ANGELA HOUSE
With a strong background in education, coaching, and curriculum design,
Lionwoman Productions TX will partner this fall with Angela House, a well- known Houston non-profit, that focuses on re-introducing formerly-incarcerated women back into society. Our Voices / Ourselves is a playwriting and performance workshop we will bring to residents. Under the direction of Houston Theater Artists and Lionwoman collaborators, Tené Carter and Michele Harrell, participants will explore monologues and scenes that reflect on their experiences for an invited audience in a final showcase.
Lionwoman’s goal in creating and funding “Our Voices / Ourselves Workshops" is to give participating individuals the opportunity, through creative self-expression in a supportive environment, to further grow, value themselves, give voice to, and honor their lived experience.
The Facilitators
Michele Harrell
Tené A. Carter
Michele Harrell is a Teaching Artist specializing in theater and social injustice. She facilitates workshops using theater games and exercises to explore creative art techniques for treating trauma. Michele has collaborated with clinical psychologists and social workers at the National University of Rwanda, Abasa (Genocide/HIV/AIDS
Survivors), and Kigali Health Institute, all in Rwanda. Additionally, she has worked as a cultural fieldworker at the Los Angeles Community Action Network, where she co-created a Forum Theatre project about tenant rights and presented it to the community. Michele is also an actor in theater, film, and television. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Brown University and earned a Master of Arts in Applied Theatre Arts from the University of Southern California, as well as a Master of Arts in Special Education from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.
Michele enjoys traveling and learning about different cultures.
Tené A. Carter is an actress, educator and producer. She was last seen on Houston stages in the Regional Premiere of Main Street Theater’s “Trouble in Mind,” and is the recipient of the NAACP Theatre Award for her performance in August Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean.” Her film credits include the independent film, “UNCONTROL,’ currently streaming on kweliTV, focusing on Black Women and the extremities of OCD. She is also the Co-Producer of the documentary, “BOUND:Africans vs African Americans,” currently streaming on Amazon Prime. As a writer, Tené most recently completed “The Ensemble Theatre’s Playwright Creative Space,” and is currently working on the adaptation of the book, “Who is Sambo,” by Stephen Mackey. Her educational career began with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and she later became a teaching artist with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA. Her teaching career expanded with the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Arts Education Branch, teaching K-6th Theater/ Arts Integration. She later received her Masters in Education and most recently was the Theater Director for Dulles Middle School in Fort Bend ISD. She continues to work with educational programming throughout Houston’s Theater community and beyond. Tené is grateful to be communing with other Theater Educators, sharing ideas and space.
Angela House/Lionwoman team: (L-R) Theater Artist (and Lionwoman board member), Michele Harrell, Angela House Executive Director, Valencia Lewis, Lionwoman Producer, Michelle Britton, Theater Artist, Tene Carter) preparing for playwrighting program with the residents! (September – October, 2024)
HEAR US ROAR!
Going forward, “Hear Us Roar” workshops are envisioned as interdisciplinary arts experiences (visual arts, dance, music, theater, writing, storytelling) to represent lived experience and events that focus on social consciousness and celebrate our common humanity. Potential outreach venues include churches, community centers and schools, with programs designed for high school age students through adults.
​Your contribution is appreciated. Please be sure to confirm via email (lionwomantx@outlook.com) the amount you would like donated for this Community Outreach Project!
