Northwestern Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance, and Collaboration

This is the first book to dedicate scholarly attention to the work of Tarell Alvin McCraney, one of the most significant writers and theater-makers of the twenty-first century. Featuring essays, interviews, and commentaries by scholars and artists who span generations, geographies, and areas of interest, the volume examines McCraney’s theatrical imagination, his singular writerly voice, his incisive cultural critiques, his stylistic and formal creativity, and his distinct personal and professional trajectories. Contributors consider McCraney’s innovations as a playwright, adapter, director, performer, teacher, and collaborator, bringing fresh and diverse perspectives to their observations and analyses. In so doing, they expand and enrich the conversations on his much-celebrated and deeply resonant body of work, which includes the plays Choir Boy, Head of Passes, Ms. Blakk for President, The Breach, Wig Out!, and the critically acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays: In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, and Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet, as well as the Oscar Award–winning film Moonlight, which was based on his play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Review "Tarell's work is at once epic and very human. No other contemporary playwright writes about the souls of black folks with such love, grace, poetry, and beauty. This book is so important." --Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize--winning playwright of Ruined and Sweat ". . . an invaluable primer to a body of work so complexly located at the intersections of blackness, queerness, and performance in 21st-century American theater." --R. Remshardt, University of Florida, CHOICE "This critical anthology provides a compelling and comprehensive view into the work of one of the most significant and exciting voices in contemporary American theater. What makes this anthology especially distinctive is its effective conjunction of critical engagement and theatrical practice. The volume's integration of theory and practice provides a particularly insightful approach to McCraney's theatrically dynamic dramaturgy. It is an immensely valuable read for scholars, teachers, and students as well as theater practitioners." --Harry J. Elam, author of The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson "Tarell Alvin McCraney is one of the most prolific playwrights of our time. The critical assessments offered here by esteemed artists/academics affirm his genius." --Phylicia Rashad About the Author Sharrell D. Luckett is the director of the Helen Weinberger Center for Drama and Playwriting and an associate professor of drama and performance studies at the University of Cincinnati. She is the lead editor of Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches.David Roman is a professor of English and American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He is the author of several books on American theater, including Performance in America: Contemporary U.S. Culture and the Performing Arts.Isaiah Matthew Wooden is a director-dramaturg and an assistant professor of theater arts at Brandeis University.