KISS YOUR DARLINGS is the cuttings from your living room floor. It’s the poems that didn’t make the book, the scene that got cut, the song left off the album. It’s an always changing, always flowing showcase of the pieces our artists love most, that the world has never seen. Your darlings. Bring them. We promise to give them lots of little kisses.

Kiss Your Darlings: Group Project features the in-progress work of 3 different artists, each bringing a short Darling to share, followed by a brief Q&A.

Artist Darlings on May 2 Riane Higa (performance) Eileen Hanley (performance) Mahima Saigal (performance) Jesse Pfister (visual arts)

Kiss Your Darlings is created and hosted by Sophia K Metcalf. Produced by Vick Liu and Makers Ensemble.

Run time is estimated 90 min with a short intermission.

ARTIST BIOS

Mahima Saigal (she / her) is an award winning actor, choreographer, writer and educator from New Delhi, India. With a Bachelor's in History and over 10 years of experience in street theatre Mahima's mission is to create work that manifests the most potent magic of which storytelling is capable of. Work that spreads beauty and understanding of the human experience. Work whose function is to rouse the audience from their torpor, their state of inactivity and through a heightening of the emotions make them aware of the mystery, wonder and the inexhaustibility of the human spirit. Select NY credits: Elyria (World Premiere Atlantic Theater Co.) Queen (NY Premiere, APAC. Nomination: Best Actress in a Leading Role NYIT Awards); Hiding Kanye (Winner: Best Featured Actress, Tamasha-Hypokrit Theater); Jhaanjar Di… (National Queer Theatre); INVASION! (DramaWallah, Winner: Best Ensemble, SAIPAF); Mary V (NY Fringe Festival). Internationally, Mahima has worked with the Akshara National Theater of India where she originated the role of Kasturba Gandhi in Gandhi’s Gita and played the titular role in Shaw’s Saint Joan. Workshops/Development: Vigil-Aunties, Karma Sutra Chai-Tea Latte, Lost in the Fire (Gingold Theatrical Group); I Love Sean (Playwright’s Realm); Dance Nation (Atlantic); Night Diary (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte), among others. With the Atlantic Acting School Mahima has directed several productions for their Acting Conservatory Program.

Eileen Hanley (she / her) is an NYC-based actor, singer, filmmaker and Aries originally from Portland, Maine. Her first album of comedy songs DRAMA QUEEN is available on all streaming platforms. Her work tells stories of morally grey characters struggling to do the right thing through the lens of a gay woman (she’s gay). IG: @glitterwrists, www.eileenhanley.com

Raine Higa (he / him) is an actor/writer from Hawaii. Raine is passionate about creating representation through art and sees live theatre as the best way to see humanity at the most vulnerable. Art is a socially acceptable way of oversharing, thank you for letting me overshare with you!

Gagarin (they / them) is a mover, shaker, and nap taker based in Brooklyn NY. They are solemnly excited to fully embrace the vulnerability of being 5'1" for this performance. Keep up with their shenanigans on insta @hotcephalopodsinurarea, and ask them about their Movement Collective. They're dying to see you view and POINT.

Sophia K. Metcalf (they / them) is an NYC-based actor, musician, and writer. Their plays include Guilty Party (Cosmic Cherry Arts 2021), Support, Gender Cicada, Mother of God (UCI Research & Travel Grant), and their ongoing developmental cabaret show Kiss Your Darlings (Makers Ensemble, DaDa, Brick Aux). They are a divisor and collaborator, and their work often pastiches musical theatre, performance art, verbatim theatre, and movement. In NYC, they have worked with Tectonic Theatre, The New York Neofuturists, Serials, F*cked Up Play Fest, and The Acting Company, and taken workshops with Frantic Assembly and members of the SITI Company. They have their MFA in Acting from UC Irvine and their BA from McGill University. IG @sophiakmetcalf. www.sophiakmetcalf.com