Latest / philly has heART / Bringing Stage Combat to the Street feat. Jameka Monet Wilson

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Bringing Stage Combat to the Street feat. Jameka Monet Wilson · philly has heART

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This is Robert Marsh, and you're listening to
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Philly Has Heart Podcast. In this podcast, we
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sit down with artists, gallerists, educators,
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curators, and other creatives who comprise the
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Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
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exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
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are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
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is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
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this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
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me always is my producer, Lucinda Degra. Salametsis
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be. And today we have Jamika Monet -Wilson. Welcome.
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Thank you. We have you with us today, but you
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also don't need an introduction. She is the shero
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Philadelphia did not know it needed. You know
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her from her self -defense kick. If you have
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been living under a rock for the past few weeks,
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Jamika squared up against the masked man threatening
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women on early mornings in Philadelphia's City
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Hall area. And Jamika ran into this less -than
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-gentleman on her way to SoulCycle. In a Fox
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29 piece, Jamika mentioned learning stage combat
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at art school. And, well, Lucinda immediately
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DM'd her. So, Jamika, welcome. Thank you so much
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for having me. Thank you. And one of the things
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that also stood out the most was probably, hey,
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I went to art school and I learned how to high
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kick on my stage combat class. And so take us
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through your artistic journey that brought you
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to the performing arts. What moments, both big
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and small, directed you to where you are today?
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Yeah. So my dad is a preacher. So I grew up singing
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in the church and that's how I kind of found
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art. really starting to feel like oh wow like
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I really want to do this and I want to do it
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for a lot of people they noticed whenever I was
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singing in the church that like I never was ashamed
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that's what they said she kept the tune and she
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kept going but like I was never nervous I got
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a lot of solos and things like that so that's
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kind of how my parents found out like oh Maybe
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something in performance would be good for her.
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Eventually, they enrolled me in an arts program
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in fifth grade, and that's whenever I found out
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theater was a thing. I remember my first production
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was in Sleeping Beauty Junior, and I was Maleficent.
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Yes! Right! right yes villain energy they were
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sick of me by the end of the conversation I knew
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everyone you were method yes yes yes twin method
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I was just banishing everybody taking your pencils
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and taking your candy that could be mine yes
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And I just fell in love with it from that moment.
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I didn't grow up with a lot of resources. I didn't
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grow up with a lot of money. So that was my first
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exposure to it. North Carolina had great arts
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training, but we didn't really have exposure
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to see big shows. Or we didn't really have as
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strong of a regional presence as we did in Philadelphia.
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So it wasn't until I was in high school, I actually
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had committed to a school for forensic science.
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I was going to go and I was going to like calculate
3:24
blood splatter and do the physics behind that.
3:26
And I remember my theater teacher at the time,
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shout out to you, Catherine. It was my senior
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year. She pulled me aside and she was like, are
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you going to be happy doing that? Already committed,
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mind you, like full ride. Wow. My family's like,
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woo, we don't have to pay. Right. And then it's
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the art school teacher. She's like, hey, I want
3:42
to talk to you about this. And she asked me if
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I was going to be happy. And I just remember
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breaking down in tears because, of course, I
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wanted to choose stability at the time. It was
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something that I. didn't grow up with and so
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that part sounded nice but whenever I imagined
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my day -to -day like possibly working in gel
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cells like I like to wear bright colors I don't
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like hiding my disposition I also knew that like
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I really was really into abnormal psychology
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so the type of people that I was going to be
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working with it wouldn't be a job that I would
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be able to leave at home and I started to think
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about that as an 18 year old about a lifetime
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of that and I just couldn't imagine doing it
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and it was my theater teacher at the time introduced
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me to the idea that I could go to school for
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theater And it was really late in the game in
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comparison to whenever other people are auditioning.
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Most people, it's like trying to go to an Ivy
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League school. Most places, whenever they're
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doing their yield for the cohort, you're auditioning
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for hundreds of schools. You do something called
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pre -screens, which is basically a pre -audition
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before you even get in the room for the audition.
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You're paying for supplemental essays, for supplemental
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materials. You have an acting coach. Didn't have
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any of that. I also was starting probably eight
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months later than everyone else that was auditioning
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was. I think I put in my pre -screens days before
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the actual window was closed. The only way that
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I made it to New York to get to any of my auditions
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was because they put me on a field trip that
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was already going to the New York area, and the
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assistant principal chaperoned me so I wouldn't
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be alone. And I went in blind, and I think that
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that's why I was kind of successful, because
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I really didn't know what I was getting into
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at the time. I didn't know, like it was a few
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weeks prior that I even found out you could even
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go to school and major in something like theater
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or acting. And then after that, I started getting
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acceptances to... Like, everyone's surprised.
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And then it was just about, like, leveraging
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about where I wanted to go. And there was something
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about UArts about being a multi -hyphenate artist.
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Even at that time, I didn't really want to be
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pigeonholed just into acting. Like, I was so
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interested in about every aspect of art because
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I didn't really have access to that. So I was
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interested in being a technician. I wanted to
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write. I wanted to learn how to play the guitar.
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There were so many things that I wanted to have
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access to in the arts that I just didn't because
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of the way that I grew up. And so that's why
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I ended up choosing UArts. Committed sight unseen.
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Had never been to Philadelphia. The first day
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that I came to Philadelphia was my move -in.
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And I saw City Hall for the first time. Like
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in the sweltering heat of like August. And we
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drove here. It was like a 12 -hour drive in the
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middle of the night. And then came into the light
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into Philadelphia and I fell in love. Where did
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you guys stay, hotel -wise? We didn't even stay
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that day. My parents drove me up here. We moved
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in, and they turned around and went right back
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to North Carolina. Yeah, so I just got dropped
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in Philadelphia. Which, honestly, I wouldn't
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change it. Do you want to put us at a year as
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far as that, so it's easier for us to picture?
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What year was that? Sure, when did I graduate?
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It would have been 2019 that I came here. Oh,
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wow. Yeah, right before COVID. Oh, wow. First
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semester, right before COVID. COVID hit, like,
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right into the early second semester. They were
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like, take this hand sanitizer and stop touching
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each other. You'll be fine. Good for you. You
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know? We're keeping going here. Right, exactly.
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So when young Jamika arrived at the University
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of the Arts as a freshman, she did not know that
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theater was going to be the specific path, right?
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Whenever you audition, you have to audition for
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a concentration. You have to declare. So I knew
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that it was going to be acting, but I had only
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done musicals at that time. So I didn't know,
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I couldn't even name five straight playwrights.
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My audition material was like... for 30 years
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older than I was. Like, I think I did, like,
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a Fences monologue. I was like, I'm Viola Davis.
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Look at this snot bubble. You know? Yeah. Like,
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completely inappropriate for the age that I was.
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You walk into every stage, you just start singing.
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Exactly. This is it. Exactly. I was like, Little
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Shop of Horrors, fame, what else do I need? Fame.
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Look at my, like, warmers. Exactly. Exactly.
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Which was another thing. I was just so green.
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I had no idea. But going to UArts really shaped
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who I became as an artist. I didn't understand
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what experimental theater was. I didn't understand
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what new work was. One of the first straight
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plays I ever saw was at the MoMA. I saw Dance
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Nation there, and I fell in love. And in that
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moment, I was like, this is a theater that I
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have to work at at some point. I don't know how
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I'm going to get there. But I remember in that
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moment being like, every decision that I made
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blindly up until this point has led up to this,
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and I'm so glad that I chose everything that
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I did. Like, I know that this is what I'm supposed
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to be doing, and I'm so happy. So happy to have
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made it. Yes! Was there a particular class along
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the way, other than stage combat, that brought
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you that, like, yes moment? It was confirming.
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Yes, yes. I have to shout out Rosemary Hay for
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this. She was my Shakespearean professor and
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Jameson Foreman. I hope that you hear this as
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well. But heightened text. It wasn't until my
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junior year of college that I started to come
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out of the imposter syndrome because everyone
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around me had more exposure to plays, had grown
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up probably with more resources to go and see
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art. And then here I was, and the only art that
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I had really seen was that on TV or what the
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school was providing. So I still was curating
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my own taste, and I felt very outside of my body
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as an actor. like I always felt like I needed
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like someone from the outside to tell me that
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my work was good rather than feeling like I deserve
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to be here I deserve to be in this room not that
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anyone was making me feel this way but intrinsically
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I was like oh like I'm the token ethnic person
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I was like I'm gonna prove my worth in other
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ways now that I'm here but for so long I didn't
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feel like I had that talent and it wasn't until
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like those professors really took me aside and
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they were like you're really good at this, and
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not only are you really good at this, but you
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really excel in really difficult material. So
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I was reading Angels in America. And we chose
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you. Yes! You are meant to be here. Exactly.
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I remember Rosie, she showed me my jury, which
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is whenever we perform for our professors and
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they give us a big grade. It's a high -weighted
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performance. And she made me read my feedback
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back out to her. And she was like, what do you
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see? And every time that I was trying to be like,
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well, I could have done better in this. And she
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was like, but what do you see on the page? And
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I remember that just really course correcting
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me as a person and the way that I objectively
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critique myself as an artist. It really helped
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me find my wheelhouse. I would say that I feel
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very comfortable in the Shakespearean world.
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I love heightened text. Love Hamlet. I'm rereading
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it right now. I love anything that ventures into
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heightened realism. Poetry is where I find that
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I actually communicate myself the best. If it
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wasn't for those people bringing that into the
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light for me, I probably wouldn't know that about
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myself. So I really do credit that, them helping
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me find that. And that's the world that I've
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been working the majority in since then. So that's
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been really cool. Oh, that's great. Because you
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didn't have that exposure throughout your childhood,
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when you did get to Philadelphia, what were those
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stage moments or those... shows that then really
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opened up that world to you? Mm -hmm. Ones that
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I participated in as an actor or ones that I
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saw? Kind of both, right? Like, what from Philadelphia
11:07
allowed you to then kind of immerse yourself
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into what theater life could be? Well, I really
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am thankful that my training gave me a lot of
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opportunity to perform. Oh, when I think about
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the stretch pieces, I mean, we were such generative
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artists. I was always doing something. I remember
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one of my mentors when I went to college had
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gifted me a little notebook and it said, say
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yes to every good thing. And that's what I did.
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And I overlooked myself. Like I was doing like
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three or four shows within like two months span.
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So I feel like it really helped build my work
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ethic and like get used to like a life of not
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really sleeping and figuring out when I'm going
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to be eating, you know? But Hamlet is a show
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that is really near and dear to me. I got a chance
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to play that role whenever I was a senior in
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college. And that language, I remember Jameson
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again, he would talk to us about Shakespeare
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and how the rhythm will never leave your soul.
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And that is one that is very much, if we're talking
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about Spider -Man, that's my symbiote. Whenever
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I wake up in the morning, I will still hear rhythm
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or some of the verse from that in my head just
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randomly. And as I'm getting older. I'm starting
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to understand there's like this, to be or not
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to be monologue, there's a line about the thousand
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natural shocks that the flesh is heir to. And
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I think about that every single day as I'm getting
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older. Like about all of the things that we as
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people learn to tolerate, you know? And what
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is the thousand and one? What is that one thing
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that pushes us over the edge that we feel like
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we can't bear? Because our body... is already
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so used to holding so much every single day.
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I feel like that is the lifeblood of humanity.
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And so I will always return to that piece whenever
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I'm thinking about my proximity to others and
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their proximity to me. And I feel like it helped
12:51
change the way that I wanted to interact in the
12:53
world as a person, of not just wanting to be
12:59
a performer, but for my legacy to be something
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that is more intimate with humanity outside.
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of the stage I also did a Brandon Jacob Jenkins
13:09
piece it was called Everybody and it starts at
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the beginning of the play like death comes to
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meet you and it's like you're dying from this
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point on and the whole play is everybody's like
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trying to go to their family members trying to
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go to their friends like trying everything to
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stop death for coming for them all they need
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is someone to trade places with them and eventually
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like not to spoil the end of the show but no
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one doesn't And so they have to face death. And
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I feel like that was another piece that really
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changed me fundamentally. As an actor, it gave
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me the skills to be able to swing and to also
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be an understudy. Because the kind of caveat
13:46
of that play is that all five of the everybody's
13:50
that are cast, we know the entire show. And whenever
13:52
death picks us, it's random. It's a lottery.
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So we actually don't know we're playing the lead
13:56
that night until someone hands us a ball. And
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it's like, you're dying starting now. So it was
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a process that's full of anxiety. Oh my gosh.
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Yes. I remember I talked to no one for like three
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months. I was like, they're like, what are you
14:11
up to tonight? I'm like, I'm looking at this
14:12
script. I'm memorizing my lines. I'm talking
14:17
with myself. So yeah, that's something that I
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will never forget from my artistic standpoint.
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And I will also never forget whenever I pulled
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my ball that night. Everyone found out I was
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everybody at the same time I was finding out.
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And I just remember the whole crowd just going
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crazy. That's one of those memorable theater
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experiences that I'll never forget. By listening
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to your recent self -defense experience, we get
14:40
the sense that you are especially attuned to
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your spatial awareness. And we have to think
14:45
that that relates to your work in theater as
14:47
it seems parallel to blocking. I feel like I
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learned spatial awareness primarily from... combat
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yeah and also whenever you think about blocking
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everything is in relation to the amount of space
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that we have in between like you put people like
15:05
nose to nose they're lovers you put people six
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feet away they just broke up you know like our
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bodies are we're attuned to read space in that
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way um and then whenever it comes to like closing
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distance increasing distance understanding what's
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going on keeping other people safe understanding
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what to look for I would say that most of that
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came from stage combat because it's all about
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like, I'm trying to keep you safe. All of these
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things can hurt you if I close distance, but
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I'm going to make sure that whenever I kick my
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leg, that I'm actually not going to break your
15:36
nose or that I'm doing certain things in order
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to make sure that we're all safe, especially
15:40
whenever I'm using a sword. I now have, my arm
15:43
has increased by six inches. So I have to have
15:48
a certain level of spatial awareness. Because
15:50
often, I just did Romeo and Juliet at the Arden,
15:53
and we did, like, an eight -person fight, if
15:55
not more, all at the same time, different fights
15:57
at the same time. So, like, I'm not only watching
16:00
out to make sure I'm not hitting my scene partner,
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but I'm also making sure that the person that's
16:03
about to flip off this bench is not going to
16:05
hurt me either. So, you know, yeah, it's a lot
16:09
of, like, making sure that we're looking out
16:10
for each other and making sure that we understand
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our bodies. Recent work includes Franklin's Key
16:18
for This Summer and Last, Romeo and Juliet, The
16:21
Drag, Macbeth. What is next for you? I don't
16:26
know yet. It's okay. I actually have an audition
16:31
tomorrow. Lovely. Yes. But I don't know. I think
16:35
this is... both the beauty and the pain of being
16:38
an actor. I mean, Fritholski was such a beautiful
16:41
experience. It was the first time I ever made
16:43
it to the New York Times. Now I can say I've
16:44
made it twice for two completely different things.
16:47
But that was such a special production, and it
16:52
was my first time being able to revisit a role.
16:54
which I feel like is a magical experience to,
16:57
I feel like everything as an actor, you always
16:58
want to be like, oh, after it's closed, I wish
17:00
I could have done that. Or if I had the training
17:03
that I have now, I would go back and do this
17:04
differently, and then I got the opportunity to.
17:06
And then it got to stream, which was my first
17:08
time experiencing that. So forever grateful for
17:12
that process, forever grateful for those people
17:13
that put me and my body in a very specific way.
17:16
If we want to talk about spatial awareness. Pick
17:18
Iron is a very physical theater, and I never
17:20
thought that I would ever work with them. I remember
17:22
their grad school was connected to UArts. Whenever
17:25
they would be standing at the booth for fairs
17:27
and stuff, I would walk right past them. I was
17:29
like, I will never work for you. That's where
17:33
the people do flips and acrobatics are going.
17:37
So I remember our movement director at the time,
17:40
whenever I first did Franklin's Key, she was
17:43
like, trust your body because it'll know what
17:46
to do. And that's something that I have taken
17:48
with me. But as for what's next, I'm in that
17:50
beautiful place of I don't know yet. That's exciting.
17:55
Anything can happen. Yeah, anything can happen.
17:58
So running into that, open arms. Jamika, thank
18:02
you so much for sharing your story with us. Your
18:05
artistic journey has been absolutely amazing.
18:08
Where can our audience find you online? You know,
18:11
I really need to get back up. the website. I
18:15
repel technology, actually, so that's the funny
18:18
thing about all of this. I'm like, how do I whip
18:20
this kit? How do I respond to this email? How
18:24
do I reply to you? You reply all to everybody.
18:29
I'm that person. I'm like, oh God, I send it
18:32
to everyone. You can find me on Instagram right
18:36
now. My tag is at Jamaica, J -A -M -E -K -A,
18:39
Monet, M -O -N -E -T. Wilson, W -I -L -S -O -N.
18:44
Everyone, keep your eyes out for Jamaica, and
18:47
if you see her on the street, thank a hero. We'll
18:52
be right back with rapid -fire questions. And
18:55
we're back with rapid -fire questions with Jamaica.
18:59
Favorite Philadelphia neighborhood? Old City.
19:01
Perfect. Philadelphia art scene in one word?
19:06
Beautiful. Cheesesteaks, with or without? Without.
19:12
F. Mary Kill Part 1. Tragedies Adapted to Teen
19:16
Movie Content Edition. The MTV Made for TV Adaptation
19:22
of Carmen, a hip opera. Right. Starring Beyonce
19:25
before she, like, left Destiny's Child. Of course.
19:30
Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. Or O, Channeling
19:34
Othello. Oh. Okay. I'm going to F. Carmen. Because
19:40
does that mean I get to kiss Beyonce? If you
19:42
want. Okay, period. So we'll do it for that.
19:50
Iconic. I would marry Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and
19:54
Juliet. And I would kill Othello. Othello was
20:00
one of my favorite plays that I read in high
20:02
school. It's gorgeous. It's kind of psychotic.
20:06
It is very psychotic. But best villain ever.
20:11
I'm just a hater. I'm just a hater, and I'm here
20:14
to do hater things. Okay, F. Mary Kill, part
20:19
two. Musicals, comedies, tragedies. Mary, tragedies,
20:25
but comedies. Kill musicals, I'm sorry. I get
20:28
it, I get it. All my musical friends are going
20:32
to do it. This is where you started. This is
20:35
where you came from. Now I'm going to get kicked
20:37
in the chest. Jameika, this has been absolutely
20:44
incredible. Thank you. Thank you for your heroics.
20:48
Thank you for the presence you bring on stage.
20:52
Thank you for being great Philadelphia. Aw, thank
20:55
you so much. Thanks for tuning in to Philly Has
21:26
Heart, your weekly cultural update. Subscribe
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and join us next time as we keep amplifying the
21:33
artists shaping Philadelphia culture. Philly
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has heart and art.