MEXODUS
BY BRIAN QUIJADA And NYGEL D. ROBINSON | DIRECTED BY Obie AWARD Winner David Mendizábal
DEC 10 at 8PM and DEC 11 at 3PM | Atlas Performing Arts Center
Inspired by the thousands of enslaved people in the United States who sought freedom in Mexico, rather than looking north, Mexodus uses live looping and hip hop to explore an under-told chapter of the Underground Railroad and celebrate Black and brown bodies standing together against oppression.
Part of The Catalyst Series of New Play Development. A testament to new Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas’ long-standing commitment to new play development, the Catalyst Series will connect all of Mosaic’s new work activities under one programmatic umbrella. In 2022-2023, Mosaic will launch an annual new play festival, produce presentations of works in progress, and commission writers to create bold new work.
Mexodus is generously underwritten by Susan Clampitt & Jeremy Waletzky.
Cast and CREATIVE TEAM
(To view bios, click a photo and move your cursor over the image)
Nygel D. Robinson is an artist based in Chicago. Select musical theatre credits include Bro. Davis/musical director in The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Jimmy Powers in Lady Day at North Carolina Theatre, and Actor/Musician in The All Night Strut at Milwaukee Rep. Nygel Is the co-creator of MEXODUS, a new live looped musical, alongside Brian Quijada. He is also a recording artist/music producer.
Brian Quijada is an Emmy-nominated playwright, actor, and composer. His hip hop solo show Where Did We Sit on the Bus? has been produced at Victory Gardens, Geva Theatre, Teatro Vista (Jeff Award), Ensemble Studio Theatre (Drama Desk Nomination), Boise Contemporary, 1st Stage, and City Theatre Pittsburgh, with a digital production at Actors Theatre of Louisville (Drama League Nomination). His theater for young audiences play Kid Prince and Pablo premiered at The Kennedy Center in 2019. His newest musical, Somewhere Over the Border, received a rolling World Premiere at Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre, and TeatroVista, garnering six Jeff Award nominations, including Best New Work and Best Musical.
His plays have been developed at The Kennedy Center, Pittsburgh CLO’s Spark Festival, Victory Gardens’ Ignition Festival, New Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Festival, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Musical Theatre Conference. Commissioning institutions include A.R.T., 1st Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Hero Theatre, and The Kennedy Center. Brian’s song “The Always Song” was Nickelodeon’s 2021 Hispanic Heritage Month Song. As an educator, Brian has served as an adjunct musical solo performance professor at Harvard University.
Select acting credits include Bobbie Clearly at Roundabout, Oedipus El Rey at The Public Theater, My Mañana Comes (Original Cast) at Playwrights Realm, How We Got On (Original Cast) and Airness (Original Cast) at Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival. On television, Brian has appeared in Law & Order SVU, Blue Bloods, Manhattan Love Story, Search Party.
David Mendizábal (they/he) is a director, designer, one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of the Obie Award-winning The Movement Theatre Company, and a founding collective member and Associate Artistic Director of The Sol Project. Select directing credits include Sanctuary City (Berkeley Rep/Arena Stage); the bandaged place (Roundabout Underground/NYSAF); Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Board Members (Soho Rep/Sol Project, director and costume designer); Mushroom (People’s Light); This Bitter Earth (TheatreWorks Hartford), and Don’t Eat the Mangos (Magic Theatre/Sundance). David is a 2021 Princess Grace Award Honoraria Recipient in Theater. They were part of the inaugural Soho Rep Project Number One Residency, where they created and directed the short film, eat me! Alumnus of Ars Nova Vision Residency and Maker’s Lab, Drama League Directors Project, Labyrinth Intensive Ensemble, artEquity, NALAC, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. David was a participant in the TCG Leadership U: One-on-One program, where they served as the Artistic Associate at Atlantic Theater Company. BFA from NYU/Tisch @ Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. davidmendizabal.com.
Kyle Conn is excited to return to Mosaic after working on The Till Trilogy. Off-Broadway, Kyle has been Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) for Mornings at Seven (Theatre at St. Clements) and Ms. Trial (New World Stages) and Production Stage Manager (PSM) for Bridges: A New Musical (The Times Center), Women on Fire (Royal Family), and Monuments (The Times Center). Regional credits include: Assistant Stage Manager for Pass Over (American Shakespeare Center) and Comedy of Errors (Elm Shakespeare Company). Other select credits: SOVA Awards (televised from the Guggenheim, Stage Manager), Joy Behar’s A Crisis in Queens (Sunlight Studios, PSM), Orfeo (Yale Baroque Opera Project, PSM), Rocco, Chelsea, Adriana, Sean, Claudia, Gianna, Alex (HERE Arts Center, ASM), and the first national tour of Wicked (Oriental Theater, Production Assistant). Kyle is an alumnus of The Theatre School at DePaul University. Much love to his friends and family.
Mikhail Fiksel’s theatrical credits include productions with The Public Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, Writers Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, The Old Globe, Playwrights Horizons, The Civilians, Pigpen Theatre Co., La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Realm, Manhattan Theatre Club, Center Theatre Group, Studio Theatre, The Flea, Timeline Theatre, Albany Park Theater Project, and Third Rail Projects. International collaborations include the FILO Festival (Brazil), Tukkers Connexion (Holland), and National Theatre of Scotland. Dance projects include designs and compositions for The Seldoms, Lucky Plush, The Inconvenience, and DanceWorks Chicago. He is a recipient of multiple awards and nominations, including the 2022 Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play, the 2020 Obie Award for Sound Design, nine Jeff Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards, and The Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award. In addition to serving as adjunct faculty at Loyola University and at University of Chicago, he is a company member of 2nd Story, an Artistic Associate with Timeline Theatre Company, Teatro Vista, and Strawdog Theatre Company, and a resident artist at Albany Park Theatre Project.
Asia Christian is a lighting designer based in Washington, DC. She started off as an assistant lighting designer for a production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and made her lighting design debut for a school production of Alice on the Wonderland Express. Since then, she has designed various school productions such as The Sound of Music, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Blood at the Root. She has also worked on dance concerts in the Philadelphia region. Asia is a skilled technician, board operator, and the Technical Assistant for the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. She holds her BA in Theater: Production & Design from Temple University.
Tlaloc Rivas is a Chicanx playwright, director, dramaturg, advocate, and co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons. He is the recipient of the Sir John Gielgud Fellowship in Classical Directing, the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, and a Usual Suspect of New York Theater Workshop. Advanced training includes: SITI Company Summer Intensive at Skidmore College, the Maria Irene Fornes Institute, La Mama Umbria Summer, NALAC Leadership Institute, Mabou Mines Resident Artist Program, Cornerstone Theatre Company Summer Institute, and anti-racism workshops with Equity Quotient and artEquity. Tlaloc is an Associate Professor in Residence at UConn and a lecturer at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. He also serves on the boards of The New Harmony Project and Latiné Musical Theatre Lab NYC. He is a member of Dramatists Guild and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers. He earned a BA from University of California, Santa Cruz; an MFA from the University of Washington School of Drama; and was a Postdoctoral Presidential Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. www.TlalocRivas.com.
* Indicates a member of Actor’s Equity Association
**Indicates a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union
(++) Indicates a member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE
MEDIA
Playwrights Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson will workshop and refine their new play in development, Mexodus, at Mosaic.
Preview of the original song "King Cotton."
Preview of the original song “Two Bodies.”