Bio
Noah Mannix (they/them) is a playwright, theatermaker, and teaching artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have a Bachelor’s in English and a certificate in poetic ethnography from Temple University (‘22). Noah worked with Wise Possum Puppetry as a playwright to help write “Mr. Nutterbocker’s 7-Year Plan”, a family puppet show in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival (‘24). They were a New Strides commissioned playwright (The Strides Collective), where they wrote the first act of their play 3 Women (‘24). They are a member of Azuka Theatre’s Rising Writers program as well as Matchbox Theatre’s Playwrights Group. They studied as a playwright at the National Theatre Institute’s Summer Theatermakers Intensive program (‘23), where they were awarded a Miranda Family Fellowship (‘23-current). Their work at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia includes a staged reading of their full-length play All-of-the-Above Jesus (‘23), their one-act play “Prophets” (‘22), and as a teaching artist in Azuka’s Community Engagement Project, “Community Stories” (‘23-Current). Their play All-of-the-Above Jesus received a reading from the Media Arts Council (‘23). They are a finalist for Big Idea Theatre’s One Act Festival (‘23) and Playpenn’s The Foundry (‘22, ‘24). They have also participated in Horizon Theatre’s New South Young Playwright’s Festival (‘22).
Actors Yannick Trapman-O’Brien and Bruce Baldini in a staged reading of All-of-the-Above Jesus at Azuka Theatre, November 2023
Artist Statement
Noah’s work examines and asks questions of identity and community in contact with spirituality. How can we see our own bodies as heavenly bodies, and how do we recognize when we bump up against each other? Furthermore, how can we find communion in our differences as well as our similarities, and strive for a higher understanding of life. Noah's work is often absurd, reflecting the confusing and multi-faceted nature of humanity and identity, and strives for understanding within the questions instead of the answers. These investigations heavily involve themes of nature and connection with the natural world, as well as techniques of poetry and poetic ethnography as community engagement. As a teaching artist, Noah is interested in the techniques of Boal and others to form collective ideas and present collective actions.
Mission Statement
My artistic mission is to build and develop communities of people founded on connection and identity not just in the physical and worldly sense, but in the spiritual sense as well. I believe that through the shared ritual of theatre, and the quiet purposefulness of working to express ourselves through art and creating, we can communicate with one another in a better way that is full of understanding and love. I strive to create this sense of community as a homecoming, that everyone can find a home in my work and ask questions that are inside of themselves. My favorite pieces of theatre are those that interrogate structure and ritual, and invite communities in to make the work together. Theatre in my ideal world is not one thing, but everything. My work explores these ideas in abstraction and absurdism, making the metaphorical literal and bringing many different worlds together. The worlds of nature, humanity, and spirituality are blended into a new thing altogether. It is this blend that can lead us to connection spiritually as well as physically, and help heal the many hurts that are suffered. I focus my writing on coming from the spiritual head in order to make art that is connected with a higher power, and sharing the work with others as a calling to create new interpretations of our lives as human beings. To this end, I often use poetry and heightened language to express themes and convey tones, recalling the liturgies and songs heard in the churches of my youth. Poetry acts in an immediate way felt innately in different ways by different people, and allows for the energy of audience and artist to be heightened. Through these styles, themes, and ideas, my goal is to grow in community with others interested in communing with me and each other.