Dominique Morisseau – författare

Dominique Morisseau a rising star of the playwriting world and recipient of the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History takes the audience on a journey to 1967 in the city of Detroit. Motown music is getting the party started and Chelle and her brother Lank are making ends meet by turning their basement into an after-hours joint. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives the siblings clash over much more than the family business. As their pent-up

A striking new ensemble drama based on the Jena Six; six Black students who were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus. This bold new play by Dominique Morisseau (Sunset Baby Detroit '67

Blue a gifted trumpeter contemplates selling his once-vibrant jazz club in Detroit's Blackbottom neighborhood to shake free the demons of his past and better his life. But where does that leave his devoted Pumpkin who has dreams of her own? And what does it mean for the club's resident bebop band? When a mysterious woman with a walk that drives men mad comes to town with her own plans everyone's world is turned upside down. This dynamic and musically-infused drama shines light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us.

At the start of the Great Recession one of the last auto stamping plants in Detroit is on shaky ground. Each of the workers have to make choices on how to move forward if their plant goes under. Shanita has to decide how she'll support herself and her unborn child Faye has to decide how and where she'll live and Dez has to figure out how to make his ambitious dreams a reality. Power dynamics shift as their manager Reggie is torn between doing right by his work family and by the re

Nya, an inner-city public high school teacher, is committed to her students but desperate to give her only son Omari opportunities they'll never have. When a controversial incident at his upstate private school threatens to get him expelled, Nya must confront his rage and her own choices as a parent. But will she be able to reach him before a world beyond her control pulls him away? With profound compassion and lyricism, Pipeline brings an urgent conversation powerfully to the fore. Morisseau pens a deeply moving story of a mother's fight to give her son a future - without turning her back on the community that made him who he is.

Two generations of sisters navigate class race love and family on "Mud Row " an area in the East End of West Chester Pennsylvania. Elsie hopes to move up in the world by marrying into "the talented tenth " while her sister Frances joins the fight for Civil Rights. Decades later estranged sisters Regine and Toshi are forced to reckon with their shared heritage and each other when Regine inherits granny Elsie's house."Morisseau gives exquisite voice to four women occupying the same four walls - and by doing so an entire community sings." - The Philadelphia Inquirer"Morisseau's writing is rich and authentic. Tense heartbreaking and ultimately inspiring Mud Row pulses with the the love Morisseau feels for her characters and the real life people who inspire them." - Talkin' Broadway"A tale so exciting and engrossing." - Broad Street Review

Follow Me to Nellie's takes place in the home of the infamous Nellie Jackson's where a hopeless blues singer is looking for a way out a brave freedom fighter is looking for a way in and a house of downtrodden women are looking for a new day. In 1955 Mississippi during the reign of segregation the price of attaining their dreams may cost them everything. Dominique Morisseau's play takes a harrowing look at those who risked everything so that all Americans could be afforded the opportunity to vote.

Sara an enslaved rebel turned Union spy and Sandra a tenured professor in a modern-day private university are having parallel experiences of institutional racism though they live over a century apart. Confederates leaps through time to trace the identities of these two Black American women and explore the reins that racial and gender bias still hold on American educational systems today.

Few institutions have as profound an impact on the American theatrical landscape as the Tony Award-winning Williamstown Theatre Festival, located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. New Plays from Williamstown Theatre Festival 2015-2021 provides a sample of the dozens of plays that have been created and/or premiered at the Festival during the Artistic Directorship of Mandy Greenfield. In addition to stories that shine a light into new or underexplored corners of the human condition, these plays frequently feature complex and boundary-pushing central roles for women actors. These six plays are manifestations of living, American playwrights grappling with and breathing dramatic life into the conflicts and questions at the heart of who we were, who we are, and who we will become. These plays imagine and interrogate pieces of the human experience we are still in the midst of unpacking and understanding.Complete with introductions by each of the authors reflecting on their work, these historic, award-winning, and groundbreaking plays now live in conversation with one another in this unique collection.

Few institutions have as profound an impact on the American theatrical landscape as the Tony Award-winning Williamstown Theatre Festival, located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. New Plays from Williamstown Theatre Festival 2015-2021 provides a sample of the dozens of plays that have been created and/or premiered at the Festival during the Artistic Directorship of Mandy Greenfield. In addition to stories that shine a light into new or underexplored corners of the human condition, these plays frequently feature complex and boundary-pushing central roles for women actors. These six plays are manifestations of living, American playwrights grappling with and breathing dramatic life into the conflicts and questions at the heart of who we were, who we are, and who we will become. These plays imagine and interrogate pieces of the human experience we are still in the midst of unpacking and understanding.Complete with introductions by each of the authors reflecting on their work, these historic, award-winning, and groundbreaking plays now live in conversation with one another in this unique collection.

"Morisseau's characters are both overwhelmed and motivated by forces beyond their control, and are charged with rhythmic, intelligent language that they wield beautifully." - The New York TimesBrooklyn, New York City. Nina’s estranged father, a former Black revolutionary and political prisoner, reappears to obtain a coveted piece of her late mother’s legacy. While he dreamed of changing the world, she became everything he feared… but could she still hold the key to his redemption?A moving story about love, political action, and one woman’s journey from a brutal existence to her own liberation, Dominique Morisseau beautifully weaves together historical struggles with contemporary experiences.Following an acclaimed off-Broadway run, Sunset Baby is published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, featuring a new introduction by Steve H. Broadnax III.

It's 1967 in Detroit. Motown music is getting the party started, and Chelle and her brother Lank are making ends meet by turning their basement into an after-hours joint. But when a mysterious woman finds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over more much more than the family business. As their pent-up feelings erupt, so does their city, and they find themselves caught in the middle of the '67 riots.Detroit '67 is presented in association with Classical Theatre of Harlem and the National Black Theatre.Detroit '67 was awarded the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History