That’s right… SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY is going to Broadway, and we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this news! The play has a very special place in Blackboard Plays history.

Ten years ago, on Monday, January 11, 2016, we gathered at our old home on 23rd street, the cell, for a feature reading of a new play by Jocelyn Bioh. We were excited to feature Jocelyn’s work and after a DM conversation and an email exchange in early November of 2015, settled on the date.

Looking back at the photos now, it’s incredible to see the collection of artists gathered, and the excitement the community had over Jocelyn’s work. This was back in the “Facebook Event RSVP via email” days. No Google form to capture. Each name that came in was marked down.

Founder, Garlia Cornelia Jones met the artists at the cell with her 18 month old in tow, opened the space and they rehearsed in the afternoon before the 7:30pm reading began.

It was a very packed house!

The company featured:

(in alphabetical order)

Just let those names sink in. You can find the artists on Broadway, off Broadway, on television and in films. We’re honored to be connected to such brilliance and history. If the photos say anything, we’re pretty sure you can feel the energy in that room. It was an incredible reading, and the beginning of something really special.

Since that Blackboard reading on a cold January evening, Jocelyn’s play has gone on to have more than 75 productions. It had a world premiere in October of 2017 at MCC, then a successful run until 2018 at MCC and Center Theatre Group. During the Summer of 2023, its U.K. premiere was at London’s Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. PLUS: it won the 2018 Lortel Award for Best Play and three Drama Desk Award nominations! Did we miss anything?? What. a. journey.

We’re proud to have played a tiny part, and cannot wait for what’s next! We will be following this production closely and sharing updates as SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY makes its way to Broadway in September of 2026 at Manhattan Theatre Club. The production will be directed by Whitney White, a trailblazing multi-hyphenate artist that also directed Jocelyn’s previous Broadway hit, “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”.

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QUEEN NANNY

written by Camille Darby

directed by Miranda D. Haymon

Monday, March 19, 2018

7:30pm

When Chris’s estranged Jamaican mother Ida shows up on his Brooklyn doorstep after decades of being absent, secrets of the past and present surface forcing this troubled family to make life changing decisions. 

 CAST:

William Cobbs* as CHRIS
Toni Ann DeNoble as MELANIE
Brenda Denmark as IDA

ABOUT CAMILLE:

Born in Jamaica, Camille migrated to the Bronx at seven years old. She soon discovered that writing was the best way to adjust to American culture. Her first play Mother, May I? written as a high school student at DeWitt Clinton, drew the attention of playwright Wendy Wasserstein. Wasserstein mentored the budding playwright who went on to study theatre at Sarah Lawrence College (B.A. 2005) and earned an M.F.A in Dramatic Writing from New York University’s, Tisch (2007). Camille’s plays include They Call Her Immortal (HomeBase Theatre Festival 2017), FREE(48 Hours in Harlem Festival 2016), Queen Nanny (New York Stage & Film 2015), The White Peacock (Classical Theatre of Harlem 2012), Exodus (Fire This Time Festival 2011). Camille is the recipient of the BRIO playwriting award for her full-length play (2008).  The play earned a workshop production presented at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2013). Camille is a 2016 Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Juilliard School Finalist, 2015 Playwrights Center Jerome Many Voices Fellowship Finalist and a 2014-2015 Dramatists Guild Fellow.

ABOUT MIRANDA:

Miranda Haymon is a director currently serving as the Roundabout 2017/18 Directing Fellow. Her adaptation of Kurt Von
negut’s Slaughterhouse-Five  received its world premiere at the 2017 Capital Fringe Festival, which MD Theatre Guide called “innovative and immersive”. She recently completed her time at Arena Stage as the Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow where she assisted Kyle Donnelly (The Little Foxes), Molly Smith (Carousel, 2017 Helen Hayes Nomination for Outstanding Direction in a Musical), Jackie Maxwell (Watch on the Rhine) and Tazewell Thompson (A Raisin in the Sun). She is the Co-Artistic Director and Resident Performance Director at The Hodgepodge Group, an interdisciplinary, intersectional, insurrectional performance duo. Miranda is a graduate of Wesleyan University where she double majored in German Studies and Theater and was awarded the Rachel Henderson Theater Prize in Directing.

The readings are free, but donations to Blackboard Plays are always accepted. 

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Making a tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas

The post Camille Darby’s QUEEN NANNY is back! Monday March 19, 2018 7:30pm appeared first on Blackboard Plays.

Nancy Manocherian’s the cell (Artistic Director Kira Simring) in Chelsea, New York City has partnered with Liberation Theatre Company and Blackboard Plays to produce five new play readings as a part of the cell’s annual C-MORE Festival.

Liberation Theatre Company will present readings of Our Father by Liz Morgan directed by Mary Hodges on Sunday, March 18th at 2:30PM, From Out Beyond My Shame by Shawn Nabors directed by Christopher Burris on Friday, March 23rd at 7:30PM, … by Germaine Netzband directed by Kim Brockington on Sunday, March 25th at 2:30PM, and Quarters, Halves, and the Whole by Nathaniel Johnson on Wednesday, March 28th at 7:30PM.  These readings are a culmination of the work done through Liberation Theatre’s Writing Residency Program.  Tickets for these events are free.

Blackboard Plays will present a workshop reading of Queen Nanny by Camille Darby directed by Miranda D. Haymon on Monday, March 19th at 7:30PM.  Tickets for this event are also free.

Since it’s inception in 2016, the C-MORE festival has provided playwrights and theatremakers of color the opportunity to present work that they are passionate about and create visibility for underrepresented narratives.  This year, the cell has granted two companies that have been making immense strides in telling these stories, funding and materials to present their work.  Past C-MORE presentations have included a workshop production of The Year of the Bicycle by Joanna Evans, In the Southern Breeze by Jireh Breon Holder, Shoppin’ for N.I.G.G.A.S by Garlia Cornelia, The Marks You Leave by Tyler Andrew Jones, Lovely Send Anywhere by Douglas J.Cohen, and Lambs to Slaughter by Khalil Kain.

the cell (Founding Artistic Director Nancy Manocherian and Artistic Director Kira Simring) is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the incubation and presentation of new works by emerging artists.  Founded in 2006, the cell has produced over a dozen critically acclaimed world premiere productions of new plays and musicals over the past 10 years including Sam’s Room, Bastard Jones, Crackskull Row, Hard Times: An American Musical and more.  The cell also features the jazz @ the cell series and has served as a home base for a large community of resident artists and organizations such as Blackboard Reading Series, Artists Without Walls (AWOW), Irish American Writers and Artists (AWOW), Sybarite5, Tribeca New Music, and New York Theatre Barn.

Liberation Theatre Company (Founder and Producing Artistic Director Sandra A. Daley) is a home for creative emerging black playwrights, providing resources to develop their work, nurturing and inviting them to express themselves in a supportive and focused environment. LTC brings together actors, directors, and playwrights to allow playwrights the room to learn and grow, culminating in their finest work, ready for production.

Blackboard Plays (Artistic Director Garlia Cornelia, Co-Curator Oneké Cummings) is devoted to Black playwrights throughout the African Diaspora. Since 2008 Blackboard has presented readings every second Monday of the month at the cell our home in Chelsea where they have been incubated as a resident series.

The post 2018 C-MORE @ the cell: March 18 – 28, 2018 appeared first on Blackboard Plays.

 

Both readings are free and open to the public.

RSVP: cmorefestival@gmail.com

The Year of the Bicycle, written by South African playwright Joanna Evans, chronicles the unlikely bond between two children in apartheid South Africa as they navigate their friendship and the tumultuous political landscape that separates them.  The play will feature Atandwa Kani (“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”) and Elaine Ivy Harris with lighting design by Chris Steckel,  set design by You-Shin Chen and direction by Shariffa Ali.

Tickets are $10.00

The post the cell’s C.M.O.R.E. Festival April 2017 appeared first on Blackboard Plays.

Featuring:

LaChrisha Brown

Almeria Campbell

Toccarra Cash

Oneké Cummings

Stephen Hill

Kareem M. Lucas

Alysia Joy Powell

About the Play:

Khadar and Guinivere answer an ad in Essence for what they believe to be Ms. Yasha’s dating service and find “Shoppin’ for N.I.G.G.A.S” a dating service insisting that every black woman needs a N.I.G.G.A. and that every black man is one.

The reading will be followed by a panel discussion / talkback

Wine / Refreshments provided

About the Playwright:

An OBIE Award Winning Theatre Producer and native Detroiter, Garlia is no stranger to creating spaces for underrepresented artists of color.  As a freshman at Indiana University, Garlia founded Black Curtain, a group devoted to Black Theatre on the Bloomington campus.  Black Curtain’s first production was “A Raisin in the Sun”, which Garlia directed.  In addition to promoting Black Theatre through original and established plays, Black Curtain devoted much of its time to Diversity training and cross cultural communication as well as HIV/AIDS awareness that culminated in a benefit concert, RedVolution, co-hosted by former MTV VJ, Quddus.

In September 2008, Garlia founded what became Blackboard Reading Series, a monthly series incubated by nancy manocherian’s the cell, devoted to Black Playwrights and has been fortunate to call the cell her artistic home ever since.

In 2010, Garlia was part of a group of producers in Harlem that assembled to discuss ways they could work together.  They became Harlem9 and began producing an annual event, “48Hours In… Harlem”, a spin on the traditional 24-hour play festival.  In 2014, one week before her son was born, Harlem9 won an OBIE for “48Hours In… Harlem”.   In August 2016, Harlem9 began publishing the plays from the Obie Award winning event.  Their 1st Anthology is available on Amazon and Kindle. 

Garlia’s writing can be found in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Brain, Child and Howlround.  Learn more about what Garlia is doing on her website: www.garliacornelia.com Follow her @garliacornelia on Instagram and Twitter

About the Director:

Christopher Burris is an artist and educator residing in Brooklyn. He’s an adjunct professor at Pace University, associate producer for The New Black Fest, a trainer with Ovation Communications, and a member of Home in the Time of Brooklyn with 651 Arts. He directed THE BROTHERS SIZE at Luna Stage, which received five 2016 Broadway World Award nominations, including Best Play and Best Director. Other directing credits include the world premiere of GEESE (Samuel D. Hunter) at The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and WHEN WE WAKE UP DEAD (Dennis A. Allen) at Brooklyn College. He directed POTATO SALAD (Keith Josef Adkins) for the inaugural year of the Obie-winning 48 Hours in Harlem, as well as the first four years of Obie-winning Fire This Time Festival, culminating in their premiere full length production, LORDS RESISTANCE (Camille Darby). As an actor, he has been seen on television (The Guiding Light, Damage Control, As the World Turns), stage (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse), commercials (Dr. Scholl’s, ESPN360, NY Post), and a host of voice-overs (including Grand Theft Auto V, McDonald’s, AT&T). AEA and SDC (Associate) Member. Social Media: @misterburris

About the Cast:

LaChrisha Brown (PEDDI) “Bio Coming Soon”

Almeria Campbell (PROSECUTOR LATHRUP) is a Texas native. She attended Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.
check her out at almeriacampbell.com

Toccarra Cash (GUINIVERE) was most recently seen as Grace in Hartford Stage’s production of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” and also opposite Wendell Pierce in the Off-Broadway and New Orleans productions of “Brothers from the Bottom” (AUDELCO Award – Best Supporting Actress). Off-Broadway: “Playing with Fire”; “The Fabulous Miss Marie”. Regional: Baltimore Centerstage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Florida Studio Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, among several others. Film: “First Match”, “Rosy”, “Hands to the Sky”, “ATL”, “Blue Car”. TV: “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Royal Pains” (USA), “Younger” (TV Land). Twitter & Instagram: @toccarracash.

Oneké Cummings (D.A. REYNOLDS)  is excited to participate in C.M.O.R.E. festival and is especially excited to be in “Shoppin for N.I.G.G.A.S” Her NY credits include: The Drilling Company Presents Shakespeare in the Parking Lot’s “Richard III”, Black Henna’s Production of “Twelfth Night”, “Anne and Me or The Tulpa” at the Planet Connections Festival, “The Panopticon” and “Richard III”, and “Oreo Cookies” at the New School for Drama and “Juniper; Jubilee” the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival winner, MN Credits: Shattered for Climb Theatre in Inver Grove Heights, GA credits: “Treasure Island”, “Twelfth Night”, and “Hamlet” at Georgia Shakespeare in Atlanta. She graduated with her BA in Theatre from Spelman College and graduated from the New School for Drama earning her MFA in acting. Onekè would like to thank her family & friends for all of their love a support.

Stephen Hill (KHADAR) was most recently seen as Silence Manning in “Manhood” (National Black Theater) and as MC Tank in “Homage 3: Illmatic” (Schomburg Center). Hill has also originated roles in both “Birthright”, and “The Legend of Buster Neal” (Billie Holiday Theater, National Black Theater Festival). Hill is currently cast as York in the HBO mini-series, “Lewis & Clark”, and is also on HBO in the fifth season of Boardwalk Empire. On Netflix, you can enjoy his performance as Isaac in the romantic comedy “Christmas Wedding Baby”. Other credits include, “Luke Cage”, “Law & Order SVU”, “Blue Bloods”, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, “Louie”, “Political Animals”, and “Unforgettable”. @StephenHillActs (Instagram/Twitter)

Kareem M. Lucas (JUDGE LAWRENCE) NY: Manhood (National Black Theatre), A Boy & His Bow (The Greene Space), Queen Latina…Ep. 2 (Cherry Lane Theatre), RATED BLACK (Teatro Circulo), The Fire This Time Festival, The Servant of Two Masters (Sonnet Rep Theater), From Brooklyn With Love (The Slipper Room), To Live And Die (MCC/Freshplay Festival), The 52nd Street Project, The Balm in Gilead (The Labyrinth Theater Company/NYNYFestival), In Loco Parentis (FringeNYC), Romeo and Juliet (Theater 2020). Regional: Romeo and Juliet (Williamstown Theater Festival). Film/TV: Boardwalk Empire (HBO), “The Bronx Dahmer”, “COHAB”, “True Believers”, “Walden” (upcoming). MFA: NYU Graduate Acting Program. www.kareemmlucas.com

Alysia Joy Powell (MISS YASHA): Alysia hails from Los Angeles. Born of parents who met at an acting class, it was no wonder that she would have the gift. Some of those gifts are acting, singing, writing (poetry and screenwriting), stand up comedy, directing, producing, and now teaching. She’s had a career in Film and TV including credits like: “Desperate House Wives”, a reoccurring role on “Everybody Hates Chris”, “Scrubs”, “NYPD Blue”, and “The Shield”, just to name a few. Eight years ago, she got a deep passion for all things more true and cultural. That’s what brought her to NY and she has been on her grind ever since. She has reigned as the Two Time Manhattan Monologue Slam Champion. Alysia was in the amazing stage production of “Who Is A Virtuous Woman”, directed by the fabulous Wendy McKenzie and is working on a One Woman Show, “Different Shades of Love”. Alysia joined the amazing cast of “Excuse Me For Living” with the talented Tom Pelphrey from Guiding Light, Dick Cavett, Robert Vaughn, and Chistopher Lloyd, and has work shopped at The Gotham Comedy Club with her stand-up skills. Did I mention, she has a beautiful jewelry-line called My Diva-Tude? Alysia’s stand out role in The Sitter has created buzz along with her appearance on “The Wendy Williams Show” with Jonah Hill promoting The Sitter. Enjoy Alysia Joy Powell in her current role as Nanny Alicia in the New NBC Show, the “Mysteries of Laura” with the funny and talented Debra Messing and La Alonzo.

Click the image to learn more about C.M.O.R.E.

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Under the direction of Founding Artistic Director, Nancy Manocherian and Artistic Director, Kira Simring, Blackboard called the cell home for a little over 10 years.  Since 2008, Blackboard was a resident series with Blackboard every 2nd Monday of the Month.  Developed and incubated in this space, Blackboard would not be where it is today without that support.

Check out the cell as they continue to support other series and artists in ways not found at other artistic homes and organizations around New York City.

the cell continues to be a unique space in Chelsea’s Manhattan, visit the cell for their list of events.

www.thecelltheatre.org

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