Writers Reflect on Black History Month

Posted on February 26, 2020 by ethan

Earlier this month, we reached out to a small group of Black writers in our community to respond to one or more question prompts regarding their thoughts on the intersection of Black History Month and Theater as part of an evolving record of writers’ voices and opinions on important topics. These prompts were:

In your opinion, what is the relationship between Black dramatists and the general public’s understanding of American history?

How does the theater help preserve, complicate, and celebrate Black history?

Are there any Black writers, living or deceased, that you would like to bring particular attention to?

These are their responses:

Kirsten Childs (The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Bella: An American Tall Tale)

The relationship between Black dramatists and the general public’s understanding of American history is the relationship between all dramatists and the general public’s understanding of history. It‘s fraught, it’s subjective and it’s always worthy of tackling.

I truly don’t know how theater preserves and complicates Black history, but I can tell you how it celebrates it in America. Not before and not past the twenty-eight days of February for whoever the lucky Black writer is, chuckle.

Since I’m a musical theater writer, I’m just going to focus on writers who’ve written for musical theater.  These are folks that you either 1. know about; 2. will know about soon; 3. will never know about until it’s too late or too expensive because you decided to pass on going to their shows, oh foolish ones.

Micki Grant. Michael R. Jackson. Masi Asare. Marcus Gardley. Cheryl Davis. Charlayne Woodard. Angelica Chéri. Scott Davenport Richards. Fred Carl. Regina Taylor. Sukari Marie Jacobs Jones. Morgan J. Smart. Jacinth Greywoode. AriDy Nox. Janice Lowe. Douglas Lyons. Imani Uzuri. Troy Anthony. Marcus Scott. Janelle Marie. Charles Randolph-Wright. Jarrett Murray. Dionne McClain-Freeney. Kahlil Daniel. Darrel Alejandro Holnes. Aurin Squire. Ayesu Lartey. Elizabeth Addison. Bil Wright. Bridgette Wimberly. Charles Vincent Burwell. Dahlak Brathwaite. Darius Smith. Ed DuRanté. Gregory F. Jackson. Joseph-Vernon Banks. Mkhululi Matyalana Ka Mabija. Nambi E. Kelley. Naomie Harris. Shawn Rene Graham. Will Power. Charles Innis.

France-Luce Benson (Deux Femmes on the Edge de la Revolution, Boat People)

Unfortunately, I think our understanding of American history continues to lean towards a narrow and frequently revisionist perception of events. While I know many Black dramatists (myself included) who challenge these ideas in their work, in innovative ways – the problem is we are not hearing their voices. I do appreciate that many more theatres are making major efforts towards to create seasons that are inclusive, and yet there is still a significant imbalance. Additionally, we just aren’t seeing enough work by a variety of black dramatists – particularly those who represent the expanse of the Afro-Diaspora. Until we understand how America’s involvement in the Afro-Atlantic slave trade impacted ALL countries of the Afro-Diaspora, and our relationship to those countries, as well as the contribution Blacks from all over the diaspora have made to America – I don’t think we can have a clear picture of America’s history. Simply put, we need to hear from more voices.

That said, I’d like to bring attention to a few initiatives led by Black Dramatists: 1) Acclaimed playwright Carlyle Brown started the Afro-Atlantic Playwrights program in collaboration with the Camargo Foundation and The Jerome Foundation. I was honored to be among the inaugural co-hort. I was also delighted to be selected for subsequent festivals featuring the work produced during the one month residency. The festivals took place at The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and NYU. The work Carlyle is doing to celebrate playwrights from across the Diaspora is inspiring and important. My co-hort included Genevieve McCall, Zainabu Jallo, Kara Lee Corthron, Bode Asiyanbi, Kimberly Ellis, Blessing Hungwe and Femi Osifisan – all writers you should know. 2) Playwright and Actor Magaly Colimon-Christopher founded “Hear Her Call” in 2019. Hear Her Call is an annual festival of Caribbean Playwrights, and Magaly is a force of nature. The next Hear Her Call Festival opens in March of this year.  Conch Shell Productions – Hear Her Call

Khiyon Hursey (Sean’s Story, Eastbound)

I think there are a number of dramatists working today to celebrate black history. I also think History can include the past, present and future.  I think artists such as Jackie Sibblies Drury, Michael R. Jackson, Robert O’Hara, Donja Love, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins are creating work that looks at our current history as black people while  also looking back into the past to further unpack the complex histories of Black Americans. With that said, the theater, at times, does not give our grant our great black artists the “so called honor of” having their work on the great white way while continuing to usher in the mediocre work of white men. Broadway is changing, yes, but until we see a more diverse array of writers, the theater continues to not celebrate, complicate, and preserve our history to the fullest.

Happy Black History Month!

Jonathan Payne (Opal Root, The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d)

I would love to hands down shout-out Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm! I admit, I am biased as once his classmates at Juilliard, but his work is just stellar. I haven’t heard anything like his work, and have just been riveted every time I hear or see something of his. He’s wonderfully funny and sharp, and mixes the black experience and genre in unusual ways. He’s also a bit of a hip prophet. It’s worth it to just sit with him and trade thoughts. He has a unique insight and way of maneuvering about the world. He is hands down one of my favorite writers and humans out there.

Reflections on Pride

Posted on June 25, 2019 by ethan

This is one of a two-part series. Click here to hear from seven different writers on why it is crucial to make space for queer voices on stage. 

In celebration of PRIDE month, we have been reflecting on the legacy of queer writers and their impact on the theatrical community, society, and in our own personal lives. Our theatrical community has been not only enriched but arguably created by the works of queer artists. Writers for the stage have played a key role in both spreading acceptance and educating on the queer experience. We thank the queer-identifying writers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow for speaking up and speaking out.

The stage has always been ahead of the curve in regard to offering queer representation. While queer characters have existed since the dawn of theater itself, explicitly queer characters have appeared on American popular stages as early as the 1920s. But these shows, more often than not written by straight writers, offered a flawed portrayal of these characters that viewed them through the lens of the moral standards of the day. By the sixties, this was changing, and out writers were creating out characters that challenged previous portrayals. There are famous examples such as Boys in the Band, and later The Normal Heart, but there were also many smaller productions performed at institutions like Caffe Cino, WOW Café Theatre, or by groups like Hot Peaches and Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theatrical Company. These shows emboldened activists, helping to communicate the human core of their work, and also offered a perspective on queer life that could also include joy and irreverence.

While some of these smaller shows have unfortunately been unacknowledged or lost to history, it is through writers that a direct lineage to this radical openness is maintained. As Keelay Gipson says: “As a queer, black boy in the middle of the country, I looked to the storytellers illuminating our history and our stories through the written word. James Baldwin, Tony Kushner, Robert O’Hara, Paula Vogel, Tarell Alvin McCraney—these writers shaped me as a person and as a dramatist. Their brave work could illuminate for folks like me—not yet out of the closet or sure of their voice, not yet living in a time of radical acceptance—how to build, unapologetically, a life in the theater telling queer stories.” Today, many companies such as Diversionary Theatre in San Diego and The Theater Offensive in Boston are carrying on the tradition of centering queer narratives on the stage. Contemporary theatergoers are also revisiting the work of queer writers like María Irene Fornés, who’s work has never achieved the level of recognition that its influence merits.

For queer people, seeing one’s experience reflected onstage – particularly when that representation is housed in authentic characters grappling with real human problems – can be a necessary balm for the hurt of living in a hostile society. In March of this year, President of Jujamcyn Theaters Jordan Roth presented Tony Kushner with the DGF Madge Evans & Sidney Kingsley Award for Excellence in Theater for his body of work and for work yet to come. Roth described what it felt like to be a young queer person encountering Angels in America as a “soon-to-be-out seventeen-year-old:”

“…My friends and I passed around his writing like secret sacred texts. Passages underlined, sentences highlighted, questions/hopes/prayers scribbled in the margins. Devouring everything we could find that he ever wrote, said or even considered. Those lucky enough to have been witness to a production, to have received the word directly, regaled the rest with tales of magic made manifest.”

So many shows had and continue to have tremendous impact on the heartscape of the nation. In honor of this ripple effect, we decided to maintain a chronological list of some of the pieces written by queer writers that have helped shine a light on the community and those that are continuing to challenge the sense of what it means to be queer in America.

Over the last several decades, we’ve seen the emergence of thrilling, heart-breaking, joyful, rich stories by and about women, trans people, and people of color, led by writers who have refused to have their own experiences written out of queer history. This is a tribute to the seminal works that have helped American theater get to where it is today AND an invitation to the next generation to help steer the ship, using theater as a launchpad for larger conversations about the LGBTQIA+ community and intersectionality in America.

Because this list captures only a fraction of the many groundbreaking, illuminating pieces that queer artists have made, we welcome your suggestions in the comments below:

• Mart Crowley – The Boys in the Band (1968)
• María Irene Fornés – Fefu and Her Friends (1977)
• Harvey Fierstein – Torch Song Trilogy (1978)
• Jane Chambers – Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (1980)
• Larry Kramer – The Normal Heart (1985)
• Kate Bornstein – Hidden: A Gender (1989)
• Tony Kushner – Angels in America (1991)
• William Finn and James Lapine – Falsettos (1992)
• Terrence McNally – Love! Valor! Compassion! (1994)
• John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch (1998)
• Harvey Fierstein and Cyndi Lauper – Kinky Boots (2012)
• Tarell Alvin McCraney – Choir Boy (2012)
• Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori – Fun Home (2013)
• Paula Vogel – Indecent (2015)
• Taylor Mac – A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (2016)
• Basil Kreimendahl – Orange Julius (2017)
• Donja R. Love – Sugar in our Wounds (2018)
• Michael R. Jackson – Strange Loop (2019)

We are happy for this canon to grow, for “secret, sacred texts” to be made known, and for new generations of queer writers to have their voices heard. That is certainly something to be proud of. 

Sincerely,

The DGF Staff

P.S. If you think there is an important work about the queer experience written by a queer writer that should be on this list, please leave it in a comment below!

Four Artists on Terrence McNally

Posted on June 6, 2019 by ethan

In our commitment to supporting writers at all stages of their careers, we’re often thinking about and celebrating legacy, uniting the luminaries who have lit the way with the writers of today and the storytellers of tomorrow.

So this season, it seems fitting that the 2019 Tony Awards are honoring “theater titan” and beloved DGF Board Member Terrence McNally with the Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

Amongst many other accomplishments and honors, Terrence is the winner of Tony Awards for his plays Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class and his books for the musicals Ragtime and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

We asked several members of our community, “what about Terrence McNally’s writing speaks to you?” And we were met with warmth and enthusiasm indicative of both Terrence’s work and his reputation. What’s more, several of these artists know Terrence’s work through the roles they’ve played and also through the shows they love.

To experience a writer’s work both as a performer and as an audience member is a unique perspective, and we’re lucky to share some of these responses with you here:

“Terrence’s ability to express the complicated yet beautiful intricacies of the human condition make his work so fulfilling and rewarding to work on as an actor, and heart-wrenching and thrilling to experience as an audience member…Ragtime is one of my all-time favorite musicals. From its profound storytelling, to its sweeping powerful score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, this show is amazing.”

–Derek Klena, Anastasia

And then there’s the connection of word to human spirit…

“Terrence McNally is not just a writer, but a true poet. It’s such a gift as an actor to go onstage and know that the words you are speaking stand alone; there’s no pressure to try and add to them, or to embellish. The emotion is pure; the meaning deep. Each sentence is like a little present for the heart. I recently saw Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and was completely blown away by the intricacies of his writing — there is such romance and vibrancy within the raw storytelling. It’s not to be missed!”  

–Kathryn Boswell, Anastasia

As we’ve shared of our own Music Hall, the history of a Broadway theater (and a show itself) add to the texture and energy of a space, like layers of paint. What a time, then, it must be at the Broadhurst Theatre, currently home to Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, still warm from the two-year run of Anastasia (which closed March 31st).

“Terrence is not only a dear friend to me but also one of the world’s greatest gifts to the theater. I am continually inspired by the way he takes in his surroundings and crafts them into timeless words and stories that touch our hearts. His ability to see value and wonder in everyone and everything is an attribute we can all aspire to. Terrence’s work will stand the test of time and continue to speak to audiences for generations to come.”

–Audra McDonald, currently starring in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

We’re proud to have Terrence in the DGF Family and to celebrate his work. For someone to write so keenly on the human condition, it follows that they’d value and nurture their professional relationships. Terrence embodies our core value of writers supporting writers.

“I came to New York City in 1987 hoping to meet great writers who, by virtue of their writing alone, would inspire me to write well. Little did I know that what would most inspire me, over time and tears, were the great writers who were also great human beings. Terrence McNally is a great writer, of this I am certain. But it has been his kindness, his generosity, his gentle support, his powerfully compassionate presence and his loving heart that have taught me where true greatness lies.”

-Andrew Lippa, Composer, Lyricist, Bookwriter, and DGF Board President (Unbreakable, Big Fish)

In honor of Terrence’s Lifetime Achievement award, we’ll be re-releasing The Legacy Project (June 10th on the DGF Youtube Channel) starting with a conversation between Terrence McNally and Annie Baker. This intimate glimpse into the struggles, triumphs, unique creative process challenge and inspire us to create and consume art in different ways.

As Terrence puts it, “Anything that makes us feel more connected to our fellow man is important. I think it’s so easy for us all to feel alone– somehow no one understands me. No one is like me…We are unique people, yes, but there is a bond between people that I think theater makes us realize.”

Thank you, Terrence, and congratulations on this incredible honor.

A Letter from Andrew Lippa

Posted on May 22, 2019 by ethan

Theater is not just my passion, it is also my community. I wake up grateful every day I am surrounded by people committed to creating stories that aim not only to entertain but to inspire. Why am I committed to strengthening this community to ensure more artists can tell their stories through the art and craft of writing? Because I believe live theater can reach us like no other art form.

In the spirit of community then, I am pleased to invite you to join the Dramatists Guild Foundation’s Write Stuff Society as an inaugural member. This is a new community within a community composed of our most committed allies. With your vital assistance in the past, DGF has been able to accomplish acts of generosity to write home about. Last year, DGF awarded $135,000 in Emergency funds to writers facing dire circumstances. That was because of you. The DGF Music Hall has saved writers $1 Million in rehearsal room fees since 2015. That was you, too.

It’s now time to take DGF to the next level. I am confident DGF is able to take on the considerable challenge of growing our programs even further. But in order to do so, we need you. We have the right team, the right strategy, and now we need The Write Stuff Society.

Please click here to learn about the benefits offered to members of The Write Stuff Society. We developed these recognition opportunities and private experiences to bring you inside DGF and give you a closer look at how integral your contributions are to the fabric of our cherished organization. I believe the most satisfying benefit is this: Your gift enhances the lives of playwrights, composers, lyricists, and bookwriters, and the vast and diverse audiences we reach. See what you do? You help a writer, they change the world. Simple and right. Or, as we are now saying, Write Stuff.

With your gift to The Write Stuff Society at any level, you are introducing more children to the craft of playwriting through the New Voices program; You are sending more Traveling Masters to arts communities across the nation to enrich the culture and craft; You are amplifying the voices of writers who shape our thinking for the better and inspire us to reach toward a more beautiful future. It’s easy to forget about writers; Our very task is for our words and music to fit so seamlessly into our pieces that it appears they spring from the minds of the characters themselves. But we are there. Starting with a blank piece of paper, a blank computer screen, an empty room. Always. Luckily for us, you’ve always been willing to write yourself into the story, too. Keep writing. Please.

I hope we can count you in as an inaugural member of The Write Stuff Society.

With warm regards,

Andrew Lippa
President of the Board, DGF