Written by Phaedra Michelle Scott
DIASPORA! follows Sunny, a writer tracing her lineage to find a long-lost grandparent. Aided by her niece, her best friend, and her best friend’s new boyfriend, she searches for answers in history. Time begins to cross over, and we find ourselves in Boston during the rise of the civil rights movement and a certain young minister making waves at the Twelfth Baptist Church and Boston University. Says Scott:“Sunny, an idealistic black millennial, is writing a history about the legacy of her family. Her younger sister, Janae wants to reject everything about her ancestry in favor of a created one. Sunny discovers the mystery of her grandparents and decides to confront her past head on in order to put the spirits in her life to rest.” DIASPORA! was a SpeakEasy Stage commission as part of their Boston Project, developed and workshopped in Boston from 2017-2019.
Pascale Florestal is an Elliot Norton Nominated Director, Educator, Dramaturg, Writer and Collaborator based in Boston, MA. Recent directing Credits: Fairview with SpeakEasy Stage, Spring Awakening at Brandeis University, The Colored Museum with The Umbrella Performing Arts Center, Once On This Island with SpeakEasy Stage, This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing with Emerson Stage, Everybody with Boston Conservatory and others. As an Assistant to the Director she has worked with Timothy Douglas, Liesl Tommy, Billy Porter, Paul Daigneault and M. Bevin O’Gara. Pascale served as the Associate Director to Gil Rose on X:The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Odyssey Opera and Kimberly Senior on Our Daughters, Like Pillars at The Huntington Theater. Pascale also serves as the Associate Director for The Broadway National Tour of Jagged Little Pill. Pascale was named one of the WBUR ARTery 25 Artists of Color Transforming the Cultural Landscape in Boston. She serves as the Education Director and Associate Producer for The Front Porch Arts Collective and is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music.
◊ member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
º member of United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829
