The Play Fest!
Our Fade To Black 10-Minute Play Festival is groundbreaking!
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Started with the desire to create something “wonderful”, a team of local directors, actors, and volunteers used their talents to open doors of opportunity for emerging Black playwrights. Suddenly our humble play festival was on its feet and forging onward! From that moment on, we have never looked back!​
2024 Fade To Black Playwright Winners!
Melda Beaty (Chicago, IL) - Guess What's for Dinner
E.J. Batiste (Raeford, NC) - The Word
Alric Davis (Houston, TX) - Buffalo Woman: The Life and Times of Cathay Williams
Krystle Dellihue (Detroit, MI) - Cancel Me
Ken Green (Boston, MA) - I Can Do Evil All by Myself
Dyron Holmes (Brooklyn, NY) - Safe Words
Reginald T. Jackson (Brooklyn, NY) - Dee's Dilemma
Velvia Keithley (Huntsville, TX) - You Put Me in the Mind of…
Joe Lewis (Silver Spring, MD) - Redemption
Lesley Ukaegbu (Las Vegas, NV) - All is Fair
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​Congratulations to our Winners!
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​2023
Larissa Brewington (Phoenix, AZ) - "micro"
Charlett Bundy (Annapolis, MD) - "No, He Can't Sit Down!"
Charity Clark-Anderson (Southfield, MI) - "Mama's Breath"
Robert T. Fields (Richmond, CA) - "Keeper"
Mildred Inez Lewis (Los Angeles, CA) - "Louisiana Shoal"
Marita A. McKee (Pensacola, FL) - "In Passing"
Lorna Taylor (Houston, TX) - "Just Like Family"
Harold JAY Trotter (Houston, TX) - "Unconditional"
Vincent Victoria (Houston, TX) - "The New Girl"
Curtis Von (Houston, TX) - "The Dilemma"
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2022
April Amara (College Park, MD) – “Dinner with a View”
Calley N. Anderson (Brooklyn, NY) – “Performative”
Leslie Dianne (New York City, NY) – “Forget Me Not”
Krystle Dellihue (Wayne, MI) – “Hattie (A Set at the Table)”
Eric C. Jones (Houston, TX) – “Going Up!”
Nattalie Gordon (Fayetteville, GA) – “Hey, Best Friend!”
Joe A. Lewis (Silver Spring, MD) – “Forbidden Places”
DeLane McDuffie (Los Angeles, CA) – “Monomachia”
Corey Shields (Houston, TX) – “Busted”
Christian Wilburn (San Francisco, CA) – “White Card”
2021
Shaneisha Dodson (CA) - "Final Goodbye"
Bonita Elery (Atlanta, GA) - "Hot Potato"
Mildred Inez Lewis (Los Angeles, CA) - "Jab, Cross, Hook"
Russell Nichols (Vallejo, CA) - "Why Husbands Hold Their Tongue"
Joe A. Lewis (Silver Spring, MD) - "Choices"
Paula Celeste Neeley (Minnetonka, MN) - "​Dear Fannie"
Patrina Randolph (Houston, TX) - "One Way or Another"
Kimberly Ridgeway (Hayward, CA) - "The Contract"
James Anthony Tyler (Los Angeles, CA) - "Those Wishing"
Daysha Veronica (Los Angeles, CA) - "Olivia's Last Night in Venice"
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2020
Toccara Castleman (Brooklyn, NY) - "Escaping Inward"
Marcus Colon (Fort Myers, FL) - "Home Life"
Jeremy Holloway (​Cordova, TN) - "BlackHeaven"
DeLane McDuffie (Los Angeles, CA) - "Cop and Fiske"
Russell Nichols (Vallejo, CA) - "Invisibility"
Patrina Randolph (Houston, TX) - "Controlled Substance"
Crystal Rae (Houston, TX) - "Raising Solomon"
Angela Y. Rice (Houston, TX) - "Jesus, The Good Time Charlie"
Clinnesha D. Sibley (McComb, MS) - "The Cleaning Ladies"
Rukiya Varner (Virginia Beach, VA) - "Yellow Lilies"
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2019
​​Simone Black (St. Albans, NY) - "From This Moment On"
Sharai Bohannon (Chicago, IL) - "Well That Just Happened"
Zachariah Ezer (Brooklyn, NY) - "Time To A Phantom"
Ken Green (Boston, MA) - "The Line"
Reginald C. Jackson (Chicago, IL) - "Convictions"
Darien Mitchell (Washington, DC) - "Aggression"
Lewis Morrow (Kansas City, KS) - "Ain't Dirt on Your Hands"
Renée Nixon (Durham, NC) - "Dazed and Stunned"
Alan Sharpe (Washington, DC) - "Bedtime Story"
Corey Shields (Houston, TX) - "Jody"
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2018
Calley Anderson (New York, NY) - "Trick or Treat?"
Yunina Barbour-Payne (Houston, TX) - "Tobacco Fields"
Maya Critchlow (Houston, TX) - "What About Tomorrow?"
Vincent Terrell Durham (Van Nuys, CA) - "Home For The Holidays With The Lord"
Peter Fields (Kent, OH) - "The Visit"
Ken Green (Boston, MA) - "The Campaign"
Lionell A. Hilliard (Houston, TX) - "Is Orange the New Black?"
Eric C. Jones (Houston, TX) - "War Letters"
Brandon Riley (Tempe, AZ) - "Easy As Pie"
T J Young (Pittsburgh, PA) - "Before The Fire"
​2017
Markietha Ka'Von Singleton, (Chicago, IL) - "Blithe Taste"
Finalists:
Chuck Cummings, (S. Pasadena, CA) - "Rest In Peace"
Rachel Dickson, (Houston, TX) - "To Each His Own"
Timothy Eric (Houston, TX) - "Switchback"
Evonne Fields-Gould (Kent, OH) - "Life, Love, & Boobs"
Markietha Ka'Von Singleton, (Chicago, IL) - "Blithe Taste"
Joe A. Lewis, (Silver Spring, MD) - "Dream"
Asia Nichols, (Vallejo, CA) - "Incredible Darling"
Dana Stringer, (Atlanta, GA) - "Ms. Frankie Lee"
Lorna Taylor (Houston, TX) - "What Is Greater Than Fear"
A'ndrea J. Wilson, (Soperton, GA) - "On Da Rooftop"
2016
Angela Y. Rice (Houston, TX) - "And A Child Shall Lead Them"
Finalists
Tina Burnside (Minneapolis, MN) - "Just A Rope?"
Kim El (Pittsburgh, PA) - "Of Nine Tales"
Joe A. Lewis (Silver Spring, MD) - "Greater Good"
Russell Nichols (Vallejo, CA) - "There Once Was A Jack In The Box: A Mad Scientist's Lament"
Angela Y. Rice (Houston, TX) - "And A Child Shall Lead Them"
Anthony Roberts (Brooklyn, NY) - "The Kiss of Auset"
Stacey Rose (Bronx, NY) - "Summer '89: Prelude"
Dana Stringer (Atlanta, GA) - "Looter"
Caron Tate (Los Angeles, CA) - "Spellcheck"
Marlow Wyatt, (Los Angeles, CA) - "Sweetie's Confession"
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2015
Angela Y. Rice (Houston, TX), "The Vessel By Which"
Finalists
Melanie E. Burke (Houston, TX) - "In The Still of the Night"
Dana Clark-Brocks (Dallas, TX) - "Valentine's Day Murder"
Chuck Cummings (S. Pasadena, CA) - "Edmonia's Marble"
Kelvin Douglas (Houston, TX) - "Driving Miss Crazy"
Ken Green (Boston, MA) - "State"
Ron Jones, Jr. (Round Rock, TX) - "Unsolicited Material"
Thomas Meloncon (Houston, TX) - "Color Blind"
Angela Y. Rice (Houston, TX) - "The Vessel by Which"
Dana Stringer (Atlanta, GA) - "Colored In Winter"
Travis Tate (Austin, TX) - "Whipped"
2014
Melanie E. Burke (Houston, TX), "Saving Grace"
Finalists
Melanie E. Burke (Houston, TX) - "Saving Grace"
James Earl Hardy (New York, NY) - "A Kiss is Just a Kiss"
Juanita Harvey (Philadelphia, PA) - "Long Distance Love"
Lou Johnson (Nashville, TN) - "The Lepers of Orchard Park"
Michelle T Johnson (Kansas City, KS) - "Olivia's Little Patch of Snow"
Aaron McDavis (Rowlett, TX) - "A Psycho's Path"
Barbara & Carlton Molette (Atlanta, GA) - "Kin Ship"
Aurin Squire (Brooklyn, NY) - Morehouse Men"
Dana Stringer (Atlanta, GA) - "Costume Waver"
Stacey Rose (Bronx NY) - "My Pet"
2013
Angela Batravil (Los Angeles, CA) - "Venus and Mars - Date Night"
Finalists
Angela Batravil (Los Angeles, CA) - "Venus and Mars - Date Night"
Rachel DuBose (Evanston, IL) - "Lonely Hearts"
Peter Anthony Fields" (Kent, OH) - "Burden"
Kevin R. Free (New York, NY) - "Portal, or Metaphorical Tricycle"
Michelle T. Johnson (Kansas City, KS) - "A Rebecca By Any Other Name Is Still A Becky"
Eric C. Jones (Houston, TX) - "American Rifle"
Nate Jones & Tynesha Clark (Houston, TX) - "A Sunny Day In Chicago"
Alonzo D LaMont, Jr. (Baltimore, MD.) - "Cultural Diversity Ate My Lunch"
Barbara & Carlton Molette (Atlanta, GA) - "Last Supper"
Carol Roper (Imperial Beach, CA) - "Airport Diner"