Supporting Visionary Storytellers...
The Play Development Lab offers play- development experience for Black women playwrights to advance process, craft & career.
Playwrights We Attract Are...
Black Women Playwrights...
who write plays better than "AI" can copy them
who have something radically meaningful to say
who are willing to look like they're wrong but they write anyway
who own their personal status
who own their unique voice
who don't ask for permission
2024/2025 Cohort
The Play Development Lab under the direction of Professor Denise J. Hart is part of the Department of Theatre Art's New Works Initiative, designed to offer comprehensive play development support to professional Black women playwrights. Through this program, Professor Hart aims to advance their creative processes, enhance their craft, and foster long-term careers.
The Lab serves as a vital resource for playwrights while also providing Howard University students with invaluable opportunities to engage directly in developing new plays that center on the Black Diaspora. Students will participate in various roles, from acting to stage management, fostering an interactive and collaborative learning experience.
The inaugural cohort for the 2024/2025 Play Development Lab includes six professional playwrights, two of whom have been selected as finalists. The finalists will each receive a developmental play reading, allowing students and patrons to witness the creative process.
The Play Development Lab is an essential step forward in creating spaces where Black women playwrights can hone their craft while also fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation for the ongoing development of the Black theater canon.
Finalists
Finalists will engage in and benefit from a 6 month long one-on-one play development process resulting in an invited audience staged reading in Washington DC.
Fall 2024 Finalist
Michelle Tyrene Johnson
40 Acres and a Laptop: Or When the Past and a Dystopian Future Collide
Play synopsis
It’s 2038. President Yorkshire, as a third-term president, has done the unthinkable - he’s brought slavery back. Not the chains and whips type. But Black people need to be registered to white people to keep Blacks from getting out of hand type. However, in every society, there’s always an underground group that fights the power. In this case, the revolution leader lives in the White House where she is “sponsored” by her bestie - President Yorkshire’s sister. The freedom fighters have a ticking clock they have to beat. Will the good guys triumph and stop the atrocity in its tracks, once and for all? Or will the conservative cultural wars that have been boiling over for decades have a glorious victory put in place for generations?
Playwright BIO
Playwright and Senior Radio Producer Michelle Tyrene Johnson lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Johnson’s plays have been staged nationally in readings and productions from California to New York. Her commissioned play “Only One Day A Year” was selected for the Kennedy Center’s New Visions/New Voices Festival in 2020, was the recipient of a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and had its world premiere at Coterie Theatre in 2023. A native of the Greater Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan area, Johnson received her MFA in Writing with an emphasis on playwriting in May 2022 from Spalding University.
Spring 2025 Finalist
Melda Beaty
Feebleminded
Play synopsis
In 1965, North Carolina's Eugenics Board played god. After a brutal rape, they labeled 16 year old, Laine Brown, feebleminded and unfit to bore anymore children for the "good of society." She, and a disproportionate number of poor black girls and women, suffered coerced sterilizations because the law of the land said so, but when Laine's ancestors appear, North Carolina learns that they played god with the wrong one.
Playwright BIO
Melda Beaty, a passionate playwright, claimed the prestigious 2022 National Black Theatre Festival's Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling World Premiere Award for her outstanding work, "Coconut Cake." Her theatrical journey began with the debut of her first play, "Front Porch Society," at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, TX. Her talent and dedication extend beyond her creative pursuits. She was a Confluence Fellow with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, where she honed her latest creation, "Feebleminded." As a member of the Board of Directors for the August Wilson Society, Dramatists Guild, and a contributing editor for Black Masks magazine, she actively contributes to the literary community.
Semi-Finalists
Semi-finalists will engage in and benefit from a 7 week long one-on-one development prep process with a play development dramaturge.
Fall 2024
Fall 2024S Semi-Finalist
Christin Cato
Stoop Pigeons
Play synopsis
It's Bushwick, in the early 2000s, and as the block undergoes a metamorphosis, neighborhood figureheads like Ms. Suzy are suffering financially and mentally. Elders, like Big Mary and Mista Petie, do all they can to keep their people together. The kids who grew up on the block, like Tanya, Lexi, and Bridgit, face the challenges of losing the only home they have ever known. Their living conditions reach another level when a gentrifier, Amanda, meets a returning neighbor, Mario, who together engage in drug-related crime. Stoop Pigeons is a story about poverty, miseducation, addiction, and mental health. What does it mean for these neighbors to stay left behind in a society that continues to incriminate them and neglect their basic human needs?
Playwright BIO
Christin Eve Cato (she/her) is an award-winning playwright and performing artist. She hails from the vibrant streets of the Bronx and weaves a profound artistic narrative that reflects her Puerto Rican and Jamaican heritage. With an MFA in Playwriting from Indiana University and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Fordham University, Cato is known for creating universal stories that advocate for human rights and social justice. Her artistic voice harmonizes with Caribbean culture and the Afro-Latinx diaspora, delving into the depths of human existence and the role of matriarchy in our societies. Recent productions include her 2024 Obie Award-Winning play Sancocho (WP Theater); The Diamond (The People’s Theatre Project); and The Mayor of Hell’s Kitchen Presents: A Time Traveling Journey Through NYC’s Wild West (The Parsnip Ship & Playwrights Horizons).
Fall 2024S Semi-Finalist
Renita Martin
Make Me a Blessing: The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story
Play synopsis
This play is a tapestry of interwoven stories that span time and space, celebrating the life and continuing work of our beloved Civil Rights leader, Myrlie Evers-Williams.
Playwright BIO
Renita Martin is an award-winning author, thespian, musician, and producer dedicated to social justice. Her plays, including Five Bottles in a Six-Pack, Lo She Comes, and Blue Fire on the Water, have received international acclaim. Renita's commitment to social justice is evident in her writing, recognized with honors such as the Fruitee Award, two Telly Awards, and the National Performance Network's Creation Fund Grant. As CEO of Rhythm Visions Production Company, she provides arts programs and employment opportunities to underserved communities. Renita's outstanding community service has been recognized with awards like Ebony Magazine's "Unsung Hero Award" and honors from Fenway Health Center and Boston Women's Service Club.
Spring 2025
Spring 2025 Semi-Finalist
Mildred Inez Lewis
We Four
Play synopsis
Under the leadership of a charismatic pastor, four conservative Black men have founded a fraternity for rising conservatives in California. When their leader falls ill, they decide to find and groom a new leader. Not a hit job, but an effort to understand.
Playwright BIO
Mildred Inez Lewis writes for stage, screen and ears. Her work has been produced by Antaeus Theatre, Central Works (Berkeley, CA), Ensemble Studio Theatre-LA, Fade to Black Festival (Houston, TX), Lucille Lortel/Harlem9/National Black Theatre (NYC, virtual). She’s been commissioned by A Different Myth (Asheville, NC), Lucille Lortel, and Ohlone College (Fremont, CA). Her plays are published by Applause Books, Broadway Play Publishing, and Smith & Kraus. Honors include an AGE Legacy Award, L.B. Williams Award (New Circle Theatre), and PLAY LA (Humanitas). Audio podcast work with the Orchard Project Audio Lab, Feminist Fairytale series and Antaeus Zip Code series.
Spring 2025 Semi-Finalist
Yekta Khaghani
In the Stillness of Night
Play synopsis
In 2009 Tehran, five high school girls stumble upon sealed presidential election ballots while rehearsing the Trojan Women play. This discovery tragically shapes their lives, leading to a lost friend and forced confessions that alter the truth. Thirteen years later, three women reunite in their abandoned school, each carrying impactful stories. Their gathering becomes a poignant journey through the past, seeking healing and the enduring hope to mend the wounds of their youth.
Playwright BIO
Yekta Khaghani is an Iranian American playwright, actor, and theater maker based in New York City. She is part of the People’s Theater Project company and serves as a Teaching Artist. In 2023, Yekta received the New York City Women's Fund for her new play, set to debut in 2024 in New York. She also reached the semifinals of the 2020 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. In 2022, Yekta curated “Whispers of the Flesh,” an anthology by Iranian women playwrights, paying homage to their enduring strength.
How to Apply
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