People Title

Year 1 Fellows

Cristal Chanelle Truscott

Year 1 Fellow

Houston, TX

Cristal Chanelle Truscott creates Neo-Spirituals — a’capella musicals — using “Soulwork,” the theatremaking methodology she developed from African American performance traditions. She is a Doris Duke Impact Artist and has received NPN Creation Fund, MAP Fund and NEFA National Theatre Project grants. As founder of Progress Theatre, her plays include: PEACHES, ‘MEMBUH, The Burnin’ and Plantation Remix, a site-specific performance to rehabilitate plantation tourism as an intercultural exploration of U.S. shared histories. As an educator, Cristal’s teaching and research includes African American Theatre, Muslim American Performance and “Enter Faith,” a service project engaging spiritual diversity through workshops, dialogues, and community arts events.