Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance, and Collaboration

(edited with David Román and Isaiah M. Wooden)

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.

Reviews

“The critical assessments offered in Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance, and Collaboration by esteemed artists and academics confirms McCraney’s genius. Tarell Alvin McCraney is one of the most prolific playwrights of our time.

-Phylicia Rashad, Tony Award-winning actress

“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

“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.”

-Harry J. Elam Jr., author of The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson