Current first year playwright Philana Omorotionmwan is one of six playwrights chosen for the Bay Area Playwrights festival in San Francisco to develop her new play this summer! The new play festival runs July 15th through the 24th and Philana’s play Before Evening Comes will be featured.
Here is a little bit about the play: It’s the year 2083. A draconian government mandate renders nearly all males of color homebound and disabled as they reach manhood, but for a few beacons of virtue. But Mary, mother to four boys, is determined to find any way necessary to subvert her boys’ fate. A dystopian parable of our times.
Here is a quote from Philana about her process on this play:“I typically start from a place of questions when I write. For this play I asked myself: What does it mean to choose motherhood as a black woman in 21st century America? Can artistic expression offer the possibility of freedom from a life of bondage? I continue to explore these questions as I dive into my rewrites for the festival.”
Congrats Philana on this awesome and prestigious development opportunity!
Read more about Philana’s piece here
More about Philana
Philana Omorotionmwan is the daughter of a Louisiana mother and a Nigerian father. She first began writing plays under the mentorship of Cherríe Moraga at Stanford University, where she also dabbled in spoken word and earned a BA in English. Production of her short plays includes The Settlement (Ensemble Studio Theatre) and Black Boys Don’t Dance (Manhattan Theatre Source). In addition to being a Playground SF company playwright during the 2010-2011 season, Philana has studied poetry and playwriting at Naropa University, the Kennedy Center, and the Fine Arts Work Center. Her poems have been published in New Delta Review and African American Review. Philana is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Ohio University and is a member of Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
