My grandfather was a Pullman porter, and my father put his way through college by cleaning floors at night in the libraries. I understand that working people are in some way the bedrock of my existence and the existence of many people here.
Here's the dilemma of the modern age: There used to be actions that workers could take, in the form of a strike. But now, that's being pre-empted by lockouts. They don't even have that leverage to protect their jobs.
Plays are getting smaller and smaller, not because playwrights minds are shrinking but because of the economics.
My hobby is raising my children.
People probably have different philosophies about this, but I think that when you're first shaping the play and trying to find a character, the initial actors that develop it end up imprinting on it - you hear their voices; you hear their rhythms. You can't help but to begin to write toward them during the rehearsal process.
It remains an incredible struggle for women in theater, and, in particular, playwrights and directors, to get their work seen and to not only get seen, but to get it to Broadway.
By and large, the theatre establishment is run by a white majority.
I would like there to be gender equity. I would like the Broadway season to reflect sort of the demographic of the country.
For me, the first thing is to tell a good story.
I see procrastination and research as part of my artistic process.
When you're fighting for an increasingly smaller portion of the pie, you turn against each other; you create reasons to hate each other.
I've been asked a lot why didn't 'Ruined' go to Broadway. It was the most successful play that Manhattan Theatre Club has ever had in that particular space, and yet we couldn't find a home on Broadway.
By the sheer act of writing, we are trying to place value on the stories that we're invested in.
I remain committed to telling the stories of women of the African diaspora, particularly those stories that don't often find their way into the mainstream media.
The more you go to a theatre and the more you hear stories you aren't necessarily familiar with, the more open you become.
It's incumbent on us to reach beyond the confines of the institutions that traditionally produce art and find new ways to get it to the people.