Nile Harris' minor b at The Shed

minor b is a play commissioned by The Shed and presented in association with Ping Chong and Company. Development was made possible by Center for Performance Research, The Church in Sag Harbor, and 99 Canal. Featuring Performers Jim Fletcher, Nile Harris, Tony Jenkins, Lei (sis), Jonah Rollins; Creator, Director, and Performer Nile Harris; Co-Director Dyre Rhoads; Sound Designer Kwami Winfield; Set Designer Marie De Testa.

Performances will take place on August 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Performances will take place at The Shed's Griffin Theater located at 545 West 30th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues.

For sold out performances, an in-person wait list will be available 15 minutes before the show begins.

A MESSAGE ABOUT THE SHOW FROM NILE

minor b is a play. it's an unfinished play about love. More specifically it's a love letter to my lead actor Jim Fletcher, or perhaps it's a love letter to the white downtown theatrical avantgarde of the early 2000’s or maybe it’s my swan song to the one who got away. The performance follows a Board Member at the Shed who falls in love with a much younger commissioned artist named Nile. Running parallel to this is a fictive gesture of a jazz musician, inspired by the cornetist, Buddy Bolden, who was New Orleans’ innovator of jazz until he went “mad” and spent the remainder of his life in a mental asylum. I’ll play the part of Buddy Bolden, I mean Nile, I mean Bolden and play the clarinet and tell you why I’ve gone mad. What did Solange say in the elevator? “There’s a lot to be mad about”. The black box theater can feel like a cage—I mean a stage. And sometimes these institutional invitations can feel like a trap. Why do I feel like I’m losing my mind? Maybe it’s because I love Him.