By Vicky Mejia
As we prepare to bring Covenant—an “undeniably spooky” (TheaterMania) new production—to The Goodman, we spoke with intimacy consultant Jyreika Guest about her role, how she discovered this career path and what excites her most about working on this “striking Southern Gothic work” (The New York Times). Covenant is on stage starting May 2.
GT: Who or what inspired you to pursue intimacy work as a career?
JG: When I was acting in a lead role in 2019 at a storefront theater in Chicago (formerly known as Red Tape Theatre), I was introduced to intimacy direction. The play was In the Blood by Susan-Lori Parks, about a homeless and illiterate single mother of five who seeks support from various figures but is instead exploited and abused. The intimacy director for the show was Gaby Labatka. Throughout the rehearsal process, the ensemble and I were given effective tools and exercises to build the world of the play safely. This allowed us to perform bravely while supporting one another with care and intention. That experience inspired me to learn more about this work. To this day, I’m deeply appreciative of that process. As an intimacy professional, I work with many artists from diverse lived experiences, and I approach the work actor-first. I know how it feels to have someone in your corner during a process that involves emotionally demanding and potentially triggering storytelling. I also know that, with the right support, I have the tools to restore myself and remember that the story and character aren’t mine to take home. I can honor the work by leaving it onstage.
Jyreika Guest
GT: What is your process like? How do you translate a playwright’s words into physical storytelling onstage?
JG: My work as an intimacy director is first and foremost about cultivating consent-forward performance spaces and collaborating with artists to create simulated intimacy through physical storytelling. Within that, I work with actors on how to de-role—to reconnect with their “humanness,” or, as I like to say, “the person bowing at curtain call.” When I read a script, I first approach it as an audience member, simply to experience the story. This helps me absorb its tone and emotional landscape before beginning intimacy work. On a second read, I map moments using stage directions, inferred intimacy, relationship dynamics and context. Basically, anything that helps prepare me for conversations with the director, design team and actors. Intimacy design is highly collaborative. No two productions are the same, so we establish shared methods for building the work together based on the needs of the room.
Photo: Hugo Hentoff
GT: How do you help ensure that themes in plays like Covenant are portrayed with care and accuracy?
JG: I enter the process knowing I’m one piece of a larger collaborative puzzle. Even when I present draft ideas, the world of the play is shaped by everyone involved. Working with Director Malkia Stampley, Associate Director Tor Campbell and—most importantly—the cast, we’ve been digging into the heartbeat of the play. That allows us to thread physical relationships with clear intention. We’re also guided by Playwright York Walker, whose vision informs the tone and pacing of the story. I ask questions and collaborate with artists to explore how characters move together and how each relationship impacts another, both subtly and in larger ways. Because this is a period piece, physical dynamics differ from contemporary behavior. My role is to help shape the nuance of those interactions.
GT: You previously participated in our Play on Words Poetry collaboration with the Poetry Foundation, presenting your poem “Kinfolk” for Fat Ham. How does your writing inform your work as an intimacy director?
JG: As an artist who studies people, places and environments and imagines stories for them, my writing strengthens my work as an intimacy director. Poetry is rich with imagery and metaphor, which translates beautifully to the stage, especially when exploring human relationships. There’s a thrill in building that same poetry through body language. I consider myself a physical actor first. The story lives in the text, but I’m always curious about where the character lives in the body.
GT: What does Covenant mean to you? Have you worked in the horror or thriller genre before?
JG: This play connects deeply to my experience as a Black, femme, queer-identifying artist who grew up in the South and was active in the church, where I was taught how condemning it could be to live in those truths. Covenant contributes to a larger conversation about the intersection of identity, spirituality and societal expectations. The tension between those forces, and the fear they can generate, creates a powerful and unsettling experience for the characters. I’ve worked in the horror and thriller genres as both an actor and an intimacy director, and I love it. It’s exciting and reminds me to trust the writing rather than “play” the horror. When it’s written well, the horror is already there.
GT: Sinners explores similar themes. What conversations do you hope Covenant sparks?
JG: I hope audiences engage with the interplay between fear, faith and freedom, and how those ideas can shift depending on circumstance. Each can support or harm the others, and none of them exist in isolation. They’re all interconnected and inform one another. It’s a bit of a dramaturgical rabbit hole, a kind of “theater math problem” I’ve been thinking about since I first read the play last year.
GT: Have you worked on a particularly challenging piece? How did you navigate it?
JG: Yes, and when challenges arise, I try to get curious about their root. Is it the environment, the material, communication, timelines? Identifying that helps me manage my own response and determine what can be addressed. I also rely on collaboration—recognizing that others may have insight I don’t. Sometimes the best solution is simply to have the necessary conversations. At this stage in my career, I also accept that not every collaboration will feel easy or seamless. That perspective grounds me and helps me return to why I’m in the room.
GT: What excites you most about this play?
JG: I love the way the play reveals itself—those small, surprising moments that build into something larger. There’s a real sense of discovery as the story unfolds. York does an incredible job guiding the audience, then quietly stepping away so we find ourselves inside the world of the play, almost like we’re standing beside the characters watching everything unfold. Covenant is a powerful reminder of why live theater matters.
Vicky Mejia is the Digital Marketing Associate at Goodman Theatre
