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Black writers are having a moment with these three plays in North Texas

A woman stands on stage in front of a wooden table. She wears a white suit and raises her hands, smiling.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
/
The Dallas Morning News
Denise Lee portrays Wiletta Mayer in a Dallas Theater Center production of "Trouble In Mind" at the Kalita Humphreys Theater on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, in Dallas.

Plays by Black playwrights have been showing up on Broadway and in regional theaters in unprecedented numbers.

Explore more stories from Arts Access.

Plays by Black writers are , hitting local and national stages in increasing numbers. It鈥檚 a trend fueled by a nationwide reckoning around race, which has thrust arts groups into action.

The trend is and at regional theaters, including here in North Texas.

Kevin Moriarty, artistic director of Dallas Theater Center Black says writers are creating a 鈥済olden age of playwriting.鈥

Here鈥檚 where their work has been on display in the area.

鈥楩airview鈥 at Undermain Theatre and Bishop Arts Theatre Center

The last four and five of the last six have gone to Black writers. That list includes 2019 winner "," written by Brooklyn playwright , which opened Oct. 21 in Dallas in a co-production by Undermain Theatre and the Bishop Arts Theatre Center.

In "Fairview," white characters watch and comment on a birthday party in an upper-middle-class Black household. The drama examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, bringing audiences into the actors鈥 community to face deep-seated prejudices.

鈥楾rouble in Mind鈥 at Dallas Theater Center

Through Oct. 29, "," a classic written by the late Alice Childress, will be performed by Dallas Theater Center at the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas.

"Trouble In Mind" is set in the mid-1950s on a stage at a Broadway theater in New York and focuses on racism and sexism in American theater.

鈥榃hat to Send Up When It Goes Down鈥 at Stage West Theatre

In April, Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth staged 鈥 "What to Send Up When It Goes Down." The performance was dedicated to , a 28-year-old Fort Worth woman who was shot to death in 2019 inside her home by a Fort Worth police officer.

 contributed to this report.

Arts Access is a partnership between The Dallas Morning News and 四虎影院 that expands local arts, music and culture coverage through the lens of access and equity.

This community-funded journalism initiative is funded by the Better Together Fund, Carol & Don Glendenning, City of Dallas OAC, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Eugene McDermott Foundation, James & Gayle Halperin Foundation, Jennifer & Peter Altabef and The Meadows Foundation. The News and 四虎影院 retain full editorial control of Arts Access鈥 journalism.

Tommy Cummings has worked at The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the San Francisco Chronicle as an editor/writer/digital producer.