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Middlegame is a bold new work by Raleigh-based playwright and director Andrea Black, Artistic Director of The Sandbox (a subsidiary of See Saw Projects ). Inspired by Medea, this original play reimagines the classic tale through the raw and radiant lens of a woman and mother in Trumpian America.
Part Southern Gothic myth, part magical realist horror, Middlegame weaves ancestral wisdom, betrayal, mysticism, and madness into a story that is as ancient as it is urgent.
This fall we’re raising $1,500 to fund mask creation by Paperhand Puppet Intervention—visionary artists whose work will animate the haunted, archetypal world of the play. These masks are critical to the production. We can’t build this world without them. We also hope to raise an additional $500 for Middlegame production/artist stipends.
Pictured above: Paperhand Puppet director Donovan Zimmerman teaching from Walter Magazine 2020.
What This Play Is
- A Southern Gothic ritual-myth, drenched in grief, transformation, and ancestral reckoning
- A story about the breakdown of psyche, identity, and domestic safety, and what rises in its place
- A space where Black women, women, mothers, and femmes are fully centered in their rage, magic, contradictions, and sacred power
- A meditation on grief, betrayal, motherhood, haunting, and the stories women are forced to tell themselves about survival
Image by Nicole Baster from Unsplash
Who This Play Is For
- Women, Black women, mothers and femmes who have had to code-switch, shrink themselves, or fight to be heard
- People who feel frozen and unable to rise up in our current social climate who want to invest in a piece of art that will encourage dialogue and community connection
- Artists, therapists, survivors, and truth-tellers working through grief and betrayal
- Those drawn to Shakespearean tragedy, gothic horror, true crime, or the haunting ache of lost love
- Anyone asking: What do we owe to the stories that shaped us? And what do we do when they break?
Image by Marco Montero Pisani of ancient amphitheater ruins in Athens, Greece
Why We Need You
The $1,500 we’re raising will go directly to Paperhand Puppet Intervention to craft one-of-a-kind masks that bring this world, and its ghosts to life. Andrea has already received an artist grant from the United Arts Council to cover some of the funds, but we need to raise more to make this happen.
Paperhand are giving Andrea a tremendous discount for the creation of:
- Three sparrow masks (sparrows = traditional greek chorus)
- Two children puppets (using puppets to represent the darker content in this show creates an aesthetic space to process rather than triggering reenactments).
- One large mask (made in four pieces)
For context: A professional custom puppet averages around $1,500 each, depending on complexity, materials, and lead time
(forums.stanwinstonschool.com).
The famed Avenue Q puppets reportedly cost up to $10,000 apiece, each requiring ~120 hours of hand fabrication.
We are seeking an additional $500 in order to hire a production team and actors to bring this play to life.
This next round of community funding will:
- Ensure the production’s visual and emotional landscape reaches its full potential
- Support a rising Black playwright’s artistic leadership in a region that still underrepresents BIPOC theatre makers
- Lay the groundwork for future community engagement events around maternal mental health, grief, and healing
Your Donation = Direct Impact
Any amount will help. Please share with your folks and thank you!!
*Disclaimer: no rewards, giveways or gifts are being offered in exchange for any donations to your GoFundMe fundraiser.