Shadow: the upcoming work by Donyae Asante
Interview: Donyae Asante
talking to Paul Oswell
Donyae Asante is a multi-talented, cross-media performer from Chicago who has made big strides in the New Orleans arts scene. Currently in pre-production for a new play, Shadow (which premiers here in September), Out All Day caught up with Donyae to check on progress and life in general...
OAD: Donyae! Last time we saw you, you were starring in The View Upstairs. How's life been treating you since?
Donyae Asante: Life has been a rollercoaster but I’m enjoying the ride. I just turned 28, deep into my Saturn return. I feel like I’m waking up to the role/self I’ve been playing for so long to feel loved and validated and saying goodbye to him. My true self is emerging and it’s been great. I’m working on my 4th album Donnie, getting my masters in clinical mental health counseling, and producing this next production. It feels good to be where I’m at as a creative and just as a human navigating the last chapters of my 20s.
OAD: You've been back in Chicago recently, but this new project, Shadow, is drawing you back to New Orleans. Can you tell us a bit about it?
DA: Yes, I can’t wait for this project. I started writing this show not too long after my first production I directed, starred and produced in New Orleans, called Inner Child. That show was put on at The Actors Apothecary and that was actually where the first table read of Shadow was done in early 2023. The show centers on Sante Yeargain and his former student, TK Lennix who are both experiencing their tower moments in life where they are confronting their repressed emotions that have been kept in the shadows for too long. I wrote this when I got fired from my job due to discrimination of my sexuality at the end of 2022. I simultaneously lost my grandmother at the time as well. It’s been very cathartic to create this project and I hope it paints a picture of hope for any queer person fighting to be protected in our world right now.
OAD: It's obviously a critical time for the production of works like this, how do you feel about the near future for the more esoteric arts in New Orleans/Louisiana - drag/queer art spaces, etc?
DA: I feel hopeful. I’m happy to see folks not waiting to be given their seats at tables and creating their own tables. Shout out to Beyonce and Solange, two unapologetic Lousiania-bred ladies who inspire me constantly. I think theater spaces for the longest have centered on white-washed, cis, straight narratives that are tired and played out. People are craving new, innovative art that is representative of the world we are living in. I hope we get to a point where stories like mine are normal and Black, queer theater expands past The Color Purple. A brand new awakening is upon us.
OAD: You're a multi-hyphenate performer with at least acting, singing and music production (that I know of!) - do you also do anything else AND do you feel more comfortable with one thing or another or is it all facets of one expression?
DA: I appreciate this question because to be honest it wasn’t until I moved to New Orleans that I embraced all the facets of my creativity. Before moving to New Orleans, I never directed or produced a play. I hadn’t acted my entire 20s, even though I grew up doing it. I was only doing music, so it feels good to be back involved in something that means a lot to me. I’m a writer at my core. As a songwriter and playwright I just feel liberated when I’m taking all the emotions that life brings and encapturing that in a script or song. It’s therapy for me. Just like when I was a kid that would spend hours reading fantasy books or having my action figures play American Idol. It makes me feel like I’m still with that kid and holding their hand as we walk this road together.
OAD: I kind of compared you to Donald Glover in a music review - an artist like him seems to produce work that's maybe in conversation with each part of itself. Do you feel that way about your own self-created/produced work?
I think when 2020 came, it brought this alleviated pressure to produce art that was conscious of the world we are living in. As a queer, Black, non-binary person I have to remind myself that this still needs to be fun for me, so that I can not only heal, but that I don’t become jaded about the world we live in. One thing that you will always get from me as an artist is honesty. I am honest and don’t sugarcoat anything in my art because I rather start conversations then bite my tongue. I don’t have all the answers, but it’s impossible for me to ever be silent. Like fellow queer icon Audre Lorde stated, if you're silent during times of injustice, they’ll lie and claim you enjoyed it.
OAD: Who were some of your creative inspirations growing up, and who are some currently?
DA: I loved Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston growing up. I also loved Raven-Symone. I think now and you can definitely hear in my music that I’ve been inspired by Flo Milli. She’s a southern rapper from Alabama who I met here in New Orleans. Love her. I also love Victoria Monet, she’s such a talented queer black songwriter, singer, dancer and shows what it means to persist in this industry. I also love Issa Rae. Amazing writer, producer, actress, and entrepreneur.
OAD: You grew up in Chicago, how is it different to New Orleans in your experience?
DA: Chicago and New Orleans are beautiful spaces for artists. So much talent in both cities. It’s interesting. As a queer person, I felt more liberated in New Orleans because there were more spaces for me to just be myself. Chicago is extremely segregated. However, Louisiana is still a red state and when you are outside of New Orleans, as an openly gay black man, you are reminded of that. I look at both of these places as home because there are aspects of both cities that have shaped me into who I am today.
OAD: You have unlimited money: what play would you like to put on - where would it be staged and who would star?
DA: I want to do a SCAR biopic from Lion King. Real bad. I relate to Scar, hahaha! I think there is a story there that is interesting to me and I am always rooting for the 'villain'. Loved The Joker. I would stage SCAR in New York, maybe Harlem. Have him be queer. Colman Domingo would eat. With a nice perm down to his back.
OAD: Same question but a music festival.
DA: I was just telling my homie about this. I want to produce a festival similar to Essence, but it be catered to Black Queer artists. Have it somewhere like Berlin. And just get all the gays that are doing the damn thing in one space and create some magic. Lil Nas, Saucy Santana, Destin Conrad, Keiynan, Kehlani, Victoria Monet, Teyana Taylor, Tinashe, serpentwithfeet, SZA, ME! It would be a time.
OAD: If people are interested in finding out more, and supporting you and your project, Shadow, what can they do RIGHT NOW?
DA: You can donate to our gofundme and share the poster and promo on your social media. Take that $5 you will spend on your coffee and donate to a story that can possibly save someone's life.
Click here for more information about Shadow and Donyae's fundraising page.
talking to Paul Oswell
Donyae Asante is a multi-talented, cross-media performer from Chicago who has made big strides in the New Orleans arts scene. Currently in pre-production for a new play, Shadow (which premiers here in September), Out All Day caught up with Donyae to check on progress and life in general...
OAD: Donyae! Last time we saw you, you were starring in The View Upstairs. How's life been treating you since?
Donyae Asante: Life has been a rollercoaster but I’m enjoying the ride. I just turned 28, deep into my Saturn return. I feel like I’m waking up to the role/self I’ve been playing for so long to feel loved and validated and saying goodbye to him. My true self is emerging and it’s been great. I’m working on my 4th album Donnie, getting my masters in clinical mental health counseling, and producing this next production. It feels good to be where I’m at as a creative and just as a human navigating the last chapters of my 20s.
OAD: You've been back in Chicago recently, but this new project, Shadow, is drawing you back to New Orleans. Can you tell us a bit about it?
DA: Yes, I can’t wait for this project. I started writing this show not too long after my first production I directed, starred and produced in New Orleans, called Inner Child. That show was put on at The Actors Apothecary and that was actually where the first table read of Shadow was done in early 2023. The show centers on Sante Yeargain and his former student, TK Lennix who are both experiencing their tower moments in life where they are confronting their repressed emotions that have been kept in the shadows for too long. I wrote this when I got fired from my job due to discrimination of my sexuality at the end of 2022. I simultaneously lost my grandmother at the time as well. It’s been very cathartic to create this project and I hope it paints a picture of hope for any queer person fighting to be protected in our world right now.
OAD: It's obviously a critical time for the production of works like this, how do you feel about the near future for the more esoteric arts in New Orleans/Louisiana - drag/queer art spaces, etc?
DA: I feel hopeful. I’m happy to see folks not waiting to be given their seats at tables and creating their own tables. Shout out to Beyonce and Solange, two unapologetic Lousiania-bred ladies who inspire me constantly. I think theater spaces for the longest have centered on white-washed, cis, straight narratives that are tired and played out. People are craving new, innovative art that is representative of the world we are living in. I hope we get to a point where stories like mine are normal and Black, queer theater expands past The Color Purple. A brand new awakening is upon us.
OAD: You're a multi-hyphenate performer with at least acting, singing and music production (that I know of!) - do you also do anything else AND do you feel more comfortable with one thing or another or is it all facets of one expression?
DA: I appreciate this question because to be honest it wasn’t until I moved to New Orleans that I embraced all the facets of my creativity. Before moving to New Orleans, I never directed or produced a play. I hadn’t acted my entire 20s, even though I grew up doing it. I was only doing music, so it feels good to be back involved in something that means a lot to me. I’m a writer at my core. As a songwriter and playwright I just feel liberated when I’m taking all the emotions that life brings and encapturing that in a script or song. It’s therapy for me. Just like when I was a kid that would spend hours reading fantasy books or having my action figures play American Idol. It makes me feel like I’m still with that kid and holding their hand as we walk this road together.
OAD: I kind of compared you to Donald Glover in a music review - an artist like him seems to produce work that's maybe in conversation with each part of itself. Do you feel that way about your own self-created/produced work?
I think when 2020 came, it brought this alleviated pressure to produce art that was conscious of the world we are living in. As a queer, Black, non-binary person I have to remind myself that this still needs to be fun for me, so that I can not only heal, but that I don’t become jaded about the world we live in. One thing that you will always get from me as an artist is honesty. I am honest and don’t sugarcoat anything in my art because I rather start conversations then bite my tongue. I don’t have all the answers, but it’s impossible for me to ever be silent. Like fellow queer icon Audre Lorde stated, if you're silent during times of injustice, they’ll lie and claim you enjoyed it.
OAD: Who were some of your creative inspirations growing up, and who are some currently?
DA: I loved Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston growing up. I also loved Raven-Symone. I think now and you can definitely hear in my music that I’ve been inspired by Flo Milli. She’s a southern rapper from Alabama who I met here in New Orleans. Love her. I also love Victoria Monet, she’s such a talented queer black songwriter, singer, dancer and shows what it means to persist in this industry. I also love Issa Rae. Amazing writer, producer, actress, and entrepreneur.
OAD: You grew up in Chicago, how is it different to New Orleans in your experience?
DA: Chicago and New Orleans are beautiful spaces for artists. So much talent in both cities. It’s interesting. As a queer person, I felt more liberated in New Orleans because there were more spaces for me to just be myself. Chicago is extremely segregated. However, Louisiana is still a red state and when you are outside of New Orleans, as an openly gay black man, you are reminded of that. I look at both of these places as home because there are aspects of both cities that have shaped me into who I am today.
OAD: You have unlimited money: what play would you like to put on - where would it be staged and who would star?
DA: I want to do a SCAR biopic from Lion King. Real bad. I relate to Scar, hahaha! I think there is a story there that is interesting to me and I am always rooting for the 'villain'. Loved The Joker. I would stage SCAR in New York, maybe Harlem. Have him be queer. Colman Domingo would eat. With a nice perm down to his back.
OAD: Same question but a music festival.
DA: I was just telling my homie about this. I want to produce a festival similar to Essence, but it be catered to Black Queer artists. Have it somewhere like Berlin. And just get all the gays that are doing the damn thing in one space and create some magic. Lil Nas, Saucy Santana, Destin Conrad, Keiynan, Kehlani, Victoria Monet, Teyana Taylor, Tinashe, serpentwithfeet, SZA, ME! It would be a time.
OAD: If people are interested in finding out more, and supporting you and your project, Shadow, what can they do RIGHT NOW?
DA: You can donate to our gofundme and share the poster and promo on your social media. Take that $5 you will spend on your coffee and donate to a story that can possibly save someone's life.
Click here for more information about Shadow and Donyae's fundraising page.