Reflections David Henry Hwang Reflects Blackface for White America by Kheven Lee LaGrone Shotgun Players presented David Henry Hwang’s “Yellow Face,” which won an Obie Award for Playwriting and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2008). Inspired by real life events, Hwang’s play is well-written, intelligent, and fast moving. In this semi-autobiographical work,…
Nina Ki Embodies Queer Women as Loveable Furries by Kheven Lee LaGron Gumiho, a creature in traditional Korean folktales, appears as a nine-tailed, shapeshifter fox who can disguise itself as a beautiful woman. The gumiho deceives and seduces men to better eat their hearts and livers. The creature appears in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese…
Lynn Nottage Revives Crucial Conflict in Civil Rights Era by Kheven Lee LaGrone Playwright Lynn Nottage is the only woman in history to have won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her early work, “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” set in 1950 Brooklyn, is the story of a devoted follower of Father Divine, a…
Ayodele Nzinga Transforms Realism to Fantasy, Opening Our Eyes by Kheven Lee LaGrone According to Marvin X, a leading playwright of the movement, “Black theater was the mother of the Black Power Movement.” He explained that, “In America during the 60s, youth received revolutionary consciousness in the Black Arts Movement (BAM), especially the Black…