Tarell Alvin McCraney

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Name Tarell McCraney		Role Playwright

Born October 17, 1980 (age 44) Miami, Florida, U.S. ( 1980-10-17 ) Alma mater DePaul UniversityYale University People also search for Tina Landau, Henry Stram, Gelan Lambert Education Yale University, DePaul University, Yale School of Drama Awards Whiting Awards, GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway and Off-Broadway Nominations Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Plays The Brothers, Choir Boy, Wig Out! Books The Brother/Sister Plays, In the Red and Brown Water, American Trade, Marcus - Or - The Secret of Sweet

Behind the scenes of head of passes playwright tarell alvin mccraney and director tina landau

Tarell Alvin McCraney (born October 17, 1980) is an American playwright and actor. He is the incoming chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, effective July 1, 2017. He is also a member of Teo Castellanos/D Projects Theater Company in Miami and in 2008 became RSC/Warwick International Playwright in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company. In April 2010, McCraney became the 43rd member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.

Tarell Alvin McCraney wwwthenewblackmagazinecomPhotoFilesTarell20al

He co-wrote the 2016 film Moonlight, based on his own play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Tarell alvin mccraney

Life and career

McCraney was born in Liberty City, Florida. He attended the New World School of the Arts (NWSA) in Miami, Florida, receiving the exemplary artist award and the Dean's Award in Theater. While attending NWSA, he also applied to and was awarded by the National YoungArts Foundation (1999, Theater). He matriculated into The Theatre School at DePaul University and received his BFA in acting. In May 2007 he graduated from Yale School of Drama's playwriting program, receiving the Cole Porter Playwriting Award upon graduation. He also is an Honorary Warwick University Graduate.

Tarell Alvin McCraney Public Theater and RSC to Present 39Radical39 Revision of

As an actor, he has worked with directors such as Tina Landau of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, Illinois, David Cromer, and B. J. Jones, artistic director of the Northlight Theatre (where McCraney co-starred in the Chicago premiere of Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange), and developed a working relationship with Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne of the Bouffes du Nord, Paris.

McCraney's Brother/Sister trilogy is set in the Louisiana projects and explores Yoruba mythology.

Personal life

McCraney is an out gay man.

Plays

Head of Passes (Steppenwolf Theatre, Berkeley Rep, The Public Theater)

Choir Boy (Royal Court, Manhattan Theatre Club)

American Trade, an adaptation of Hamlet for young people (RSC)

Wig Out! (developed at Sundance Theatre Lab produced in New York by the Vineyard Theatre and in London by the Royal Court)

The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy

The Brothers Size (simultaneously premiered in New York at The Public Theater, in association with the Foundry Theatre, and in London at the Young Vic, where it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement at an Affiliated Theatre)

In The Red And Brown Water (winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, produced at the Alliance Theatre and the Young Vic)

Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet

Other plays

Without/Sin

Run, Mourner, Run (adapted from Randall Kenan's short story), both of which premiered at Yale Cabaret. He directed Hamlet for the RSC's Young Shakespeare programme for GableStage in Miami.

In the summer of 2006, McCraney, Catherine Filloux and Joe Sutton wrote The Breach, a play on Katrina, the Gulf, and our nation, commissioned by Southern Rep in New Orleans, where it premiered in August 2007 to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy in New Orleans. The Breach also played at Seattle Rep in the winter of 2007.

Other projects

In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, a drama school project that is the inspiration for the 2016 film Moonlight.

An adaptation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2013, which puts the play in an 18th century Caribbean setting. Reviews were mixed.

Forthcoming projects

Commissions for the Donmar Warehouse and Berkeley Rep. Choir Boy will receive its American premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Awards and honors

2007 Whiting Award

2008 London's Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright

2009 New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award for The Brothers Size

2009 Steinberg Playwright Award

2013 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize

2013 MacArthur Fellowship

2017 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight

2017 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards American Playwright in Mid-Career

References

Tarell Alvin McCraney Wikipedia

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