Meet Becca Twiggs

Today we’d like to introduce you to Becca Twiggs.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m a writer, performer, and comedian born and raised right here in Atlanta, Georgia!

I started to get involved in the performing arts in middle school at a local community theatre with my family. I loved the environment, I loved the art that we got to create together, and I loved telling stories. Around this time, I started getting into sketch comedy and standup and was obsessed with finding different ways to tell stories and make people laugh.

I was in middle school when I wrote my first short story and in high school when I wrote my first one-act play. By the time I was in college, I had worked professionally as a performer for years, mostly doing children’s theatre and improv at places like Stone Mountain Park, The Georgia Renaissance Festival, and Aurora Theatre. I studied writing in college, and in 2020 I graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College with a B.A. in English with a minor in media arts production.

During college, I started and served as a director and producer for an annual short play festival held in the spring. It was then that I really confirmed that what I wanted to do creatively was produce new works and support up-and-coming artists in any way I could.

Now, three years post-grad, I’ve performed standup and storytelling at some fantastic venues around Atlanta, including the Shakespeare Tavern, Heck House, Red Light Cafe, Dynamic Eldorado, Metropolitan Studios, Waller’s, and My Sister’s Room, and had my first full-length play, Hannah and Greta, or The Cost of Livin’ the Dream, premiered at the 2022 Atlanta Fringe Festival!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Like any artist, I’ve had challenges throughout the years. During college I was working upwards of four jobs at a time, whether it be doing children’s theatre, tutoring at my school, bartending for events, working at a dance and costume supply store, or doing party princess gigs, I felt like I was always working.

But the biggest challenge as of late was rebuilding my career and life after the pandemic.

In March of 2020, I was getting ready to graduate, and I had offers and gigs lined up with some incredible theatres in Atlanta, but unfortunately, most live performances had to shut down.

So, like everyone, I had to readjust.

I spent a lot of time writing and acting in Zoom readings of plays for a few months.

The biggest blessing from the pandemic was getting involved with The Come Up, a monthly variety show and Atlanta artist party, simply because I had commented on an Instagram post from the producer and host of the show, Jake West.

The Come Up had moved to doing live-streamed online shows for the pandemic, and after I had done standup and storytelling for one of the lockdown shows, I was asked to come on as the show’s official opener. I don’t think that would have happened if I wasn’t in lockdown and scrolling through Instagram for too many hours a day.

The pandemic, as unfortunate and financially devastating as it was, really forced me to take a step back and restructure my priorities. While I love the arts and theatre community, I think there is a glorification that comes with overworking yourself when you’re in this field. I was celebrated for constantly working and never taking a break in my teens and early 20s, even if I was constantly on the edge of a breakdown. And while working that much is often a financial necessity for many young artists, I wish that prioritizing rest and preventing burnout was just as celebrated as constantly hustling and making career moves.

If I had not had my work taken away from me, I wouldn’t have learned to create a balance between my work and finding worth and joy in other areas of my life and in myself.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Right now, my work is primarily focused on script development and honest storytelling.

I was lucky enough to get fantastic reviews for my show at Fringe Festival last year, and even luckier to have been asked to host preview events for the 2023 Fringe Festival alongside Dani Herd, another incredibly funny comedian and thoughtful writer and performer here in Atlanta.

And since my show at Fringe Festival last year, I’ve had more people come and see my comedy and storytelling and got asked to come back and write a script for my old college to be performed for their annual Christmas theatre department fundraiser.

I’m also incredibly happy to say that my second full-length play, The Pros and Cons of Killing Your Cult Leader, will be premiering this July and August at Aurora Theatre and Shakespeare Tavern alongside the Weird Sisters Theatre Project.

I wouldn’t have been able to get where I am without the help of the amazing and generous artists here in the Atlanta community, and I’m so grateful for the support I’ve received.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I’ve been so grateful to find many of my honest, wonderful, amazing, and inspiring mentors through my work. My best advice to anyone searching for a mentor is to find someone who is doing the work you want to be doing, then annoy them for years so that you become friends and then hopefully they’ll help you on your creative journey.

My biggest mentors and advocates include Jake West, Dani Herd, Jaclyn Hofmann, Diany Rodriguez, Lucas Ryan, and Maggie Bridges. Thank you all, I couldn’t have done any of this without you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://newplayexchange.org/users/75152/becca-twiggs
• Instagram: @twiggling
• Twitter: @Twiggling