Twin Cities-based theater company explores themes of homelessness, housing insecurity
An actor performs in “Living in America: The Waiting List is Full" by zAmya Theater.
Courtesy of Haadiya Numani
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Audio transcript
NINA MOINI: A Twin Cities-based theater company is portraying stories of homelessness and housing insecurity. Many of the performers have lived experiences.
zAmya Theater Project has been around for more than two decades. They have weekly workshops at the Minneapolis Central Library, and they're performing at the Art Shanty Projects on Lake Harriet this weekend. Here's a taste of what one of zAmya's productions sounds like. It's called Living in America-- The Waiting List is Full, and it was performed at Westminster Presbyterian Church in November.
Picture two people at opposite ends of the stage, each with a desk phone, and another character with a T-shirt that says "Inner Voice."
CALLER: So yeah, hi. I'm calling to speak with my caseworker, Mary Ann Stressballsen. But I don't have her extension.
INNER VOICE: Oh, well, you might as well hang up. You already blew it!
CASEWORKER: Oh, I'm sorry, but Ms. Stressballsen, she's out on medical leave.
INNER VOICE: Oh! Too bad! You tried!
CALLER: Wait, no, she can't be. My name came up on the list, and I'll drop to the bottom if I don't have her call in the next 23, 24 hours.
INNER VOICE: And now it's 23.5.
CALLER: Is there anyone filling in for her?
CASEWORKER: No! We're short on staff, and no one here is taking any new clients.
NINA MOINI: So that last voice you heard was Jada Windom playing a caseworker. She's a troupe member with zAmya Theater Project, and she's with me in the studio. Thank you so much for being here, Jada.
JADA WINDOM: And thank you for having me.
NINA MOINI: We're also very happy to have artistic director Maren Ward in the studio with us. Thank you as well, Maren.
MAREN WARD: Yes, hi. Thanks for having us.
NINA MOINI: Maren, I'll start with you. Tell me a little bit about what we just heard and what the production is about we just heard a piece from.
MAREN WARD: Oh, OK. Well, Living in America-- The Waiting List is Full is our most recent collaboration with the zAmya troupe. And we were exploring the topic of public housing as a solution-- one of the solutions that we might explore as a community to what we're seeing with housing insecurity and homelessness.
And we went about that by interviewing and discussing the topic with our troupe of actors, and also doing workshops at the library and inviting participants to share their experiences with public housing, both in the past and the present, and also historical research. All of that material was assembled and arranged by Esther Ouray into a script that we then shared.
The piece you just heard was written by Caroline Mannheimer, a troupe member who has been with us for over 10 years. And they're writing about the experience of looking for public housing, so that was their angle into writing it. And one of the things I love about the fact that you chose that clip is that it was so funny. And that has been a staple of our shows over the many, many years, is to use humor as a way of opening up the audience and opening up ourselves and talking about a hard thing.
NINA MOINI: Jada, that accent you were doing was pretty good. Spoiler alert-- that's not your real accent.
JADA WINDOM: Right.
NINA MOINI: What do you draw upon when you're getting into character?
JADA WINDOM: I don't know. Something I like to do is just people watch. And when I'm meeting all different kinds of people, I just like to listen. I'm an observer. I just like watching people-- their mannerisms, the way that they speak, the way that words fall out of their mouth. I'm just always taking it in. So, yeah, when I thought about this character, I was like, let's go with something I've never tried before. So yeah, I did a little-- I tried something like a Southern accent. It was really fun just doing it.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Were you always interested in acting, or how did you come to be one of the troupe members?
JADA WINDOM: Oh, well, I've always sort of had an interest in acting, but I was way too shy to do it coming up. And there was just never really any opportunities for me to do it. But yeah, when I came here to Minnesota about two years ago is when I came across zAmya. I was staying in the shelter and came to one of the Creative Expression Sessions on Tuesday mornings, that we have every Tuesday mornings. And just got into to theater that way, and I'd never done theater until now. So yeah, it's great. I love it.
NINA MOINI: What do you think it's added for you to just your life experience?
JADA WINDOM: Ooh! I can definitely say it has strengthened my voice in a lot of ways-- literally, figuratively, in what we do, and literally just yeah, speaking louder, being heard, and not being afraid to use my voice. It's definitely helped me in that regard.
NINA MOINI: Maren, what do you think when you hear that?
MAREN WARD: Well, it's always encouraging to hear that the work we're doing has an impact on people's lives in that way. And yeah-- and I love that Jada just pointed out-- kind of it's the mechanics of theater and the fact that we're using our bodies, and using our voices, and building trust with each other, and building an ensemble, and showing up, and needing to be there, and needing to be there for each other. And then it's also the content, the stories we're sharing, the impact we're having on audiences. I think that's what makes zAmya really unique.
NINA MOINI: I think sometimes it's easier for people to watch art and a performance and take something away than if they're reading data or just listening to some sort of a spiel. And I wonder. Jada, is there anything that you hope people take away from these performances?
JADA WINDOM: Wow! Just-- oh, that's such a loaded question. Just everything you can, really. It's good being able to just be able to empathize with people. Sometimes people don't really see themselves in every character that's presented. But I think it's really good to just imagine yourself in other people's shoes.
I think sometimes people just have biases about what they think is going on. And so we really try to present it in a way like, no, this is the actual reality of what's going on, and to please take this information with you so that you know how to engage with people that are going through a struggle with finding housing.
It's not just what people usually think it is. It's a battle. It's a everyday fight. So yeah, just the humanity. We are all humans. We are all fighting for safety, security, belonging, to never deny each other that.
NINA MOINI: And what about you, Maren?
MAREN WARD: I think that I hope that people leave thinking about their own sphere of influence and what they might-- where they might be able to make a personal impact in such a large issue and feel moved to do that. And I think that for me, seeing-- doing this work for so long and seeing, hearing so many stories, meeting so many people, it just really has become about the people. And so I hope that people leave just knowing some people and some stories.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, a more rich life. I want to make sure we touch on the Art Shanties performance that's going to be going on. So it's a festival. For folks who don't know, it happens every year, where a cluster of interactive art and performance exhibits gather on Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis. Maren, tell us some of the details of what folks can expect.
MAREN WARD: We're going to be sharing a collection of work that is about a half an hour long, and we're going to do it three times. So folks can come anytime between 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30 to see our work. And we're going to share scenes, a few scenes, from the play that you just shared. "Through the Decades," a little presentation about the history of public housing and a scene about the Council on Public Housing that we made. And then also some performance poetry, including a piece by Junauda Petrus, who is the poet laureate of Minneapolis that she wrote for us in 2019.
NINA MOINI: OK. Amazing. Well, thank you both so much. Wishing you well. Hope it's-- hope you all stay warm and have a really lovely time this weekend. Thank you for stopping by Minnesota Now.
MAREN WARD: Thank you.
JADA WINDOM: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Again, Art Shanties is happening January 17 through February 8. It's on the weekends. And that was zAmya Theater Project Artistic Director Maren Ward and troupe member Jada Windom.
zAmya Theater Project has been around for more than two decades. They have weekly workshops at the Minneapolis Central Library, and they're performing at the Art Shanty Projects on Lake Harriet this weekend. Here's a taste of what one of zAmya's productions sounds like. It's called Living in America-- The Waiting List is Full, and it was performed at Westminster Presbyterian Church in November.
Picture two people at opposite ends of the stage, each with a desk phone, and another character with a T-shirt that says "Inner Voice."
CALLER: So yeah, hi. I'm calling to speak with my caseworker, Mary Ann Stressballsen. But I don't have her extension.
INNER VOICE: Oh, well, you might as well hang up. You already blew it!
CASEWORKER: Oh, I'm sorry, but Ms. Stressballsen, she's out on medical leave.
INNER VOICE: Oh! Too bad! You tried!
CALLER: Wait, no, she can't be. My name came up on the list, and I'll drop to the bottom if I don't have her call in the next 23, 24 hours.
INNER VOICE: And now it's 23.5.
CALLER: Is there anyone filling in for her?
CASEWORKER: No! We're short on staff, and no one here is taking any new clients.
NINA MOINI: So that last voice you heard was Jada Windom playing a caseworker. She's a troupe member with zAmya Theater Project, and she's with me in the studio. Thank you so much for being here, Jada.
JADA WINDOM: And thank you for having me.
NINA MOINI: We're also very happy to have artistic director Maren Ward in the studio with us. Thank you as well, Maren.
MAREN WARD: Yes, hi. Thanks for having us.
NINA MOINI: Maren, I'll start with you. Tell me a little bit about what we just heard and what the production is about we just heard a piece from.
MAREN WARD: Oh, OK. Well, Living in America-- The Waiting List is Full is our most recent collaboration with the zAmya troupe. And we were exploring the topic of public housing as a solution-- one of the solutions that we might explore as a community to what we're seeing with housing insecurity and homelessness.
And we went about that by interviewing and discussing the topic with our troupe of actors, and also doing workshops at the library and inviting participants to share their experiences with public housing, both in the past and the present, and also historical research. All of that material was assembled and arranged by Esther Ouray into a script that we then shared.
The piece you just heard was written by Caroline Mannheimer, a troupe member who has been with us for over 10 years. And they're writing about the experience of looking for public housing, so that was their angle into writing it. And one of the things I love about the fact that you chose that clip is that it was so funny. And that has been a staple of our shows over the many, many years, is to use humor as a way of opening up the audience and opening up ourselves and talking about a hard thing.
NINA MOINI: Jada, that accent you were doing was pretty good. Spoiler alert-- that's not your real accent.
JADA WINDOM: Right.
NINA MOINI: What do you draw upon when you're getting into character?
JADA WINDOM: I don't know. Something I like to do is just people watch. And when I'm meeting all different kinds of people, I just like to listen. I'm an observer. I just like watching people-- their mannerisms, the way that they speak, the way that words fall out of their mouth. I'm just always taking it in. So, yeah, when I thought about this character, I was like, let's go with something I've never tried before. So yeah, I did a little-- I tried something like a Southern accent. It was really fun just doing it.
NINA MOINI: Yeah. Were you always interested in acting, or how did you come to be one of the troupe members?
JADA WINDOM: Oh, well, I've always sort of had an interest in acting, but I was way too shy to do it coming up. And there was just never really any opportunities for me to do it. But yeah, when I came here to Minnesota about two years ago is when I came across zAmya. I was staying in the shelter and came to one of the Creative Expression Sessions on Tuesday mornings, that we have every Tuesday mornings. And just got into to theater that way, and I'd never done theater until now. So yeah, it's great. I love it.
NINA MOINI: What do you think it's added for you to just your life experience?
JADA WINDOM: Ooh! I can definitely say it has strengthened my voice in a lot of ways-- literally, figuratively, in what we do, and literally just yeah, speaking louder, being heard, and not being afraid to use my voice. It's definitely helped me in that regard.
NINA MOINI: Maren, what do you think when you hear that?
MAREN WARD: Well, it's always encouraging to hear that the work we're doing has an impact on people's lives in that way. And yeah-- and I love that Jada just pointed out-- kind of it's the mechanics of theater and the fact that we're using our bodies, and using our voices, and building trust with each other, and building an ensemble, and showing up, and needing to be there, and needing to be there for each other. And then it's also the content, the stories we're sharing, the impact we're having on audiences. I think that's what makes zAmya really unique.
NINA MOINI: I think sometimes it's easier for people to watch art and a performance and take something away than if they're reading data or just listening to some sort of a spiel. And I wonder. Jada, is there anything that you hope people take away from these performances?
JADA WINDOM: Wow! Just-- oh, that's such a loaded question. Just everything you can, really. It's good being able to just be able to empathize with people. Sometimes people don't really see themselves in every character that's presented. But I think it's really good to just imagine yourself in other people's shoes.
I think sometimes people just have biases about what they think is going on. And so we really try to present it in a way like, no, this is the actual reality of what's going on, and to please take this information with you so that you know how to engage with people that are going through a struggle with finding housing.
It's not just what people usually think it is. It's a battle. It's a everyday fight. So yeah, just the humanity. We are all humans. We are all fighting for safety, security, belonging, to never deny each other that.
NINA MOINI: And what about you, Maren?
MAREN WARD: I think that I hope that people leave thinking about their own sphere of influence and what they might-- where they might be able to make a personal impact in such a large issue and feel moved to do that. And I think that for me, seeing-- doing this work for so long and seeing, hearing so many stories, meeting so many people, it just really has become about the people. And so I hope that people leave just knowing some people and some stories.
NINA MOINI: Yeah, a more rich life. I want to make sure we touch on the Art Shanties performance that's going to be going on. So it's a festival. For folks who don't know, it happens every year, where a cluster of interactive art and performance exhibits gather on Lake Harriet in South Minneapolis. Maren, tell us some of the details of what folks can expect.
MAREN WARD: We're going to be sharing a collection of work that is about a half an hour long, and we're going to do it three times. So folks can come anytime between 2:30, 3:00, and 3:30 to see our work. And we're going to share scenes, a few scenes, from the play that you just shared. "Through the Decades," a little presentation about the history of public housing and a scene about the Council on Public Housing that we made. And then also some performance poetry, including a piece by Junauda Petrus, who is the poet laureate of Minneapolis that she wrote for us in 2019.
NINA MOINI: OK. Amazing. Well, thank you both so much. Wishing you well. Hope it's-- hope you all stay warm and have a really lovely time this weekend. Thank you for stopping by Minnesota Now.
MAREN WARD: Thank you.
JADA WINDOM: Thank you.
NINA MOINI: Again, Art Shanties is happening January 17 through February 8. It's on the weekends. And that was zAmya Theater Project Artistic Director Maren Ward and troupe member Jada Windom.
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