Writing the Recipe: Developing a Theatrical Adaptation of High on the Hog

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University is developing a new theatrical experience based on High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Dr. Jessica B. Harris.

The piece will be further developed this November at a Faculty-in-Residency at the ArtLab at Harvard with A.R.T. Associate Artistic Director Dayron J. Miles and movement-based artist Mayté Natalio, who aim to engage the audience’s five senses in the history of African American cuisine while centering food in the narrative experience.

As part of the ArtLab residency, Harvard University Committee on the Arts invites the public to Writing the Recipe: Developing a Theatrical Adaptation of High on the Hog, an ArtsThursday conversation with Harris, Miles, and Natalio on Thursday, November 20, at 6 PM. For more information

Harvard’s ArtsThursdays series is a presidential initiative to offer free weekly performances, exhibitions, lectures, and other events across the University to promote access to the arts at Harvard.

At Writing the Recipe, Dr. Harris will share background and inspirations for the book, and Miles and Natalio will reflect on the discoveries—and questions—that arose during the residency and potential ways food and communal dining may be incorporated into the final theatrical experience. The November residency at the ArtLab at Harvard will provide Miles and Natalio with an opportunity to continue building an outline for the theatrical experience.

The New York Times Bestseller High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by James Beard Lifetime Achievement-winning Dr. Jessica B. Harris explores the history of African American cuisine from Africa across the Atlantic. The book celebrates the foods of the African American experience and how each came to form important parts of African American culture, history, and identity. It was previously adapted by Netflix and One Story Up Productions into the series High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Shaped America.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Dayron J. Miles is the Associate Artistic Director at American Repertory Theater, working with Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Paulus as a key thought-partner to advance A.R.T.’s mission to expand the boundaries of theater and in creating and sustaining the vision for the A.R.T. Miles joined A.R.T. in November 2019 as the Senior Advisor for Civic Engagement and Strategic Partnerships to co-vision with Paulus A.R.T.’s future home, the Goel Center for Creativity & Performance, currently under construction in Boston. Dayron J. Miles is a 2025 ArtLab at Harvard Faculty-in-Residence. Originally from Toledo, OH, Miles was previously the Founding Director of Public Works Dallas at the Dallas Theater Center, a community engagement and participatory theater project designed to blur the line between professional artists and community members.

Mayte Natalio is from Queens, New York by way of Dominican parents. She studied at the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts and SUNY Purchase (BFA). Broadway Choreography credits include Suffs and How To Dance In Ohio. Other Choreography credits include Playland (Tribeca Film Festival), Pyer Moss Fashion Show (Paris Fashion Week) and Another Rose (Virgin Voyages). She directed, choreographed, and authored La Hora Santa for Ars Nova’s Vision Residency. Other theater choreography credits include Kiss My Aztec (Pre-Broadway/Hartford Stage), Love in Hate Nation (Two River Theater), The Tattooed Lady (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Hair (The Old Globe), Into The Woods (Barrington Stage Company), The Winter’s Tale (Dallas Theater Center/ Public Works), and Measure for Measure (The Public Theater/ Mobile Unit 2019). She also served as the associate choreographer for the Broadway revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.