Company
Arts Management Fellow
Professional Ensemble Member
ATC has given me a lot of things, but my favorite thing ATC has given me is a team that can do anything. If I decided I wanted to be a rock star, by tomorrow I could be having band practice with a set of aesthetics the group wants to explore and 3 songs written. I already know the headliners in my future films. I know whose name I'm calling when I talk about how I won this Grammy or that Oscar, and I can thank ATC for that. It has also impacted my life by showing me all that I can do. I'm not sure I would have discovered that I can do so many different things as early in my life and been able to nurture those skills without ATC. ATC gave me a safe space to be myself and really create work that expressed my deepest thoughts and emotions. I discovered a poet and playwright inside myself. It gave me the collaboration skills that will make it possible for anyone to have a good time working with me. ATC is the home I can always go back to for fresh inspiration and loving friendship.
Outside of ATC, I am in the works of a new play that I can't disclose yet, but I will be acting as one of the main characters in this play, and I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity. I am also working on rewrites for Pain Killer and beginning the scripts of other plays, films and TV shows. I am working to use all the talents I possess. I think it would be a waste if I didn't bring every piece of myself to it's highest caliber. I'd be disrespecting my ancestors and myself by not learning everything I can and being all that I can be.
My life aspirations are to be an artist in all forms that are possible for me. I want to use the work I create to make positive change in the black community and in the world at large. I want to change the conversation. I want to make space for the people crushed in the corner. I want to give voice to those that have been silenced time and time again. I want to, above all else, make art and help people.
Contact: shakara@alumnitheatercompany.org