How Do I Internet Again?

Hello out there!

So it’s recently come to my attention that I’m not the best at updating this here website of mine.  If you know me personally, that shouldn’t be surprising.  On a typical day, devices and platforms for social interfacing are the last thing on my mind. It’s often why I text folks back the next day, email back two or three days later, or regularly gab at you about a news article that you already digested and tossed a week ago.

I know.

I’m working on it.

This negligence aside, however, the current theater season has been one filled with great gifts, so I didn’t want it to wind down without me cataloguing some of that here.

I’m currently winding down the final months of some really wonderful fellowships and playgroups.  I am a 2016 Van Lier New Voices Fellow at The Lark alongside my insanely talented co-fellow Donja R. Love.  It’s been a fantastic year, filled with writer’s retreats, play workshops, and more table reads than I can count.  Most notably, I completed a studio retreat of my play Waitin’ on the Moon back in December, directed by the lovely Jade King Caroll and featuring a really wonderful and talented cast. I also wrote a new draft of my play The Climb (the first was with Open Bar Theatricals) and began a completely new play called all the natalie portmans, that I am very excited about.

Additionally, I’m winding down a 2016-2017 Dramatists Guild Fellowship and membership in The Civilians R & D Group.  At the Guild, I’m completely re-writing my play Mother Tongue (formerly titled By and By) under the guidance of Diana Son, Sheri Wilner, and the many talented guests the Guild drops into our meetings.  With The Civilians I am writing a new play currently titled elroy learn his name, which takes a peek into the world of juvenile imprisonment and Black families through the lens of an accomplished American journalist.

All these happenings considered, I’d say it’s been a busy, busy year since graduating from good ole NYU, and I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for all of it.  I’m learning more and more about my voice as a playwright, meeting wonderful artists and collaborators at every turn, and constantly reaching for the next opportunity.

So to all who read this, and all who’ve made this year great, thanks for your time and energy!

Til next time,

C. A.

New Ten-Minute Play Premiere!

I am super excited to share that my ten-minute play "The Fucking World and Everything In It" will premiere in season 8 of the Obie Award Winning Fire This Time Festival!

The festival runs from January 16th-February 8th and features ten minute plays by a wonderful cohort of writers, as well full length play readings, an open mic night, and a reading of novel excerpts by sister playwrights Kia and Kara Lee Corthron. 

If you want to know more, info  can be found here!  The specific dates of the 10 minute play performances are below!

"The Fucking World and Everything In It" by C. A. Johnson

A Black man stands inside a jail cell, while a white cop gazes at him from the other side.  Both men have a request: one to be un-cuffed, the other to understand his captive’s motives. As tensions mount and their pleas grow more desperate, they must face the inevitability of what comes next and how it is inextricably tied to history.

Showings: Jan. 21st-23rd, 27th-28th, and Feb. 3rd-5th at 7:30 PM.

POUGHKEEPSIE FOREVER

Just finished up a writer's retreat with The Lark up at New York Stage & Film, and have to say it was a refreshing and artistically full escape from the big apple! Spent six days up on the Vassar campus with the eclectic group of artists pictured above.  Myself and playwrights Nathan Alan Davis, Lauren Yee, Abby Rosebrock, Donja R. Love, and Christopher Oscar Peńa got the opportunity to write and share in daily workshop sessions focused on discovery and forward movement. Our work was helped along with the generous support of actors Zoe Chao and Aaron Costa Ganis as well as dramaturg Ignacia Delgado and Lark facilitators John Clinton Eisner and Andrea Hiebler.

To put it plainly, this retreat was a dream. It offered me my first chance post graduate school to really dig into rewriting and fine tuning a new play.  With the help of all these wonderful folks I've begun a new draft of Waitin' on the Moon. I cannot wait to work out some of the kinks of draft one, as well as discover what else is possible for these characters.  

Up next, I'll start the residency based work of my Van Lier fellowship with the Lark.  The exact specifics of what I'll be doing and what folks can attend are still forthcoming, but it's sure to be a wonderful year no matter what! 

Thanks for stopping by and happy Sunday to all!

Onwards and Upwards!

Wonderful news! I've been selected as a 2016-2017 Van Lier New Voices Fellow at The Lark!!

 My first year out of grad school is shaping up to be a useful one.  I've yet to firmly outline the terms of my fellowship and next steps, but I am most excited for the chance to rewrite Thirst, do concerted work on new scripts, and network in this wonderful business I call home.  Mostly, I am grateful to the wonderful folks at The Lark for deeming my work worthy.  I've yet to meet them all yet, but so far Lloyd Suh and Andrea Hiebler seem wonderful and encouraging in all the right ways. 

More info on the fellowship itself can be found here, as can info on my fellow Van Lier recipient Donja R. Love.  

I know that Donja and I are in for a stellar year, and I can't wait to dig right in!

TIl next time, ya'll!

-C.A.