Amelia Parenteau

I'm a writer, French-English translator, and theater maker with a passion for social justice and a penchant for travel.

Arts Administration Experience

French Institute Alliance Française (New York, NY)
- Programming Coordinator, 2015-2017
LCIW Drama Club (New Orleans, LA)
- Drama Instructor, 2019 & 2023
New York International Fringe Festival (New York, NY)
- Box Office Manager, 2013
Park Avenue Armory (New York, NY)
- Programming Coordinator, 2021
- Company Manager, Pygmalion, 2020
- Assistant Company Manager, Comédie-Française, 2018
- Assistant Company Manager, Théâtre du Soleil, 2017
People's Light (Malvern, PA)
- Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advocate, 2018
Ping Chong + Company (New York, NY)
- Administrative Intern, 2013
The Civilians (Brooklyn, NY)
- Ticket & Group Sales Coordinator, 2015
The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center (Waterford, CT)
- Box Office & House Manager, 2014
- Box Office Intern, 2010
The Melancholy Players (Bronxville, NY)
- Producer, 2009-2013
The Lark (New York, NY)
- Grant Writing Assistant, 2015
- Offsite Programming Apprentice, 2013-2014
Theatre Communications Group (New York, NY)
- Communications & Conferences Intern, 2012
Trinity Repertory Company (Providence, RI)
- Community Engagement Intern, 2018

Theater Productions

Tussaud/Antoinette

I served as dramaturg and French language coach for this queer feminist horror play exploring the real (and not-so-real) relationship between Madame Tussaud and Marie Antoinette. (Jody Christopherson, 2021-2023)

IRT Theater • 14th October 2023

Tussaud/Antoinette | IRT Theater

Before Madame Marie Tussaud achieved wax museum fame, she was a sculptor, nearly guillotined during the French Revolution. She survived the Reign of Terror by using her artistic talents and went on to not only preserve history but to become it, notably by documenting the death of Queen Marie Antoinette.

jodychristopherson • 28th April 2022

Tussaud/Antoinette

Before Madame Marie Tussaud achieved wax museum fame, she was a sculptor, nearly guillotined during the French Revolution. She escaped the Reign of Terror by using her artistic talents and went on to not only document history but to become it.

The Theatre Times • 22nd October 2021

Sensation and Documentation: Jody Christopherson's "Tussaud/Antoinette"

The name “Tussaud” has always been linked to sensationalism and popular culture: now synonymous with the celebrity-studded wax “museums” known from London to Bangkok to Times Square, in the late eighteenth century the waxworks of Madame Marie Tussaud bore testament to the fervor, excess, and brutality sweeping through her native France.

Travalanche • 9th October 2021

Musings on Madame Tussaud

We hope you will forgive the split nature of this portmanteau-post, which is intended to do double duty as a capsule biography of Madame Tussaud (Anna Maria Grosholtz, 1761-1850) and a review of the terrific new show about her, Tussaud/Antoinette, by Jody Christopherson which is playing at I.R.T. through October 17.

IRT Theater • 1st October 2021

Tussaud/Antoinette | IRT Theater

A story of two Maries. One ruled wax, one ruled France. One survived, the other did not. So one made a sculpture of the other’s guillotined head… and launched an empire.

BroadwayWorld.com • 30th August 2021

TUSSAUD/ANTOINETTE To Open IRT Theater's Fall Season

IRT Theater presents the premiere of Tussaud/Antoinette written and directed by Jody Christopherson Oct 1st- 17th to open their Fall season. This marks the theater's return to presenting in person performances.

Autophagies (Self-Eaters)

I translated Eva Doumbia's Autophagies from French into English and produced the US premiere productions of the English language version in a multi-city tour. (Cie La Part du Pauvre/Nana Triban, 2019-2023)

Men kneeling ladle stew out of a big pot on the floor, woman speaks at microphone

Poppy Tooker's Louisiana Eats! • 21st October 2023

Food Origins & Evolution

The way we eat and talk about food is linked to our individual and collective identities. On this week's show, we look at the origins of some of our favorite foods and common misconceptions about them. We meet playwright and stage director Eva Doumbia. Her performance piece, Autophagies (Self-Eaters), which was performed in New Orleans in March, explores food history, its colonial legacies, and human cost. Eva joined us in our studio, along with interpreter Amelia Parenteau.

Chef in African robes serves food to line of people

HowlRound Theatre Commons • 24th July 2023

On Producing an International Tour During a Global Pandemic

I met Eva Doumbia in New Orleans, Louisiana in March 2019 (as documented in my essay “New to New Orleans”), and over a glass of wine, she shared plans for her upcoming creation, , which would tell the story of various foods’ interconnected histories of dominance and oppression spanning back to colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.

Ashé Cultural Arts Center • 2nd March 2023

Autophagies/Self-eaters

Bringing together theater, music, and the aromas and flavors of food, this performance reminds us of the colonial history still at play in our kitchens.

The Invisible Dog Art Center • 23rd February 2023

Autophagies — The Invisible Dog Art Center

Eva Doumbia (France/Mali/Ivory Coast): Author, director, actress, Eva Doumbia received her theater degree from the University of Aix-en-Provence, where she notably studied with Jacques Lassalle, Krystian Lupa, and André Engel. In 1999, she founded the theater company La Part du Pauvre.

BOMB Magazine • 21st February 2023

Eva Doumbia and Chef Alexandre Bella Ola Interviewed

I first met Eva Doumbia while she was on a research trip to New Orleans. I was enthralled by her explanation of the show she was creating which used elements of documentary theater and religious ceremony to address food history, its connections to the transatlantic slave trade, and colonialism. I was honored when she asked me to translate the show from French into English and produce its United States tour.

Woman places crown on her head made of colorful fabric

NYU Skirball Center • 17th February 2023

Prep School: Autophagies

Autophagies (Self-Eaters) is a show halfway between theatre and group tasting session. New Orleans native Karen-Kaia Livers plays the role of master of ceremonies, inviting the audience to a “documentary eucharist,” orchestrated by the chef Alexandre Bella Ola. Over an hour and a half, the preparation of mafé is accompanied by stories about its ingredients.

Villa Albertine • 13th February 2023

Eva Doumbia's Autophagies (Self-eaters) comes to New York | Villa Albertine

Autophagies (Self-Eaters) is a show halfway between theatre and group tasting session. New Orleans native Karen-Kaia Livers plays the role of a master of ceremonies who invites the audience to a "documentary eucharist," orchestrated by the chef Alexandre Bella Ola. Over an hour and a half, the preparation of mafé is accompanied by stories about its ingredients.

NYU Skirball Center • 1st February 2023

Eva Doumbia: Autophagies (Self-Eaters)

Co-produced by NYU Skirball and The Invisible Dog, Eva Doumbia’s Autophagies (Self-Eaters) combines theater and aromas, music and flavors into a hybrid experience centered around cooking. It is also a reminder of the colonial histories still at play in today’s kitchens.

The New York Times • 10th January 2023

Gjelina, a Los Angeles Favorite, Opens in NoHo

From Feb. 23 to 26, Alexandre Bella Ola, a Paris-based chef and cookbook author originally from Cameroon, will join a cast performing “Autophagies” by Eva Doumbia, a multimedia theater piece. The 90-minute production, presented at the Invisible Dog Art Center in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, in collaboration with the N.Y.U. Skirball Center, covers food, politics, culture and family.

Alliance Francaise de la Nouvelle Orleans • 16th February 2022

Autophagies: A culinary performance created, directed, and performed by Eva Doumbia

An excerpt of the play, Autophagies, followed by a discussion around the decolonization of art with the creator, Eva Doumbia and performers. The event is part of the a month-long festival highlighting the diversity of the French-speaking world.

Villa Albertine • 7th February 2022

Eva Doumbia returns to New Orleans! | Villa Albertine

The French version of the play "Autophagies" written and directed by Eva Doumbia initially premiered in French at the Festival d’Avignon in July 2021 to an audience thrilled by the mélange of “traditional disciplines joined by another, widely popular one: Cooking.

Le Loup en slip (The Wolf in Underpants)

I adapted and directed Wilfrid Lupano's Le Loup en slip (The Wolf in Underpants) as a bilingual, family-friendly performance for My French Book Fest. (Alliance Française of New Orleans, 2022)

My French Book Fest poster with leaping wolf in front of the moon

Villa Albertine • 19th October 2022

My French Book Fest – Villa Albertine

The Consulate General of France, Villa Albertine, and the Alliance française of New Orleans invite you to discover the world of children’s literature in French, at the very first event of its kind : My French Book Fest !

Mille Chemins, Partie Un

I programmed a French robotic voice to guide participants through the interactive, long-distance theater experience of Mille Chemins, Partie Un. (600 HIGHWAYMEN, 2021)

Théâtre Garonne • 12th April 2021

Mille Chemins, Partie Un

Guidés par une voix dans le téléphone qui leur donne instructions, invitations et directives physiques, deux personnes qui ne se sont jamais rencontrées se découvrent, s’imaginent et se fantasment, en construisant une série de performances les unes pour les autres.

America is Hard to See

I was a member of the three-person research & development team that created this documentary theater project about the lives of convicted sex offenders in Miracle Village, Florida. (Life Jacket Theatre Company, 2015-2018)