 Bola Blue-Eyes. Illustrated by Sarah Akinterinwa |  Bola Blue-Eyes. Illustration by Sarah Akinterinwa |  Bola Blue-Eyes. Illustration by Sarah Akinterinwa |
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 Bola Blue-Eyes. Illustration by Sarah Akinterinwa |  Bola Blue-Eyes. Illustration by Sarah Akinterinwa |  SOWN_1Joshua Michael Moore and Victoria Allen as Jones and Zora, stars of SOWN. Son of Semele and MaiM Theatre Company co-production, Fall 2019. |
 SOWN_2Jones and Zora settling in at their new home in the suburbs. SOWN for Son of Semele Theatre. Fall 2019. |  SOWN_3Joshua Michael Moore and Victoria in SOWN. |  SOWN_4Jones dreams of his African-violet takeover. SOWN for Son of Semele Ensemble, Fall 2019. |
 SOWN_5Zora is worried. SOWN for Son of Semele Ensemble, Fall 2019. |  SOWN_6Jones (played by Joshua Michael Moore) places his African violets with care. |  SOWN_7.Zora (played by Victoria Allen) tells it like it is. |
 SOWN_8Playwright Julie Taiwo Oni with her SOWN stars: Victoria Allen and Joshua Michael Moore. |  SOWN_postcardPostcard for SOWN, a play by Julie Taiwo Oni. Fall 2019 at Son of Semele Theatre. |  Chisel ReadingChisel team outside the theatre. Joshua Michael Moore, Cherie Carter, Julie Taiwo Oni, Jordan White, and Nathan Singh. Pepperdine University, 2018. |
 Chisel ReadingChisel team at the post-show talkback. Pepperdine University, June 2018. |  Chisel ReadingThe Chisel reading team: Joshua Michael Moore, Cherie Carter, and Jordan White. Pepperdine University, June 2018. |  Chisel ReadingNathan Singh directs Jordan White and Cherie Carter. Pepperdine University, June 2018. |
 Chisel ReadingJordan White rehearses for Chisel reading at Pepperdine University, June 2018. Photo by Jaliku Levines. |  Chisel ReadingCherie Carter as Alice. Pepperdine University, 2018. Photo by Jaliku Levines. |  Chisel ReadingJoshua Michael Moore and Jordan White in rehearsal for Chisel. Photo by Jaliku Levines. |
 Chisel ReadingJordan White as Sal. |  Chisel ReadingJordan White and Cherie Carter as Sal and Alice. Pepperdine University, 2018. Photo by Jaliku Levines. |  Chisel ReadingCherie Carter, Jordan White, and Joshua Michael Moore in rehearsal for Chisel. |
 Chisel Pepperdine ReadingPoster for Chisel reading at Pepperdine University, June 2018. Drawing by Alexandra Cadena. |  The VestNakasha Norwood and Sherando Cupid in The Vest, produced at Company of Angels for LA Views 2018 |  CHISEL: Sal & AliceStaged reading at EST/LA for LA Fest 2016, starring Tommy Williamson and Briana McLean |
 CHISEL reading. October 23, 2016Directed by Gregg T. Daniel |  Robey "History Detectives" workshopCommunity meeting with playwrights, Artistic Director, and director of The Museum of African American History. |  "Black-proof" for Company of Angels10-minute play for LA Views festival 2016. Starring Shane McGhie and Matthew Callahan. |
 CHISEL New Pages LabBriana McLean and Tommy Williamson in a reading for Playwrights' Arena's New Pages Lab. Photo by Annette Lee. |  CHISEL at New Pages LabTommy Williamson and Briana McLean as Sal and Alice. Reading at Playwrights' Arena. |  CHISEL Playwrights' Arena ad 2015Ad for reading of CHISEL at Playwrights' Arena New Pages Lab. November 17, 2015 at LATC. |
 DENIM Postcard AdPhoto by Xuhui Zhao Starring Eric Schulman and Taylor Hawthorne & Directed by Terrence Colby Clemons |  DENIM Photo 1Taylor Hawthorne as Sammie and Eric Schulman as Tom. Photo by Shon Fuller. |  DENIM Photo 2Eric Schulman and Taylor Hawthorne at Son of Semele Ensemble. Photo by Shon Fuller. |
 DENIM Photo 3Taylor Hawthorne and Eric Schulman as Sammie and Tom. CCF 2015. Photo by Shon Fuller. |  DENIM Photo 4 |  DENIM Photo 5"I wanted to know what it felt like to wear an authentic cowboy hat." Taylor Hawthorne and Eric Schulman. Photo by Shon Fuller. |
 DENIM Photo 6Eric Schulman as TOM. Photo by Shon Fuller. |  DENIM Photo 7Taylor Hawthorne as SAMMIE. Photo by Shon Fuller. |  DENIM Photo 8Taylor Hawthorne as SAMMIE. Photo by Shon Fuller. |
 DENIM Photo 9 |  DENIM Photo 10The amazing Taylor Hawthorne and Eric Schulman. Photo by Shon Fuller. |  BUNK LogoAdvertisement for BUNK: workshop for Son of Semele's Company Creation Festival 2014, co-produced by MaiM Theatre Company. |
 Bunk #1Wade (American) and Ade (Nigerian), the main characters of BUNK, played by Terrence Colby Clemons and Shon Fuller. Photos by Xuhui Zhao. |  Bunk #2Wade and Ade chop off a chicken's head. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |  Bunk #3Antagonism between Wade and Ade. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |
 Bunk #4A learning experience. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |  Bunk #5"You feel me?" Terrence Colby Clemons as Wade. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |  Bunk #6"It would be my pleasure." Shon Fuller as Ade. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |
 Bunk #7Perfect harmony on the premises. Photo by Xuhui Zhao. |  Bunk #8Post-show talkback with Bunk actors Shon Fuller and Terrence Colby Clemons, playwright Julie Taiwo Oni, and director Nathan Singh. Son of Semele Theater. |  nat&EM adThe postcard advertisement for nat&EM, produced by Company of Angels in Los Angeles. Directed by Deena Selenow. Design by Matt Jones. |
 nat&EM #1Nat King Cole, played by Chris Hampton. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  nat&EM #2A family dilemma: Em (Emily Dickinson), Scribe, and Nat (Kat King Cole) - played by Emma Zakes Green, Melissa Donaher, and Christopher Hampton. Directed by Deena Selenow. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  nat&EM #3The Scribe's typewriter! Company of Angels production. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |
 nat&EM #4Forbidden love. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  nat&EM #5"Have you ever seen anything like me?" Nat, Em, & Scribe. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  nat&EM #6Seduced by Cole's "Mona Lisa." Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |
 nat&EM #7Em struggles with her love conundrum. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  nat&EMEmma Zakes Green and Melissa Donaher as Em and Scribe. Photo by Amanda Jane Shank. |  ad for "Two Live & Die in L.A."A ten-minute play for Company of Angels starring Michelle Cho and Bruce Lemon. |
 Two Live & Die in L.A. ad #2Michelle Cho as Lioness & Bruce Lemon as Pray-well. Company of Angels 2013. Directed by West Liang. |  Tether adAdvertisement for the Doorway Arts production of Tether at Montgomery College. Directed by Jessica Lefkow. |  Tether #1Jade Wheeler as Lam, half of a pair of mixed-race twins. |
 Tether #2Gwen Grastorf as Lach (playing at Sister Act) and Jade Wheeler as Lam: mixed-race twins. The daughters of two biracial parents, they each favor a different race in appearance. |  Tether #3Lam in Love. Played by Jade Wheeler. |  Tether #4Lach & Lam. Tether at Montgomery College for Doorway Arts Ensemble. |
 Tether #5Lach & Lam. Mixed-race twins. Gwen Grastorf & Jade Wheeler. |  Tether #6The set of Tether in Silver Spring, MD. |  Tether #7Playwright Julie Taiwo Oni with her twin Jessica and the cast of Tether in Silver Spring, MD. |
 Tether #8Julie and her sister Jessica before a show. |  Tether #9Julie & her twin Jessica on the set for Tether at Montgomery College. |  Day's Pay #1A site-specific production for Moveble Piece at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Directed by Nathan Singh. |
 Day's Pay #2Chasen Bauer and Xavi Moreno star in a ten-minute site specific piece at Hollywood Recreation Center. |  Day's Pay #3Chasen Bauer at the Hollywood Recreation Center. |  Rioters or Cannibals #1Riley Rose Critchlow and Tripp Pickell star in a ten-minute play for Company of Angels, directed by Nathan Singh. |
 Rioters or Cannibals #2Riley Rose Critchlow and Tripp Pickell in a play inspired by the L.A. Riots for Company of Angels. |
Plays & Productions
BOLA BLUE-EYES
Bola, a young Nigerian girl with blue eyes living in LA, comes to realize the conflicting responses to her mother's passed-down trait. She must decide if she will celebrate her Black-girl-blue-eyes inheritance or shun its attachment to skeptical superstitions.
THE WOODINGLE
PUPPET SHOW
with Host Mr. C, as Constructed by Mr. Asinine,
with Calculations and Articulations of the Genius Sort:
Mr. C, an elderly Black puppeteer, presents a show for two women--one Nigerian and one mixed--competing for a condo in a wealthy Black community. When the women learn that acceptance requires admitting to sightings of the imaginary, they must confront their own biases and self-perceptions. This play adapts the Spanish Golden Age interlude The Marvellous Puppet Show by Miguel de Cervantes within the framework of contemporary Black authenticity.
SOWN:
Jones and Zora, young Black homeowners, find themselves at odds with their middle-class community when they decide to confront a strict American-only policy by planting a native African violet. While they initially defend this blatant infiltration of a monolithic landscape, a cycle of push-back and copy-cats eventually entangles them in madness. They must decide if they wish to stand up for the roots they’ve sown, or tear them down to maintain the status quo. This story explores the nightmare of contemporary oppression by placing its audience into a middle-class dream-home-turned-battlefield.
CHISEL:
Sal is a seventeen-year-old African American with albinism who made a wrong choice and has landed himself in a juvenile detention center. Alice, a young biracial Tanzanian art student working on her thesis project, is given the chance to meet with Sal and sculpt him. What begin as awkward getting-to-know-you conversations lead to much more than just an art project: they are forced to confront their own racial insecurities in order for their partnership to progress. From flirtation to confusion to argument, the interaction between these two young people explores the universality of social isolation and juxtaposes African albino killings with the contemporary executions of Black Americans.
DENIM:
In 1996—two years after the supposed end of apartheid in South Africa—Levi’s was one of the first multinational corporations to re-initiate business with the newly-desegregated country. Within this backdrop, fictional white American Tom and Black South African Sammie find themselves paired together for the first interracial photo shoot post-apartheid, set in Bakersfield, California. Their interaction begins smoothly enough with an adjustment to “the other” on friendly terms, but a naïve request from one of the pair leads to a painful confrontation of unwarranted assumptions.
ETHIOP-ICA:
African-American Lily and black South American Noe are on a date at an Ethiopian restaurant in L.A. for their one-year anniversary. Noe has brought Lily to this particular restaurant because he wants her to connect with her roots, and this causes her to feel insulted. What ensues is a tug-of-war between the perception of Africa for blacks in the U.S. and South America, as well as a dialogue about food, culture, and relationships.
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Festival blog
BUNK:
BUNK is the story of Nigerian Ade and African-American Wade, competitors for a single job position at a construction site. As they work together for an in-process observation interview while building a bunk bed, they must confront the misconceptions they have about each other's backgrounds if they are to be able to successfully build the bunk. This story confronts the limited nature of stereotypes and the tragedy of their perpetuation from outside sources.
TETHER:
TETHER is the story of teenage mixed-race twins and tetherball-players Lach and Lam. Both of their parents are biracial, and Lach is white in appearance while Lam looks black. When an unexpected event occurs, they must confront the contrasting societal response to their mixed-race predicament if they are to keep the balance of their game.
nat&EM:
nat&EM is an imagined romance between singer Nat King Cole and poet Emily Dickinson. The play's conceit is that both characters suffer from a limited language disability in which he can only speak words from the classic song "Mona Lisa" and her only dialogue is from the words of the poem "Narrow Fellow in the Grass." When their dangerous interracial love is challenged by society, it is up to the young mixed-race Scribe to encourage the bravery of their dangerous union.
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Cal Arts Blog.
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Living out Loud L.A. Review
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Pepperdine Review
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L.A. Female Playwrights Alliance Podcast
