How Aleshea Harris Combined Influences from Across History to Create Her Tragic, Absurd Debut 'Is God Is'

"When the playwright and now film director Aleshea Harris began writing the script for " Is God Is," she was on food stamps; subletting an apartment in North Hollywood; and working multiple jobs, including teaching at California Institute of Arts where she'd gotten her MFA in 2014 and moonlighting as an associate at David's Bridal. "I was so broke," Harris, now 44, said in a recent video interview with IndieWire."

""I wondered what would happen if I were to write a play that was inspired by ancient Greek tragedy, but populated by people who look and speak like myself," she recalls thinking at the time. Inspired by a former professor with whom she studied these Hellenic texts, Harris started writing a surrealist narrative about fraternal twin sisters seeking vengeance on behalf of their mother, from whom they have been estranged. "Is God Is" premiered at Soho Rep Theatre New York in 2018 and garnered Harris three Obie Awards."

"Harris, who was born in Germany, raised in the U.S. South, and now lives in Pasadena, didn't set out to be a film director until she linked with her producers - Riva Marker at Linden Entertainment, Tessa Thompson at Viva Maude, and Janicza Bravo at CYRK. "It was actually Jeremy O. Harris and Janicza, who are friends, who told me separately that they each thought that I should direct the movie," Harris said. After Janicza offered her mentorship, the playwright agreed to take on the task."

"Still, a film set differs from the theater production, so Harris dove into studying how to most effectively translate her vision for the screen. The biggest lesson she learned was to &quot"

Aleshea Harris wrote “Is God Is” while working multiple jobs and living with financial hardship. She sought imaginative refuge by creating a surrealist story inspired by ancient Greek tragedy, featuring fraternal twin sisters who seek vengeance for their estranged mother. The play premiered at Soho Rep Theatre in 2018 and won three Obie Awards. Harris later became a film director after producers and friends encouraged her, with mentorship from Janicza Bravo. She studied how film differs from theater to translate her staging instincts into a screen-ready vision, focusing on the most effective ways to adapt her work for cinema.

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