SOLO PERFORMANCE

Tanya has created and toured two full-length solo theatre pieces:
Let My Enemy Live Long! and Miss America’s Daughters. Click on the sidebar or scroll down to learn more about these two shows.

LET MY ENEMY LIVE LONG!

ABOUT THE SHOW

Tanya Shaffer's original solo show "Let My Enemy Live Long!" tells the true story of her journey up West Africa's Niger River to the legendary trade mecca of Timbuktu. When a tragic boat accident leaves the survivors stranded in a marshy, mosquito-ridden no-man's-land, they are forced to travel by canoe, relying on the generosity of nomadic fisher tribes for food and shelter. An unlikely trio of friendship springs up between Tanya (the only foreigner on the boat), an aspiring minister named Yaya, and a former drug-dealer named Touré. Passion, friendship, guilt, and redemption intermingle in this startling, often hilarious tale of a white woman traveling in Africa. Acclaimed musician Baba Duru Demetrius accompanies the production on a variety of West African instruments.

"Like "Swimming to Cambodia," Tanya Shaffer's "Let My Enemy Live Long!" takes us outside the narrow focus of our experience and shows us a world and perspective we would never otherwise have known. Like the storytellers of old, Tanya acts as a translator of recent history, examining contemporary American life through a global lens that is humorous, self-critical, and profoundly compassionate. Through her African journey, she takes us deep into the real Heart of Darkness, namely our own."

-Dan Chumley, San Francisco Mime Troupe

WHAT THE PRESS ARE SAYING
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Winner! 1999 Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Award for Solo Performance
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"Riveting, funny, and life-affirming."

- Belinda Taylor, American Theatre Magazine

"...A bright, lively, moving and beautifully performed monologue, as captivating as it is gently but insistently thought-provoking. ....Beautifully supported by elegant, eloquent percussion and string accompaniment, Shaffer creates vivid, instant portraits of the men, women and children that populate her tale.... Through all its comedy and conflict, "Enemy" subtly raises questions about racism and privilege that leave a provocative aftertaste."

- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Examiner
Click here to read the whole review.

"...A tour de force of observation and evocation. From the polite agonies of public bathroom etiquette on the open-air canoe to the sharp detailing of the African men and one African American woman she meets, Shaffer's "Enemy" is the next best thing to being there."

- Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle
Click here to read the whole review.

"***1/2 Captivating; scintillating storytelling... A delight from beginning to end... Alive with cultural intrigue, existential quandary and good humor, Shaffer's "Enemy" is also a showcase of dynamic theatricality... Intelligent, illuminating theater."

- Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune
Click here to read the whole review.

"A smooth, seductive, and thoroughly entertaining evening of theatre."

- Anne Marie Welsh, San Diego Union-Tribune
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"Touching, funny, exciting, well-written, satisfying... A damn fine evening."

-Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle
Click here to read the whole column.

"...Hilarious, ironic and compassionate all at once. "Let My Enemy Live Long!" is not only intellectually stimulating and politically provocative, but also rivetingly entertaining, tackling issues of racism, religion and the search for meaning with exuberant humor and deep respect for human contradictions."

- Michelle Goldberg, San Jose Metro
Click here to read the whole review.

"A wonderful surprise... (Shaffer) seems to strip off her Western veneer and reach the core of such issues as racism, guilt and betrayal..."

-Mark de la Viña, San Jose Mercury News
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"Storytelling at its best!"

- Leah Kohlenberg, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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"A one-woman tour de force… Each character is a vivid creation… Shaffer keeps us laughing as she weaves her tale around the themes of racism, guilt, and the search for self in the other."

- Jeanne Carstensen, SF Gate

"Shaffer triumphs… Treading lightly, and with a sense of irony, she touches upon themes of racism both in Africa and here at home, commenting wryly upon inexplicable cultural differences, and infusing all her characters with dignity."

- Jean Schiffman, Citysearch.com

"A delightful storyteller…Introduces a host of rich themes, from the fallacy of escaping oneself in a different landscape to the pervasive divisions of cultural assumptions... Amy Mueller directs with a powerful sense of rhythm and color, and the live musical score by Baba Duru Demetrius is a great source of richness and charm."

- Brad Rosenstein, San Francisco Bay Guardian

PRODUCTION HISTORY

"Let My Enemy Live Long!" was originally produced at Venue 9, a small theatre in San Francisco's South of Market Area in October 1998. It enjoyed phenomenal popular and critical success, and transferred to the newly reopened Eureka Theatre in January of 1999. After an extended sold-out run at the Eureka Theatre, the show was honored with a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for solo performance, and presented in the Berkeley Repertory Theatre's 2000 season. It has since travelled to venues across the country, including, most recently, A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle and the San Diego Repertory Theatre

BIOS

CLICK HERE TO READ TANYA'S BIO

Amy Mueller (DIRECTOR) is a director and producer who has devoted much of her career to the development of new works for the stage. She has developed and directed over twenty world premieres and dozens of contemporary plays, including productions at regional theatres such as the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Arizona Theatre Company, A Contemporary Theatre (Seattle), and Brava Theatre Center (San Francisco). She has worked with many notable playwrights such as Emily Mann, Cherrie Moraga, Anne Galjour, Amy Freed, Elaine Romero, Rickerby Hinds, Naomi Newman, Tanya Shaffer, Cherylene Lee and Mac Wellman. Ms. Mueller is a founding member of Brava! for Women in the Arts, where she served as Producing Director for ten years. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Playwrights Foundation and Associate Director of the Bennett Theatre Lab, a three-year professional training program for actors. Ms. Mueller was awarded a 1995-96 TCG/NEA Director's Fellowship and in 1999 was nominated for the TCG Alan Schneider Director's Award.

Baba Duru Demetrius (MUSIC DIRECTOR/PERFORMER) has been involved in the music business for the past thirty years. He has performed and/or recorded with such pop and jazz greats as Michael White, Joe Henderson, John Handy, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, the Headhunters, the Pyramids, and numerous local groups. He was a founding member of many of the local African and Pan-African dance troups, such as C.K. Ladzepko's African Music and Dance Ensemble, Zak Diouf's Diamond de Coura, Jose Lorenzo's Batuchache , and Malonga Casquelord's Fua de Congo. He has represented the U.S. at festivals in Africa and the Middle East and has studied music in India. He is currently head of the music accompaniment department at San Francisco State University and City College.

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