Twins in the Business Sistas doing it for themselves!

Twinbiz is the production company founded by identical twins Yvonne Farrow and Yvette Heyliger. If they look familiar, it’s because you’ve probably seen them before. Yvonne, based in Los Angeles, has made guest appearances on Grey’s Anatomy, Alias, The Bernie Mac Show and Seinfeld. A dancer as well as an actress, Yvonne starred in the short film, I’d Rather Be Dancing, which she also wrote, directed and produced. Based in New York, Yvette, an accomplished playwright, also started her career in front of the camera - playing Aunt Sarah on Cosby Show. Currently, the sisters are focused on What Would Jesus Do?, a stage play written and directed by Yvette, produced by and starring Yvonne. This play, which debuts this month at the Hollywood Court Theatre, takes an unflinching look at HIV/AIDS in the black church community. 1. What Would Jesus Do? confronts the role that the church plays in curbing ,he epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Historically, the church played a critical role in the African-American community so its silence in the face of this devastating epidemic is particularly loud. What made you decide to confront this particular angle in your play? Yvette: A couple of years ago I wanted to write a new play but didn’t know what to write about. I went to see my friend, the late Tunde Allen Samuel, who at the time was Producer/Director of Theatre Arts at the National Black Theatre in NY. That is when I learned about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Harlem. Tunde said we didn’t need to go to Africa or India to find staggering statistics on HIV/AIDS, we only needed to look right in our own back yard. He said if I wanted to write about something, to write about that! He said that churches had come a little ways, but that black theatre had not done enough to address this epidemic. His wish was that every black theatre in the country produce at least one play a season to educate the community and fight the steadily growing infection rate. Well, I was taken aback by his suggestion. HIV/AIDS is not a subject I would have chosen to write about. I knew very little about the disease and what I did know made me fearful and guarded. However, I had a deep feeling within that through Tunde, I was called upon to use my gifts and talents as an artist to combat this epidemic. Tunde and I set a date for another meeting a week later, but sadly, it was not to take place. Tunde died suddenly. He passed on due to unrelated health issues; but I did not pass on the challenge he presented to me. I began to educate myself about the virus. I attended marches, rallies, conferences. I totally immersed myself in the subject, reading books and magazines and watching videos. I learned much more about sex than I ever wanted to know (and I’m a grown woman with kids!) But the most meaningful part of my research was the interviews I conducted with women living with the virus. One common thread with all the women was their faith in God and their deep spiritual beliefs, which for some of them was newly found. One woman told me that HIV was the best thing that ever happened to her because she was taking better care of herself now, she has gotten negative people and influences out of her life, she is actively helping others who are afflicted with the virus, and she has found God again. Stories like hers influenced my decision to set the play in the black church. While conducting my research I learned that there was a faith-based response to the epidemic that was growing in the church community. I met a reverend, who said that when she first started working with those who were infected and dying, she would ask herself, “What would Jesus do for this person?” and she let the answer to that question guide her in her work with each patient. Her posture of service inspired me and I embraced What Would Jesus Do? as the guiding principal in my work on the play and made it its namesake. 2. What is the main message you are trying to get across with this play? Yvette:There are many sensitive issues around HIV/AIDS and the church with regard to what consenting adults do in their own bedrooms. My main message would be that we need to get beyond blame, judgment, and condemnation and just do the work of preventing further spread of this virus. Jesus healed many people; the lepers, the blind, the crippled… he never once asked, “By the way, how did you get sick?” 3. How difficult was it for you to write a play that centers on the Christian church since your own spiritual walk has taken you down a different path? Yvette: My sisters and I were baptized as teenagers and I consider myself to be a Christian, however, I have been practicing a different spiritual path, Siddha Yoga Meditation, since 1979. Siddha Yoga Meditation teaches students on the spiritual path to live in the awareness of the inner Self so that they can transform themselves as well as the world in which they live. Its core teaching is: “Meditate on your own Self. Worship your Self. Respect your Self. God dwells within you as you.” I experienced the bible verse, “The kingdom of God is within,” directly through the practice of meditation. When I began work on What Would Jesus Do?, I had to go back to church in order to write the play. Even though there is a pastor I had been following for years who married me and my husband and baptized our children, I was basically only in church on Easter. Work on the play led me to study the scriptures, particularly the healing scriptures. I found that as a result of practicing the Eastern tradition of meditation, I had gained a much deeper insight into these scriptures and a deeper appreciation for the Christian faith as a whole. 4. I know that excerpts and scenes from the play have been performed in a variety of settings from churches to health fairs to colleges to senior centers and even prisons. It seems like something this relevant and powerful could have a number of real-world applications. It could actually be the kind of art that has a powerful and transformational effect. Ideally, how would you like to see this play be used to raise HIV/AIDS awareness? Yvette: What Would Jesus Do? has really become a “theatre ministry.” When I set out to write this play I had no idea that I would have the opportunity to do HIV education and prevention in the various places in which I have done it. These opportunities have been a great blessing to the growth of the show and to the various communities who are the beneficiaries. Because What Would Jesus Do? is a full length play, I can’t pick it up and take it to all the places that have requested it, so I present appropriate excerpts of the play in an HIV/AIDS education program. This format has worked well. However, it is my hope that a producer and/or funding will come which will enable me to do a tour of the entire play in churches and secular communities around the country. People may not go to the doctor or seek information on their own about HIV but they might come to see a play. If every theatre does their part, perhaps we can start to see our numbers come down. 5. Yvonne, Twinbiz first came to my attention through your short film, I’d Rather Be Dancing. I first saw it screened through the Organization of Black Screenwriters and have seen it a few times since then at several festivals. You received a grant from the extremely competitive ABC Talent Development program to complete the film. When I say competitive, I mean competitive. Out of several thousand entries, only ten were selected and yours was one of them! With ABC behind you and so many festivals, what doors has such a successful short film opened for you? Yvonne: The goal of ABC Entertainment’s Talent Development Scholarship/Grant program is to find new and emerging talent and give them a safe-haven to develop their winning project. We were introduced in the trades as up-and-coming talent to watch; given the grant award of $20,000 to write or produce our projects; each given a mentor from Disney/ABC to guide and assist us; given educational lectures and how-to panels which took place on “the lot”; and finally the greatest gift - to pitch our developed material to industry executives at ABC/Disney. I myself pitched I’d Rather Be Dancing as a television series, movie-of-the-week and feature film. I met, pitched and followed up with top executives scheduled by ABC. I would like to mention here that $10,000 was also awarded to my fiscal sponsor, the Organization of Black Screenwriters, of which I was a member, for operating costs to be able to continue nurturing writers of color. I won my grant with the short film script I had written and used the grant money (along with a very generous husband) to make the short film. The exposure the film has received in festivals has been amazing. I’d Rather Be Dancing was nominated ‘Best Short’ at the Pan African Film Festival, nominated ‘Special Prize’ at FESPACO (an international film festival), and ‘Finalist’ at the Hollywood Black Film Festival. I also won ‘Best Actress’ at the American Theater of Harlem Film Festival. I have been approached by several distribution companies and doors have been opened for future opportunities as a writer and filmmaker. This business is about relationships. My ultimate goal is to make IRBD into a feature. The contacts I have made at ABC/Disney and film festivals will one day assist me in that. 6. Let’s talk about some of your other projects. Yvette you wrote, and Yvonne you performed in Autobiography of a Homegirl – a play that looks at the race, color and the way America defines beauty. What did that play mean to both of you? Yvonne: This was Twinbiz’ debut project and was a great success for me as producing artist. This showcase production gave me an opportunity to cut my teeth as a producer and to star in a tour-de-force role as an actor. Even though my new career as an actress was well on its way and I was working quite a bit theatrically and commercially, doing the play gave me the opportunity to show Hollywood that I could handle more than a few scenes and a couple of speeches on a TV show. Yvette writes complex and compelling characters with full emotional arcs. Autobiography of a Homegirl gave me the chance to show my chops. Unless you are the lead in a feature or series, or starring in a short film, theater may be the only vehicle to showcase the width and breadth of one’s talent. With this production I also discovered my talent for producing. I really enjoy it. My natural organizational skills, attention to detail, money management, passion and basic common sense, allowed me to see that I can see a project through to fruition. As a rule, Yvette and I believe in treating others with love, respect, graciousness and gratitude. These values are important when producing on any level. In terms of the meaning of the play for me: it was difficult garnering sympathy for a light skinned character like Roanetta, supposedly “accepted” in the White world because of the color of her skin. Her deep need was to be accepted by her own people, one of several themes dealt with by the play. Of course healing only came when the main character no longer needed acceptance from the outside and accepted herself on the inside. Yvette: What did Homegirl mean to me? Well, it signaled a huge transition in my life as an emerging artist. You see Homegirl was my “baby.” It was the first play I had ever written and was the vehicle I wrote for myself as an actress coming out of graduate school at New York University to begin an acting career in New York. When Yvonne asked me if she could play the lead role, Roanetta, it gave me pause. The larger implications of her request worried me. Was I was letting go of my aspirations to become an actress, to embrace a new career as a playwright? Was this God’s plan for my life all along? In addition, Yvonne suggested I direct the play, something I had never considered. I was at a crossroads. What to do? I decided to go for it, and thus my career as a writer/director was born. Nothing happens by accident. Homegirl was a surprise hit here in LA. We were only supposed to run for three weeks and we ran for three months! I received a NAACP Theatre Award nomination as “Best Playwright” and the show was listed “Best of the Weekend” by the Los Angeles Times. Not bad for my debut as a writer/director and Twinbiz’ debut as a producing entity. Yvonne put up her own money to produce and sustain Homegirl in Los Angeles. I was able to support her producing efforts by bringing the skills I had gained doing fundraising at the Apollo Theatre into this opportunity Yvonne had created. Fund raising letters were sent out, as well as newsletters about the play and we did get donations. About a week before Homegirl was to open, Twinbiz was in desperate need of an influx of cash to open the show. I called Bill Cosby and the next day we had a check! I think Yvonne and I screamed for a good fifteen minutes after the Fed-Ex truck pulled off! I have since published the play under the title, Autobiography of A Homegirl, and it can be purchased through any on-line retailer including the publisher www.iuniverse.com or it can be ordered at your local Barnes and Nobel Booksellers. 7. Yvonne, you recently worked as a choreographer on the latest project from The Choral Project, One is the All. Choral choreography is a unique combination of song and theatre. What was it like working on that project? Yvonne: It was a dream come true in that I truly came full circle in dance through this 90 minute choral concert work. I was part of a creative team which brought Daniel Hughes’, director of The Choral Project, epic vision to life. I began my journey as an artist first as a dancer. I re-tooled myself as an actress when my body could no longer endure the rigors of dance (injuries, exhaustion, etc.). I became a choralographer (a term I coined) when a professional choir my husband was composing and arranging for had an opening for a choreographer. I choreograph movement and set staging on classically trained singers in the choral concert genre (which includes opera). I also serve as a dramatic coach and lighting designer for my works and, from time to time, as technical director. My “ballets” have been around the world. The opportunity presented by One is the All was also – for the first time in my choreographic career – to choreograph on the professional dancers who played the through-line characters in the work (which was a series of a choral compositions strung together through story). I was also served as dramatic coach. I myself no longer dance, so working with industry professionals forced me back in the dance studio in order to be able to choreograph on trained dancers. The process allowed me to come full circle and make peace with my past as a dancer. I love working with singers, however. I just recently put works on two college choirs. 8. As artists, the two of you move seamlessly between several mediums: film, television, stage and dance. Both of you also work in front of and behind the camera. With such diversity available to you, how do you determine which projects to take on and which medium would be best? Yvonne: Yvette and I, at this point, only produce our own works. The mission of Twinbiz is to write, direct and produce original projects for stage television and film which uplift, entertain and serve. Yvette’s focus is on theater, mine on television and film. Sometimes we work together, sometimes separately, but always under the banner of Twinbiz. Yvette: As Yvonne stated, my focus has been on theatre. It has been suggested to me that I turn my plays into films, but that doesn’t really interest me as much. I won’t say no to the suggestion, but I do love live theatre and what it brings to the quality of life of all who experience it. 9. If you were to look at the totality of your work, would you say there is a common theme? One thing that is obvious to me, if I could put it into a word, the first word that comes to mind is would be boldness. From AIDS to racism to having the courage to overcome devastating catastrophe, you two don’t back away from tough subjects. But from your perspective, is there a common thread that unites your work. Yvonne: Yvette is the true social activist, but I would say that the common thread between Yvette and I as artists would be that we are both humanitarians. I’d Rather Be Dancing was loosely based on my life, I was not paralyzed, but in the prime of my life as a dancer, was injured and could not dance at all, let alone walk well for two years. Once I wrote and had a reading of a television pilot that deals with the “New American Family”, but I was informed by an executive that America wasn’t ready for what I was proposing, nor in the way that I was proposing it, although he said that the writing was very good. My longtime mentor and teacher, Steve Duncan (who had been a series creator and successful television writer/ producer), shopped it around for awhile, but right now it is resting on a shelf, waiting for the stars and planets to align and bring about the right vehicle for the project. 10. Both of you have your hands full right now with What Would Jesus Do?, but have you started looking towards your next project? Yvonne: My next project would be to finally finish my feature script and pick up a television series this pilot season. Working regularly allows me to make my dreams as a producing artist come true. It is my intention that my role as Leonta Wilson in What Would Jesus Do?, will open new doors as a working actress. Yvette: Thus far, I have tackled tough subjects in my work as a playwright—race (both external and internal), childhood sexual abuse, infidelity in the White House, and now HIV/AIDS. (Friends often tease me, asking me when I will take up writing a nice romantic comedy!) Last year I was called a “community activist” for my work in HIV/AIDS with What Would Jesus Do?, a credit which came as a surprise, as it was not my intention (you set out to write a good play and the rest is whatever is in God’s plan.) Friends will be happy to know I do have a romantic comedy in mind, but my next play is on a subject ripped from today’s headlines and is anything but funny. What Would Jesus Do? written and directed by Yvette Heyliger and starring and Yvonne Farrow runs from November 10 – December 10, 2006 at the Hollywood Court Theatre, 6817 Franklin Avenue (at Highland). Rated PG 13, tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the theatre or on line at www.plays411.com or by calling 323-965-9996. You can also visit the twins web site, www.twinbiz.com

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