THE BIPOC VOTING PLAYS
A SECOND WAVE ‘PANDEMIC PLAYS’ SHORTS FESTIVAL
Fall 2020 edition
Lower Depth Theatre brought together six playwrights from across the country to create six brand new ten-minute short plays within two weeks. The plays were performed during a three-day festival in October and featured conversations with each playwright. The latest wave of pandemic plays examined the 2020 election, voter suppression, and America’s political landscape through a critical lens, highlighted through the sci-fi genre. The festival closed with “Lower Depth Town Hall” - a panel with the artists behind The BIPOC Voting Plays, moderated by special guest L. Trey Wilson.
Featured Plays:
THE POLITICAL MACHINE by Steve Harper
THE INAUGURAL by DeLane McDuffie
UNIT HOPE JUST WANTS TO VOTE by Penelope Lowder
CHICKENS BE ROOSTIN’ by Kevin Douglas
CONSORTIUM by June Carryl
THE CROSS AND THE SABER by Wendy Graf
HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL
The world has changed immeasurably in 2020. The stunning loss of life globally and the desperate attempts to stop the spread of the coronavirus have led us to ponder what comes next? Our new normal consists of social distancing, sheltering in place, and wearing masks in public. The current health crisis has plunged us into instability, anxiety, and fear.
The Pandemic has also meant that cultural institutions have closed all over the world. What can we do in the face of such devastation?
The answer remains elusive, however, one possible response is to adapt. We may not be able to greet each other in the confines of a theatre space but we can still use the power of theatre to share our stories. We can learn to adapt and go on. We can continue to make theatre.
GALLERY
Meet the fall playwrights
June Carryl
June Carryl grew up in Denver, and studied Political Science and English Literature at Brown University. Favorite roles include Fraulein Schneider in CABARET (Celebration Theatre) and Gerty Fail in FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Coeurage Theatre). Her plays include COLOSSUS. BOOM, and THE GOOD MINISTER FROM HARARE (2017 Saroyan/Paul Award).
Kevin Douglas
Kevin Douglas received a B.F.A in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. After graduating Kevin took writing and improvisation classes at The Second City. Kevin is a member of the Regional Tony Award winning company, Lookingglass Theatre where his play Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure had its World Premiere. Thaddeus and Slocum garnered Kevin a BTA Award for best writing of a play. Most recently Kevin’s play Plantation! Directed by David Schwimmer had its World Premiere at Lookingglass. He wrote a ten-minute play for Lower Depth Theatre Pandemic Plays titled Cautiously Optimistic.
Wendy Graf
Wendy Graf is an award winning playwright whose plays have been produced nationally and internationally. Some recent plays include: EXIT WOUNDS (First Place Gold Medallion Winner Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle New Play Initiative); UNEMPLOYED ELEPHANTS – A LOVE STORY; PLEASE DON’T ASK ABOUT BECKET; ALL AMERICAN GIRL (Stage Raw 2015 nom Playwriting and Solo performance; StageSceneLA 2015 Outstanding Solo Performance Production;); CLOSELY RELATED KEYS (dir by Shirley Jo Finney; NAACP win/nominations); NO WORD IN GUYANESE FOR ME (2012 GLAAD Award Outstanding L.A. Theater; Helen Hayes Awards Recommended); BEHIND THE GATES; LESSONS (L.A. production dir. by Gordon Davidson); LEIPZIG (LADCC nomination; Garland award/Playwriting); THE BOOK OF ESTHER (San Fernando Valley Artistic Directors nominations including Best Play; ASK Theater Projects Grant Award); and her newest, A SHONDA and WEDNESDAY’S CHILD. Visit her at wendygraf.com
Steve Harper
Steve Harper Full-length plays: Urban Rabbit Chronicles (Georgia Southern University world premiere 2021), Black Lives / Blue Lives [co-written with Bill Mesce, Jr.] (The Theater Project, New Jersey), The Escape Artist’s Children (Workshop at Celebration Theatre). Short plays: This is Now (24 Hour Plays on Broadway), and Actual Cost (Juilliard 100th). Short films: Three People (#WhileWeBreathe creative protest online). His web series SEND ME, about time traveling black people, garnered a 2016 Emmy Nomination for series lead Tracie
Thoms. (Now on YouTube). TV writing: Stargirl (CW), God Friended Me (CBS) and American Crime (ABC). www.harpercreates.com
Penelope Lowder
Playwright Penelope Lowder is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. Some of her many works include The Unseen, Reaching Autonomy and A Drop of Sun. Her plays have been produced in New York and Los Angeles. Lowder’s most recent film 15 Minutes will premiere at the 2020 Pan African Film Festival. Three Seconds of Hell is an adaptation of her debut novel Three Seconds of Hell, the story of her father's experiences in a 1950’s southern motorcycle gang.
Lowder is a current member of Skylight Playwrights Lab. She is a recipient of the Marvin Miller Screenwriting Fellowship and the Los Angeles Theater Center Playwrights Residency. Lowder holds a Bachelor's degree in Theater from University of Southern California. She teaches writing at USC through the Community Literature Intensive Program. Additionally, she serves as a playwriting mentor to at risk youth in south Los Angeles. Lowder resides in Los Angeles. Lowder’s play WEST ADAMS was also selected as an LA Times Critic’s Choice for its production at Skylight Theatre 2020.
DeLane McDuffie
DeLane McDuffie is a LA-based writer, cinephile, jazz head, and bookworm. A Southern transplant from the Carolina marshlands, he’s a screenwriter, playwright, and a poet. He graduated from Morehouse College with BA in English; attended Royal Holloway, University of London; and earned an MFA in film from the University of Miami. His most recent original plays have been slated for production in Los Angeles, Houston, and Seoul, South Korea. Find him at delanemcduffie.com.
