“What was incredible was the hugeness of it; the multitude of the experience. But then there is the interplay between big and small, small and big.” - Leila Henriques on New York
A multicultural city with an industry that has no qualms about expense, New York’s sheer magnitude of creativity is awe-inspiring. In her report on her one month stay, Leila Henriques highlights some jaw-dropping moments. She experienced a German opera with wild, unabandoned set and vocals. An exhibition of faceless stuffed animals at the Museum of Modern Art struck her in its comment on moral decay. The legendary musical Hamilton, which tells the story of an immigrant shaping America’s history, carries haunting nods to the present.
Leila was awarded the Drama For Life Ampersand New York Residency for her outstanding contribution toward Performance as Research and her remarkable curation of the Drama for Life Conference and Festival for 2024. Created many years ago in collaboration with Jack Ginsberg, the annual residency affords the “Artist-in-Residence” an opportunity to live in New York for one month to explore, attend and witness all the performing and visual art opportunities in theatres and museums across the city. It is awarded to deserving Drama For Life staff who demonstrate service beyond contractual requirements.
Even in all its excess, Leila writes how there is also such a humility about New York. Standing in the cold speaking to the small, quiet opera singer is in sharp contrast to the unashamed luxury of the show moments before. The same boldness in story-telling and attention to detail in Hamilton is applied on a street corner at Miranda’s The Drama Book Shop, which houses plays from around the world. The museum that showcases epic art from renowned artists, creates a space where you can make your own art in response. In New York, your voice matters.
The city stands in sharp contrast to our own South African industry where, despite a hunger to create, artists buckle under financial and social pressures. Still, there is a hope that keeps the industry alive - perhaps it is the same indomitable spirit in Hamilton. Perhaps it is the quiet boldness of the Drama Book Shop. Having experienced this interplay between big and small, Leila reflects, “My personal challenge is to allow ambition and imagination to co-exist. To embrace dialogue, diversity and contradiction. New York showed me how these tensions can – at their best – work together.”