Today we’d like to introduce you to Amira Temple.
Amira, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started theatre at Valencia Park elementary School, back when it was a performing arts school. I continued in high school but didn’t go to college until a few years after I graduated. I wasn’t certain that I wanted to study theatre and was too busy trying to find my footing as an independent adult and traveling when I could. When I did start school, I was not certain what I wanted to do with my degree. When the pandemic began, I got a job as a community health worker for San Diego State Research Foundation, and around the same time began heavily involving myself in community groups that focused on mutual aid and social justice. It was through these experiences that I learned I wanted to use my passion for theatre to make a difference in my community. Since then, I have honed in on pursuing my passion in a way that aligns with my highest truth in the hopes that my labor will bear fruits that my community can enjoy.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I find that one of the biggest obstacles I have faced when trying to step into my own power has been myself. I moved out before I graduated high school and spent years trying to find my footing in that independence as a person and an artist. In this, I realized that some of the greatest challenges I had to overcome were my own insecurities, lack of focus, and the willingness to sacrifice momentary pleasures for my greatest good. Of course, during this time, I was struggling quite desperately financially, battling housing instability and food insecurity, but nothing compared to the struggles I was facing emotionally. I can’t say what exactly clicked for me, I usually describe it as just being sick of myself, but I finally decided that I deserved everything I wanted, even if I couldn’t name it all just yet, and began making small choices that would add up to a different person who leads a different life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I consider myself a theatremaker, although I spend most of my time performing. In 2022 alone, I have participated in 8 plays and 2 readings, and I will be closing the year out with rehearsals for my first show of 2023. Everyone one of these processes has made me a better collaborator, friend, and artist. I would like to think that people know me for my willingness to try and play, eagerness to support others, contributions to creating safe spaces, enthusiasm for healing through the arts, and gratitude for all the roles that are played in order to make a production happen. I am proud of the ways that I have held steadfast to my values and intentions with every project I have participated in and how I have allowed each experience to further my ability to make room for other people’s emotions and talents and show up for my community in more meaningful ways. What sets me apart from others is my innate capacity for leadership and justice and the focus and belief I have when it comes to my dreams. I often find myself in a position of guidance or mediation without trying, and it is a responsibility I used to resent. Now I see it as an opportunity to set the stage (no pun intended) for others on the creativity, freedom, openness, and empathy that can be brought into spaces if we leave our judgement at the door and meet one another where we are at. Some of the work I am proud of is the collaboration with middle schoolers, led by Dani Bedau, to give them opportunities to engage with the arts and learn about life in college, my role as Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun which pushed me to expand myself as a performer and appreciate the black women who came before to make my life possible, and my current role in Loud Fridge’s Ripped which is requiring a vulnerability I have never shared with the world.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
The strength of the chain comes from the interlocking of many. The pandemic proved to me that there is only so much power in the individual; real strength comes from a community.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: hunnyr0se
Image Credits
Alex Zimmerman
Josh Concepcion
Studio B Productions
