Skyscrapers
September 2021
Produced in collaboration with Amsterdam-based international theatre collective Kip Republic, Skyscrapers is an exploration of the gravity of mental illness, and the ways in which race, culture, economic status and family affect our relationship to our mental health. Skyscrapers is a devised work, conceived and directed by Kip Republic’s Artistic Director, Ira Kip. This is an ongoing project, to be developed in various iterations, which will continue to have an evolving life after Refracted’s workshop of this living, breathing play. This iteration focuses on two sisters, Evelyn and Simone, as they struggle to hold space for the way the other flees or faces the thing they fear most: what’s inside them.
Cast
Directed & Devised by Ira Kip
Born and raised in Amsterdam with Caribbean roots, Ira grew up in the cultural sector. She graduated from the New School For Drama in New York, where she obtained a Masters in Directing and Producing Theater in 2009. In 2011, Ira wrote her first play, She'Baltimore, which investigates domestic violence in the LGBTQ community. In 2015, she directed Eve Endsler's Vagina monologues touring through 5 different prisons in New York. In 2016 she wrote her second play, Shrew Her, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, where she dives into gender identity and gender roles, questioning institutions and gender equality. In 2018, Ira co-founded KIP Republic with her twin Ayra Kip. Ira is currently writing her third play, Riot or Revolution which tells the story of the 1969 revolution in Curaçao. Ira is also a public speaker, arts educator and screenwriter.
Concieved & Written by:
Jason Motet Hicks, Ayra Kip & Michael Parkinson
About Kip Republic
KIP REPUBLIC was founded by director Ira Kip & writer Ayra Kip in 2018. Our mission is to tell stories that aim to inspire conversation. We curate and create outside the margins, building on a movement where Art meets culture and community engagement leads to impact. We value a safe and just society for all.
