Kaleidoscope Crown returns this season for the next stage of the development process as an extension of COCA’s programming and in partnership with The Big Muddy Dance Company to create spaces offsite as a connector in the community.   

Kaleidoscope Crown, by playwright Ashleigh Akilah Rucker, tells the story of a young girl who awakes with a shocking new ability: with every new feeling her hair is catapulted into multicolor tresses. Her new development throws the uniformity and peace of her small traditional village into disarray. Rucker draws inspiration from the art and traditions of the African Diaspora bringing the culture to the forefront of this new work. 

About Ashleigh Akilah Rucker

Ashleigh Akilah Rucker is a writer, director, and producer from San Diego, California. She has spent a decade using theatre and the arts to educate underserved communities throughout Southern California. Some of her theatre credits include Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear, Chekhov’s The Marriage Proposal, Suzan Lori-Parks’ Topdog/Underdog, and Patrick Barlow’s The 39 Steps. She has worked with renowned directors such as Larry Biederman, Irwin Appel, and Tony Award Director Mel Shapiro. Her short films include #Click and WeThree, and she directed Rusty Proctor’s Faith Ties. Rucker is a graduate of UCLA Extension’s film school. 

About the COCAwrites Program 

COCAwrites focuses on the writing and development of new plays for multigenerational theatre audiences through collaboration and learning among professional and student playwrights and composers. COCA’s Pre-Professional Division Theatre Artist students in this program workshop new plays and musicals written by professional composers and playwrights from around the country while having the chance to develop their own new plays and musicals with the mentorship of these leaders. Performance and Design-Tech students also have the chance to grow their skill in the new play development space, experimenting with new performance techniques, theatrical designs, and functions by applying them to never-before-produced plays. COCA is thrilled to offer this training to students as new work gains attention and priority on all stages across America’s theatres.