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So, you wanted to know more?

Who am I?

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Well, firstly what the fuck is that blue thing?

 

Well, it's me. Kind of. Ish.

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I’ve often looked in the mirror and not recognized the person in it. There’s some sort of fundamental disconnect between my self-image and physicalized self. In truth, I’d most aptly describe myself as blobish. Making theater, dance, and comedy is when I find shape. Identity markers are helpful– they give context to my perspectives and interests–but ultimately feel static. When I’m choreographing, dancing, writing, acting, directing, or even trying my hand as a cartoonist (as seen above), I am dynamic. Free. On fire. Falling. And floating. Amorphous. Creating art allows me to be ever-changing, ideas spilling out of me as quickly as I find new inspiration. Always in conversation with my past self and moving toward the future. 

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Because blob-ish cannot currently be found under the census’s ‘Race,’, let me be a bit more straightforward. I am a Black queer woman. I love being scared. I hate being tickled. I am an undergraduate at Yale University, majoring in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies and pursuing a Master’s in Public Health. I’m invested in creating communities of artists and collaborators. I love competition. And, I can’t stand losing. I couldn’t imagine myself without any of these parts. And yet, even the staticness of these words feels limiting. I am always in motion—blurry and blob-ish.

As a child, I’d always said that if I found a genie in a bottle, my first wish would be to ask for unlimited wishes. While I have come to a different conclusion on workers’ rights, I’ve never tempered my want. In performance, I can want primally, irrationally, divinely. To desire so intensely, to push forward with unfettered hope, is why I create art. I want to tell stories and create pieces that move people to desire more for themselves, to shamelessly yearn and lust for what they want. I want to find that even when words fail us, the body can want more from others, the world, and itself. In every medium I operate–improv, sketch comedy, theater, standup, and dance–desire is palpable. It clouds people’s (often my own) judgment, pushing them to hilarious acts of irrationality; it pushes my characters to speak what most dare not; it asks my dancers to push their minds and bodies to new heights. I am here to create work that inspires us to dream big and pursue relentlessly.

Why do I create?

What am I working on?

I am currently directing the musical Cabaret ( by Kander & Ebb and Joseph Masteroff) for a Yale Senior Thesis Production; the show will run from February 26-28, 2026.

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My original play, Boys Will Be Bugs, was selected for the Yale Playwrights Festival and will be performed in a staged reading on February 21st, 2026

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I will be performing in the role of Austria in Austria in Georgia (an original play by Yale Drama School playwright Aaron Magloire); the show will run from April 9th-11th

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For the rest of 2026, I will be performing, nationally touring, and writing for Yale's premiere sketch comedy group, Red Hot Poker, and improv comedy group, Purple Crayon. For the latter, I won't be writing; I'll be winging that one.

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The big leagues.

Where am I going?

© 2026 by Amara Neal

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