STARR KIRKLAND
Starr Kirkland (she/they) is a bi-coastal actor and spoken word artist. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and the British American Drama Academy.
Starr continues to stay busy working on plays, readings, dance shows, spoken word performances, and programs with youth in the community. Her passion for the advancement of youth with the use of creative arts continues through her work in many programs that foster a creative, open, intellectual environment for young people to express themselves.
She works with Realize Your Beauty promoting positive body image through theatre arts, and performs an original one-woman show promoting literacy at The Morgan Library and Museum as Belle da Costa Greene.
In a topsy-turvy world, you can often find her upside down: whether it be in a silk, walking on her hands, or generally being strange in a corner.
CONGRATULATIONS Team COTILLION! - The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in The Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel received 8 nominations at the 51st Annual Vivian Robinson AUDELCO Awards, and two awards: Mika Eubanks for Best Costume Design and nicHi douglas for Best Choreography.
photos: Still1 / Loreto Jamlig
COMPANY MEMBER
Teresa L. Williams
Still1
Seven Devils Playwrights Conference
Teresa L. Williams
CURRENT PROJECTS
National Theatre Conference
Dec 1-3
DGF: Fellows 2023 DGF Playwrighting Presentation of New Works
The Care and Keeping of Schizophrenia (and Other Demons)
by Gloria Oladipo
directed by Candis C. Jones
Monday, November 20 @ The Lucille Lortel Theatre
Ensemble Studio Theatre: Where Everybody Knows Your BRUNCH
Sunday, October 1 @ EST
Brunch begins at 12pm, plays begin at 1pm
Get ready to experience the ultimate dose of quirky and mysterious at "Spooky Vibes" by Manic Pixie Dream C#%! Presents...
How to Bury a Body Before Brunch
by Mecca Medina
Monday, October 2 @ Hart Bar 9pm
by Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold
directed by John Peña Griswold
September 8-24 @ Hudson Guild Theatre
In Tight Five, a terminally-ill comedian makes a faustian bargain with a mysterious interloper to maximize the time she has left. Her life soon spirals into spirited absurdity and deep catharsis.
The Public Emerging Writers Group Presentation of:
by Nissy Aya
directed by Dominique Rider
June 26 @ Shiva Theater (The Public) 3pm & 7pm
2023 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference
June 5-17 @ McCall, Idaho
New Georges and The Movement Theatre Company present
(THE COTILLION)
a play with music
written & directed by Colette Robert
music & lyrics by Dionne McClain-Freeney
additional lyrics by Colette Robert
choreography by nicHi douglas
May 3-27 2023 @ Mezzanine Theater at A.R.T./New York Theatres
THE COTILLION
It’s the Black high society event of the year!
As six high-achieving debutantes interrupt their preparations to peek into the shimmering ballroom, The Harriet Holland Social Club’s esteemed Madam President does her damnedest to ensure it all goes well. She needs no stumbles tonight. No teary-eyed smudges, no unraveling lace, no unraveling ANYTHING. Because if she can’t control these girls, whatever will they think over at Table 4?
Experienced as a Black debutante ball in a large American city in real time—and featuring an all-Black-women company and creative team, down to its three-piece band—The Cotillion interrogates the complexities of Black debutante ball culture and finds that beneath all the respectability politics and sweet serenades lie contradictions even quality make-up can’t cover up. It puts us all in our evening shoes—ya know, those fancy ones that start to pinch as the night wears on—to ask how we choose to uplift young Black women in a world that seeks to diminish them."
RECENT WORK
Interstate 73 Play Reading
Step Mom, Step Mom, Step Mom.
by Jahna Ferron-Smith
directed by Matt Dickson
New Ambassadors Theatre Company’s FEARfest: HOT BLOOD SUNDAE by Aly Kantor
directed by Mia Anderson
New Light Theater Project presents INK'DWELL by Erin E. Adams
directed by Tabatha Gayle
59E59 Theaters
Ojai Playwrights Conference New Works Festival
Running While Black by Jahna Ferron-Smith
directed by Taylor Reynolds
Tight Five by Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold
directed by John Peña Griswold
Cherry Lane Theatre
The World Premiere of CRYING ON TELEVISION by R. Eric Thomas
directed by Reginald L. Douglas
Everyman Theatre
Antu Yacob and Project Y present ALL HANDS ON DECK
Featuring work by Julienne Hairston, Lisa Strum, Bleu Beckford-Burrell, and up-and-comer Mahalet Tegenu
directed by Celestine Rae and Dennis Allen II
South Coast Repertory THE 2022 PACIFIC PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL:
HOW TO ROLL A BLUNT by Naomi Lorrain
directed by Colette Robert
dramaturg, Francisca Da Silveira
Segerstrom Stage
Ensemble Studio Theatre Youngblood Monday Lunch Episode 15: Love and Grief or the Mary Christmas Play
by Phanésia Pharel
directed by Mikhaela Mahony