Performance Dates & Times
Thursday, January 22nd at 7:30pm

Friday, January 23rd at 7:30pm

Saturday January 24th at 7:30pm

Sunday, January 25th at 7:30pm

Monday, January 26th at 7:30pm

Content Warning: This show contains mature themes and language

Presented in partnership with The Exponential Festival

amani meliyah & maleek rae

bodycount

Director, Co-Creator - amani meliyah
Writer, Co-Creator, Featured Performer - Maleek Rae

CAST:
Taj Burroughs, Murphy Lorenzo Applin, UGBA, Valentina Johnson, Graciella Ye' Tsunami, and Maleek Rae

You dug a hole, now lie in it. ‘BODYCOUNT’ is a raw, visceral exploration of what it takes to rise from the depths of our own making. Set in a cruising park, this play delves into the simplest, most primal truth—sometimes all we really want is a little connection and to feel held. It follows Gatekeeper, an aspiring photographer yearning to craft a world where large Black queer bodies can simply exist, and be embraced in gardens. The story whispers of longing, vulnerability, and the fierceness of reclaiming space in a world that too often deems that those who are fat and black are of less worth.

Written by Maleek Rae and directed by amani meliyah, BODYCOUNT combines their unique talents in a collaborative, community-driven experience that explores vulnerability, healing, and the human need for intimacy.

About the ArtistS

amani meliyah is a Brooklyn based theatre artist and filmmaker originally from South Carolina’s gullah geechee corridor. As a generative artist, they are most excited by new work that explores the interconnections of Liberation, Spirit, and community. Some of their favorite recent collaborations include Ghetto Alchemy: A Lunchroom Survival Guide by Maleek Rae (The Tank), Receptors by Aliyah Curry (Science in Theatre Festival), and the film Absent by Thomas Booker (recipient of the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant). amani is an active Theatre of the Oppressed practitioner with TONYC, an alumni of the Roundabout Directors Group, and is the current National Black Theatre SOUL LAB Directing Resident.

Maleek Rae (they/them) is a multi-disciplinary writer, performer, rapper, and director from Detroit’s Eastside. A recent recipient of the 2025 Princess Grace Foundation's Theatre Honoraria and the New York Stage and Film Founders' Award, Maleek is focused on merging artistic mediums with cultural activations to transform theatrical venues into chain-breaking ceremonial spaces. Their current project, the hip-hop-based ritual play GUTTAH or Ceremonies for Alligator Bait, has received developmental support from The Tank, The Cell, and JACK, and is part of a broader effort to expand the GUTTAH universe into a body of plays, music, and cultural activations that emphasize community building and sustainability in various spaces beyond traditional theaters. Maleek's other works include Love Birds: or How to Fix a Broken Heart, Baldwin Dreams, and co-creations such as Ghetto Alchemy: A Lunchroom Survival Guide and BodyCount: A Biography in the Vale of Cashmere with collaborator amani meliyah. As a performer, Maleek’s credits span theater—such as Mushroom Kingdom (Ars Nova), Mud Row (Premiere Stages), Detroit 67 (DPT), Chekhov/Tolstoy: Love Stories (Mint Theatre), Bacchae (CTH), and Messiah (La Mama)—as well as film and TV, including Them That's Not (Mekhai Lee), Law & Order: SVU, Organized Crime (NBC), HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, and The Best Man: The Final Chapters (Peacock). Maleek has also performed in Terence Nance's SWARM exhibit at ICA Philadelphia and worked as a commercial and motion capture performer. They have been an artist-in-residence or fellow at institutions such as JACK, The Cell, Target Margin Theatre, The Laundromat Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Tank, and Brooklyn Art Exchange.