about

SHA CAGE is a renaissance artist who directs, acts, and writes in theater and film. She has been called a change-maker and one of the leading artists of her generation. Her work has taken her across the U.S. to Germany, Japan, Africa, England, Bosnia, Canada, France, Sweden, Latvia and more. She holds awards from Theater Communications Group (TCG), The McKnight Foundation, Doris Duke, Emmy awards and Ivey awards. She is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, Actor’s Equity, SAG, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). She is a passionate community advocate and educator having taught and developed curriculum post secondary at The University of MN, The University of Madison, WI, Augsburg University and more. She leads equity work and has been a keynote speaker, moderator, and performance feature for Fortune 500 countries, universities and non-profit organizations including, The BBC, Thompson and Reuters, Aveda, Project Diva, The Healing Justice Foundation, Macalester College and Howlround. She is featured in several anthologies including Blues Vision, holds TCG, McKnight, Doris Duke, Emmy and Ivey awards and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, Actor’s Equity, SAG, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

She is a co-founder of Mama Mosaic Theater for women and has been devising and creating solo driven ritual theater and ecclective creative placemaking spectacle for the past 20 years including her shows U/G/L/Y, Nword, Say Her Name, and Testify. Directing credits include Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel and Jacklyn Backus' Men on Boats at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun (Rochester Rep Co-Directed w/ EG Bailey), Michael Garces’ 36 Yesses (Cornerstone Theater/LA), Clare Baron’s Dance Nation (Guthrie/UMN), Joselyn Bioh’s School Girls (Arkansas Rep) and (The Jungle Theater), Michael Bobbit’s adaptation of Three Little Birds (The Children’s Theater), Benjamin Benne’s Neighbors (MN History Theater), Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody (Guthrie/UMN), Shavunda Horsley’s BITCH (Bedlam Theater), Waterfront’s The Viking and the Gazelle (Mixed Blood Theater) and Buttafly Precinct which she authored (Black Lives/ Black Words Festival). She was seen last on stage in the one woman tour de force Re-Memori at Penumbra Theater and as Hermione in Ten Thousand Things Winter’s Tale and Lady Capulet in The Guthrie Theater’s Romeo and Juliet. She has led racial justice & equity work in community through Tru Ruts for the past 23 years and Film work through Black Star Studios. She holds TCG, McKnight, Doris Duke, Emmy and Ivey awards and is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild, Actor’s Equity, SAG, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Instagram: ShaCageMpls