Dominique Morisseau (born March 13, 1978) is an American playwright and actress from Detroit, Michigan. She has written more than nine plays,[1] three of which are part of a cycle titled The Detroit Project.[2] She received a MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the 'Genius Grant') in 2018.
Early life
Morisseau was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, with her mother and father. Her mother's family is from Mississippi and her father's family is from Haiti.[3] She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she received her BFA in Acting in 2000.[2]
There she met J. Keys, who is also from Michigan. They married in 2013.[4][5] Keys was born in Detroit but grew up in Southfield, Michigan, a nearby suburb of the city. He works as a music industry promoter, emcee and hip hop musician.[6]
Career
Acting
Morisseau began her performance career as a live poetry speaker, primarily in her hometown community of Harmonie Park in Detroit.[2] After graduating from college, she continued acting and worked with several organizations. At the Lark Play Development Center, she worked as an actor in a workshop production of The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, developing the role of Camae. In 2013, in a production at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, she reprised the role of Camae.[3] She continues acting but has said that she would not act in any of her plays' premieres.[3]
Writing
Morisseau began writing plays in college. She has said that the lack of suitable roles at the University of Michigan drove her to write plays and create the roles she wanted to perform. She wrote The Blackness Blues: Time to Change the Tune, A Sister's Story at this time.[3]
Morisseau has said that music plays a huge part in her work and often informs the work that she is writing. "It's a resource and clue to my work, and music plays a unifier among cultural barriers."[8]
Morisseau was on the list of Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights in America in 2015–16, with 10 productions of her plays nationwide.[3][9]
Morisseau is a story editor for the television series Shameless on Showtime and is also credited as a co-producer.[10][11]
Morisseau has written a three-play cycle, titled The Detroit Project. The three plays (in order) are:[1]
Detroit '67
This play "explores an explosive and decisive moment in a great American city.[3] The play's compelling characters struggle with racial tension and economic instability."[16] It was developed and workshopped at The Public Theater in New York. Detroit '67 eventually was featured at the Classical Theatre of Harlem with the National Black Theatre. It was nominated for eight AUDELCO Theatre Awards and received the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.[2]
Paradise Blue
Former musician Blue decides to sell his beloved jazz club in order to live out his dreams. He is left with the moral dilemma of leaving his partner, Pumpkin, and his loyal jazz band behind. Morisseau developed this play first at Williamstown Theatre Festival, where it eventually had its world premiere in July 2015.[16]Paradise Blue continued its development at the McCarter Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, and the Signature Theatre Company.[17] For this play, Morisseau received the L. Arnold Weissberger Award[16] in 2012.
Morisseau won the 2016 Obie Award Special Citation for Collaboration, along with director Santiago-Hudson and the Atlantic Theater Company for Skeleton Crew.[18] The play won the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award in 2015.[19]Skeleton Crew opened on Broadway in January 2022.[20] It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
Works
Play
Year Premiered
Length
Notes
Follow Me To Nellie's
2011
Follow me to Nellie's premiered at Premiere Stages, Kean University Zella Fry Theatre in North New Jersey in July 2011 under the direction of John Wooten.[21][22]
Detroit '67
2013
120 Minutes
Detroit '67 was first presented Off Broadway at the Public Theater in association with Classical Theatre of Harlem and the National Black Theatre in New York City on March 11, 2013. It was directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah.[23]
Night Vision was originally commissioned for Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays On Trayvon, Race And Privilege and produced by The New Black Fest, Keith Josef Adkins, Artistic Director. The original reading took place at the Martin Segal Theater at CUNY Graduate Center, NYC December 5, 2013.[25] An audio version of the play was released by Playing on Air in spring 2020, featuring April Matthis and Eden Marryshow, directed by Stori Ayers.
Pipeline premiered at the Lincoln Center Theatre in New York City in June 2017 under the direction of Lileana Blain-Cruz.[29] Won the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award in 2016.
Mud Row
2019
People's Light & Theatre will present the premiere of Mud Row in June 2019 under the direction of Steve H. Broadnax III.[30]
Jezelle the Gazelle was recorded live for Playing on Air Live Benefit in November 2019 with Mirirai Sithole in the title role under the direction of Goldie E. Patrick.
Third Grade
unknown
10 Minutes
Awards
Morisseau received a MacArthur Fellowship (also known as the 'Genius Grant') fin 2018, which included a stipend of $625,000. She is one of 25 fellows in the 2018 Class.[31]
Morisseau was named an Honoree for the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award, which recognizes plays and performance texts created by women that present a feminist perspective and contain significant opportunities for female performers.[32]
She is a two-time award winner of the NAACP Image Award, which celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.[33]
