Center Theatre Group Announces Six Commissions of Woman-Identifying or Non-Binary Black Playwrights

Center Theatre Group is announcing six new commissions as an extension of Not a Moment, But a Movement initiative created to amplify, center and celebrate Black voices. In collaboration with the Fire This Time Festival and Watts Village Theater Company, Center Theatre Group has commissioned six woman-identifying or non-binary Black playwrights - Aziza Barnes, Geraldine Elizabeth Inoa, Roger Q. Mason, Tahirih Moeller, Cynthia Grace Robinson and t.tara turk-haynes.

Launched in January of 2021, Not a Moment, But a Movement began as a Digital Stage series, with each episode featuring the work of multiple artists from varied disciplines. Each of the artists offers their own distinct voice which blends with, builds upon, and sometimes clashes up against the other voices to create a unique piece that centers conversations that have long been held to the periphery. By commissioning new work by woman-identifying and non-binary Black playwrights, Not a Moment, But a Movement introduces new plays by exciting voices that will help chart the future of American theatre.

"We are all thrilled to be collaborating with these six incredible playwrights," said Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Tyrone Davis. "As an organization, we made a commitment to amplifying more voices of Black artists, and our Not a Moment, But a Movement initiative is one of the ways we are honoring that commitment. I want to acknowledge Jeremy O. Harris and members of our L.A. theatre community for the meaningful conversations that reinforced our commitment to this new cohort of women-identifying and non-binary playwrights. It is through those ongoing conversations and the exciting new work that will spring from these commissions, that we continue to move theatre into the future."

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation's preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles' leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the five Associate Artistic Directors, Luis Alfaro, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation's leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.

Aziza Barnes (Aziza/Z/they) is blk & alive. Z's play "BLKS" was the winner of the 2020 Antonyo Award for Best Play and nominated for Best Play by the Lucille Lortel Awards. Z's play NANA, commissioned by Williamstown, was workshopped at Sundance Theater Labs in 2020. Z is thrilled to be a part of this cohort at CTG.

Geraldine Elizabeth Inoa (she/her) is a playwright and screenwriter. Her play "Scraps" had its world premiere production at the Flea Theater in New York City as part of its 2018/19 season. "Scraps" made its West Coast premiere at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles during summer 2019. In 2021, "Scraps" was acquired for licensing and is soon-to-be published by Dramatists Play Service. As a playwright, Geraldine is an alumnus of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group and the inaugural recipient of The Shonda Rhimes Unsung Voices Playwriting Commission. She is a Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist, a P73 Playwriting Fellowship finalist and a L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award finalist. Her work has been developed at the Atlantic Theater Company, the Labyrinth Theater Company and the Victory Gardens Theater and was lauded in The New York Times article, "12 Streamable Plays That Depict Black Lives Pierced by Racism" as "compelling [and] genre-straddling." TV credits include AMC's "The Walking Dead" and CW's "Charmed." She holds a B.A. from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study and is a Gates Millennium Scholar.

Roger Q. Mason (they/them) was recently touted by The Brooklyn Rail as "quickly becoming one of the most significant playwrights of the decade." Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway at Circle in the Square (Circle Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway at MCC Theatre with Carnegie Hall, La Mama ETC, New York Theatre Workshop, New Group, The Fire This Time Festival, Dixon Place, American Theatre of Actors, Flea Theatre and Access Theater; and regionally at McCarter Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Steep Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, Open Fist Theatre Company, EST/LA, Coeurage Theatre, Rogue Artists Ensemble, Son of Semele and Skylight Theatre. Roger is an honoree of the Kilroys List; the Chuck Rowland Pioneer Award; The Fire This Time Festival Alumni Spotlight and the Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Producers Award. Mason's films have been recognized by the British Film Institute Flare Festival, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, AT&T Film Award, Atlanta International Film Festival, Webby Awards and Telly Awards. They've screened at the British Film Institute Flare Festival, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, Inside Out Festival (Toronto), SCAD Film Festival, Hollyshorts, Outfest and Outfest Fusion, Bentonville Film Festival, Outshine Film Festival and the Pan African Film Festival. Mason holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College and Northwestern University. They are a member of Page 73's Interstate 73 Writers Group and Primary Stages Writing Cohort, an alumnus of The Fire This Time Festival, the co-host of Sister Roger's Gayborhood podcast and the lead mentor of the Shay Foundation Fellowship and the New Visions Fellowship. Instagram: @rogerq.mason

Tahirih Moeller (she/her) is a writer-doodler from Long Beach, California who has worked with theatre companies such as Greenway Court Theatre, Long Beach Playhouse and PlayGround-LA. Her works include "Actually Oranges (When life hands you lemons)," a surreal comedy about a man who turns into orange juice, and "Heroes of the West," a western parody following two cowgirls wrangling with misogyny. Outside of the theatre, Tahirih is a lifelong cartoon enthusiast, who is currently studying animation in hopes of merging her two loves: drawing and writing. Some of her notable accomplishments include receiving second place at the 2016 Hip Hop Theater Creator Award at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for her play "A Live Mixtape." She was also a Playwright-in-Residence with the California Repertory at her alma mater California State University, Long Beach. In 2019, she was featured in the American Theater Magazine Role Call Series as "People to Watch." Tahirih hopes to continue creating art that is not only entertaining but also thought-provoking.

Cynthia Grace Robinson's (she/her) stories explore the resilience and strength of the human spirit. Her work centers characters of color, specifically Black women, highlighting the complexity, diversity and beauty of their lives. She uses her platform as a writer to amplify social justice issues, to inspire activism and to give voice to the people we rarely see represented on stage and screen. Robinson's plays have been produced in the U.S. and internationally. Works include "Freedom Summer" (North Carolina Black Repertory Company); "Dancing On Eggshells" (The Billie Holiday Theatre); "Peola's Passing" (New Perspectives Theatre Company; Festival de Teatro Alternativo, Bogota, Colombia); "When Night Falls" (Eugene O'Neill semi-finalist; Developed at Rising Circle Theater Collective/INKtank Play Development Lab); "Gold Star Mother" (EstroGenius Festival); "Ascension" (National Black Theatre Festival; New York International Fringe Festival); "Thunder: A Musical Memoir" (New York International Fringe Festival); "Nightfall" (The Fire This Time Festival); "Rome In Love" (48 Hours in...Harlem, The National Black Theatre); "In This Life" (Developed at Quick Silver Theatre Company/Playwrights of Color Summit) ; "What If...?" (The Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival).Awards and honors include: Eugene O'Neill Theater Center Playwriting Conference (Semi-finalist); The Rivers Writers Unit at The Lark; Playwrights of Color Summit/Quick Silver Theater Company; Rising Circle Theater Collective/INKTank Residency; AUDELCO Award for Excellence in Black Theatre (Nominee); Final Forty Playwright, Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play (Finalist); Tribeca All-Access Open Stage Inaugural award winner; Best New Play IRNE (Nominee); Thomas Barbour Memorial Playwright's Award (Finalist). Publications include: "She Persisted: Monologues from Plays by Women Over 40" (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books); "The Book of Estrogenius 2012: A Celebration of Female Voices" (manhattantheatresource); "We're Not Neutral: Reset Series 2020: Collected Short Plays" (Conch Shell Press). Service: Co-director of The Fire This Time New Works Lab, a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, and a member of The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.

t.tara turk-haynes (she/her) is a writer whose work has been featured in various stages and screens including Lower Depth Ensemble, Rogue Machine, Company of Angeles, the Hip Hop Theater Festival, the Actor's Studio, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Schomburg and the Kennedy Center. She is a graduate of Lang College and Sarah Lawrence, receiving the Lipkin Playwrighting Award. She has been a Cycle of Violence Fellow at Lower Depth Ensemble, Van Lier Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a member of Cosby Screenwriting Program, the Producers Guild Diversity Workshop, the Underwood Theatre Writers Group with Julia Cho, Rinne Groff and Theresa Rebeck and Company of Angels Writers Group. Her screenplays range from shorts to full length. She won Best Screenplay at African American Women in Cinema and was an Urbanworld Screenplay Finalist. Also a producer, she has co-produced the web series "Dinner at Lola" featuring Tracie Thoms, Yvette Nicole Brown, Bryan Fuller and Nelsan Ellis among others. As a fiction writer, her shorts and novellas have been published in various publications. She was published in "Signifyin Harlem," "Obsidian Call & Response: Experiments in Joy," "Reverie: Midwest American Literature," the international anthology "X:24", "African Voices" and Stress magazine. She has also been featured in Tamara Winfrey's Harris's "Dear Black Girl" and on several podcasts on diversity, equity and inclusion. She has just finished a novel and a TV pilot on the Harlem Renaissance. She is a founding member of the producing playwrights' collective The Temblors and was a member of the 2021 Geffen Writer's Room.

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