Chisa Hutchinson’s Inspriations
Honoring Black History Month with Chisa Hutchinson
Chisa Hutchinson, the playwright behind Amerikin, has shared a list of influential black writers that have played a part in shaping her career in honor of Black History Month.
Keep reading to learn more about these playwrights, whose groundbreaking works have not only influencedChisa’s artistic journey but have also made a profound impact on the landscape of American theater.
Lynn Nottage (Ruined, Sweat, Intimate Apparel, Fabulation)
Lynn is two-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people. She a “TREMENDOUS force when it comes to mentorship” and Chisa became obsessed with her genius after reading Intimate Apparel (”a perfect play”). Chisa became Lynn’s assistant after “Black-Girl-Magic’ing” her way into the position during grad school, forming a lasting bond filled with admiration and gratitude.
ANNA DEAVERE SMITH(Fires in the Mirror, Let Me Down Easy)
Anna is an actress, playwright, National Humanities Medal recipient, and Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominee who is credited with creating verbatim theater, which uses documentary material as a source for stories about real people and events. Anna was the first black playwright Chisa ever met. Chisa’s high school Headmistress made it a point to introduce them when Anna performed excerpts from Fires in the Mirror at her school.
AUGUST WILSON(Fences, The Piano Lesson,Joe Turner’s Come and Gone)
As Chisa says “what black playwright hasn’t been influenced by August Wilson?” August, known as “theater’s poet of Black America,” is one of the most important voices in modern theater. Chisa’s high school drama teacher (Mr. Pridham!) brought her to see August Wilson debate Robert Brustein about colorblind casting, which inspired her to create stories about BIPOC folks forever.
KIA CORTHRON(Breath, Boom, Force Continuum)
Kia is a playwright and recipient of the Windham Campbell Literature Prize in Drama, which is one of the largest prizes in the world of its kind. Her play Breath, Boom was the first fully produced play by a black playwright Chisa ever saw.
RICHARD WESLEY(Black Terror, The Talented Tenth)
“Never mind the enormity of the talent (on major display in The Talented Tenth), as a HUMAN this man is unmatched.” Richard is a playwright, screenwriter, and professor at NYU. He was Chisa’s professor while she was getting her MFA in Dramatic Writing, and is now her colleague. He made Chisa’s transition from student to colleague seamless with his huge heart and small ego.
SUZAN-LORI PARKS(Topdog/Underdog, Venus)
Suzan is the first black female playwright to have received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023. Chisa, who primarily writes plays that are grounded in a recognizable reality, admires Suzan’s fearlessness when it comes to experimenting withform and absurdism. “Whenever I wanna get funky with form or tone, I just ask: ‘What would SLP do?’”
Douglas Turner Ward(Day of Absence/Happy Ending)
Douglas was a playwright, actor, and director who was enshrined into the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was also a founder and artistic director of the Negro Ensemble Company. Chisa says that after reading Day of Absence, she realized “black people live satire, so writing it is only natural.”
KATORI HALL(Our Lady of Kibeho, The Mountaintop)
Katori Hall is a Pulitzer Prize and Olivier Award-winning playwright and television creator/producer. Chisa was blown away after seeing Katori’s Our Lady of Kibeho. “You just are never quite prepared for the magic in her plays.”
BRANDEN JACOBs-JENKINS(An Octoroon, Appropriate, Gloria)
Branden is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His play Appropriate marked his Broadway debut as a playwright in 2023 and earned him his first Tony Award.Chisa wants to be in the room when he’s writing because she knows he must have fun. “Seeing An Octoroon at Soho Rep just delighted the shit out of me. I didn’t understand a good chunk of what was going on, but man, I felt it.”
DAEL ORLANDERSMITH(Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance, Yellowman)
Dael is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Obie Award winner who “regularly makes me cry in the theater with the poignance of her work, both as a writer AND a performer.” According to Chisa, she is also “the absolute realest chick you will ever meet...I nearly dissolved the first time she called my play ‘genius.’”
TARELL ALVIN MCCRANEY (The Brothers Size, Moonlight)
Tarell is the Yale Rep Playwright- in-Residence and won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight. “His plays BREEEEEEATHE. Heave heavy sighs and spit poetry and set souls on fire. Read The Brothers Size. I dare you to not spontaneously combust.”
MARCUS GARDLEY(The House That Will Not Stand, black odyssey)
Marcus is a poet, playwright, screenwriter, and co-chair of playwriting at Yale. “My God, the meticulousness of his research and the purity of his intentions.”He generously shared his most current draft of The House that Will Not Stand alongside his first draft with Chisa’s MFA students at Hunter. “What a terrific reminder to give yourself permission to really revise, and not just edit.”
DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU(Skeleton Crew, Detroit ‘67, Ain’t Too Proud)
Dominique is a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Obie Award winner, and two-time Tony nominee. “Being in a writers’ room with her at the Lark (back when we could still have nice things) really taught me humility. I was feeling all salty because she’d gotten the PONY Fellowship instead of me that year, and then she brought her first pages from Skeleton Crew, and I was like ‘OOOOOOOOOOOH. I really am just lucky to be in this room right now.’”
Chisa had such a hard time narrowing down the black playwrights who had a big hand in shaping her creative experience, that she also has a list of honorable mentions! We hope you will also explore the work of these incredible writers, and find inspiration from them just as Chisa did.
“Honorable mentions include: LORRAINE HANSBERRY(that A Raisin in the Sun made it into the American canon is miraculous, especially given our history (and present trend) of erasing black narratives); TANYA BARFIELD (black humanity on full display); LYDIA DIAMOND (love the way she handles intra-racial dynamics); COLMAN DOMINGO (for uplifting us always); PEARL CLEAGE (serving robust regional flavor);EISA DAVIS (paints time and place like no one else-- likeI feel like I know what the people and place and things in her plays smell like just from reading or watching them); ADRIENNE KENNEDY (she knows what she’s done for all of us); A. ZELL WILLIAMS (multi-pronged approach to chipping away at a mountain of racism); ELEANOR BURGESS (so super-smart); ALICE CHILDRESS (undervalued genius); NTOZAKE SHANGE (3D poetry); ANTOINETTE NWANDU (fierce and unapologetic); MORGAN MCGUIRE(real characters, heightened moods); BRANDON BOGLE(on mission ALWAYS); DONJA LOVE and MALEEK RAE (softness and queerness).”
We thank Chisa for sharing such an incredible list of playwrights. We’re honored to be collaborating with her on Amerikin,and hope that this show inspires others the way Chisa has been inspired by this community of playwrights.