22nd Annual Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration To Host Tribute To Founder Eugene Lee

Acclaimed actor, educator and playwright Eugene Lee will be the subject of a career tribute during the 22nd annual Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration (BLPC) Sept. 2-8 at Texas State University.

The Texas State's Department of Theatre and Dance hosts the annual event in collaboration with Humanities Texas. The BLPC will celebrate Lee as the 2024 Distinguished Achievement honoree. Additionally, BLPC will host a playwriting workshop and two staged readings of new works: “Culture Shock” by Gloria Majule and “The Brunch Crowd” by Dillon Yruegas.

Lee is Artist in Residence at TXST and artistic director of the Black and Latino Playwright's Celebration. He began working as an actor in the early 1970s and continues to appear on stage, in movies and on television. His acting credits include works at stages such as The Negro Ensemble Company of New York, True Colors in Atlanta, the Huntington Theater in Boston, Seattle Rep, Pittsburgh Playwrights' Theatre, Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and Crossroads Theatre in New Jersey.

His writing credits include episodes of "Homicide: Life on the Streets” (Emmy nominated), “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Michael Hayes,” “The Journey of Allen Strange,” “The Turks” and the Morgan Freeman produced television movie, “Port Chicago.” His own characters come to life through his plays, including "East Texas Hot Links," which has been produced on stages from Los Angeles to New York and London's Royal Court Theatre, and is published by Samuel French play publishers. His other plays include "Fear Itself," "Somebody Called: A Tale of Two Preachers," "Killingsworth," "Lyin' Ass" and the musical, "Twist."

His more recent performances include “American Son” on Broadway with Kerry Washington, Stephen Pasquale and Jeremy Jordan in the fall of 2018, and in the Emmy-nominated film adaptation of that play for Netflix. He also appeared in the eighth season of Showtime's “Homeland” as General Mears. 

The tribute to Lee will take place 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in the Patti Strickel Harrison Theatre. The event is open to the public with free admission.

The new play development reading presentation of “Culture Shock” by Gloria Majule will take place Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, followed by a talkback. In “Culture Shock” two brilliant East African students start school in an Ivy League Institution and are placed in an all-black dorm where they experience new levels of (dis)orientation in a whirl of competitive placements and cultural clashes. Tickets are $8 for the public and $5 for the TXST faculty, staff and students.

The new play development reading presentation of “The Brunch Crowd” by Dillon Yruegas will take place Sept. 8 at noon in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall, followed by a talkback. “The Brunch Crowd” follows the lives of four 20-something queer trans friends who often meet at their favorite Mexican brunch spot in rapidly gentrifying Austin. Tickets are $8 for the public and $5 for the TXST faculty, staff and students.

The BLPC celebrates the voices of Black and Latino playwrights by work-shopping new plays in collaboration with professional directors, actors and university students. For more information, visit https://blpc.finearts.txst.edu/.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of more than 38,000 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State's 230,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. The abbreviation for Texas State University is TXST.

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