Majigeen
Book and Music Written by Jennifer Chase
Majigeen is a musical-drama inspired by the life or historical figure, Anta Majigeen Njaay, a thirteen-year-old girl torn from her home in Senegal in the 19th century and sold as an enslaved person in the port of Havana, to wealthy plantation- owner, Zephaniah Kingsley. Mamadou Seck, griot to the Njaay family, revives Anta's story from her baptism as a young Muslim, to her capture by King N'della's fierce warrriors, to her purchase, marriage and motherhood by the age of fourteen. Anta becomes Mrs. Anna Kingsley, owner of enslaved people, wealthy plantation owner, and grandmother. Themes of paradox, female empowerment, particularly women of color, connect the past and present.
La Caroline
A Rock Opera by Jennifer Chase,
Music by John E. Citrone.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past" - George Orwell 1984
Jacksonville’s Rock Opera uncovers French, Timucua, and Spanish lives that converged at Ft. Caroline in 1564 to make us who we are today ~ for better or worse. The Rock Opera is set in present-day New York City, as well as 16th Century Old and New Worlds. La Caroline chronicles the lives of the French Huguenot explorer, René de Laudonnière, artist Jacques LeMoyne, Timucua Chief Saturiwa, and others who were part of this extraordinary period of Native American and European history.
Fictional characters, who represent groups historically underrepresented, such as Timucua women and the Timucuan “Two Spirits,” illuminate the world of the culturally vibrant Timucua, their rituals, and ceremonies. Diverse perspectives emerge as well as the complicated situations in France and Spain, between the devout Huguenots, the Catholic Church, and monarchs and explorers. The history, blended with contemporary original music composition and dance, casts us into the lives and passionate desires of the now lost Timucua people and original European settlers, and the parallels between the old world ideas and today’s struggles.
Handmaid
A full-length drama by Jennifer Chase
Set in present-day Little Havana, Miami, Cuban immigrant, and fledgling artist, Rodriguez DeSilva has twenty-four hours remaining to fulfill the requirements of a commission he's received to create a replica of the 17th century Velazquez painting, “Las Meninas.” Rodriguez presents the project's requirement to paint a replica and to make matters worse, the commission is tied to the memory of his deceased father with whom he had a volatile relationship. When pressure from his family and his ambitious girlfriend becomes too great, Rodriguez turns to drink and paints everything but his commission, blurring the line between Las Meninas, his paintings, the past, and the present. Visits from his father and Velazquez himself don’t help as Rodriguez struggles to find his identity, his artistic voice, reality within dreams, and dreams within reality.
Now available as ebook or print on Amazon
Artichoke Soup- a drama with original music by Jacinta Chaminade
American songwriter, Justine travels to France to collaborate with friend and fellow musician, Albert and his wife Colette. During their time alone together, Justine falls in love with Albert. They share one romantic night before her return to the States. Once home, she vacillates between pining away for Albert and feeling guilty over their one night of love. When Colette announces her intention to visit Justine in the States along with Albert and their son, Bernard, Justine jumps at the chance to absolve herself of her guilt by hosting the family. When Albert resumes his musical collaboration with Justine, the intensity of the creative work, the emotional tension, and the personalities of the band, the families, Justine, and Albert collide. Justine's expectations eclipse Albert's apathy. Disappointment, love, music, lust, existentialism, and betrayal simmer. These are the ingredients of Artichoke Soup.
Artichoke Soup-17 song album is available for purchase on Amazon and streaming.
Cracking la Coque original artwork by Kathleen N. King.
Cracking la Coque
A story of food, family, and France
Vendeuse, a French immigrant food truck owner, makes crêpes. She is very pregnant, past her due date, and must explain to her young apprentice how to set up her stand and make crêpes while she is out to give birth. In order for Apprentice to fill in and take over the business, she must learn the sacred secret family recipe for the crêpe itself. Vendeuse avoids giving out her "real" recipe. Her menu of original crêpes, each named for a family member, reveals the umbilical cord between resilience and resistance in a path to female empowerment that comes a long way to reach her.
There is still one shell though that she has yet to crack.
Eva Chase Wood?
A dramatic work of autobiographical fiction
Set in Artist’s studio somewhere near the Sagamore Bridge in Massachusetts, 30-something, "Model recollects stories of her adolescence in Catholic School in the 1970’s and her path to discovery and identity, while posing for Artist, whose contemporary paintings incorporate religious iconography and Mary Magdalene references.
Model’s recollections reveal important lessons she missed as a rebellious teenager along with a broader observation of the comedy and comfort, conflict and beauty, that can be found in religion and art.
The artist becomes an unwitting priest hearing confession, his studio a confessional booth as Model poses often nude, and confesses her “sins.” Her journey of discovery and identity evolves as she muses about her conception, baptism, First Communion, Confession, and Confirmation, peppered with the views of the rigid Sisters of Divine Providence, an invaluable stack of 45’s, an unwelcome summer guest, and the wise words of her father.
Pietá
A one-act play by Jennifer Chase
"Kites fly high against the wind, not with it."
- Winston Churchill
Pietá is an allegorical tale set in Jamaica and Sun’s backyard on the last night of his life. The play is dedicated to and inspired by the incomparable Rick O'Shea with abundant love and gratitude.
Original poster art by Joseph Shuck
Renunciant
A Solo Performance by Jennifer Chase
An American English teacher faces the task of teaching English to adult refugee students – from many different countries – in one room. Mutual trust is required, as she struggles with her own identity and privilege and the stories of courage, pain, joy, and journey, that emerge in the security of a classroom – with no borders.