Plays by Cheryl West
FANNIE: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer
EMERALD CITY (with music by Paris Dozier)
HOOPLA!
THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM, 1963
SOMETHING HAPPENED IN OUR TOWN
HOLIDAY HEART
LIZZIE BRIGHT
PLAY ON!
PULLMAN PORTER BLUES
AKEELAH AND THE BEE
BASKETCASES
MWINDO
SHOUT SISTER SHOUT
LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET
JAR THE FLOOR
Synopses:
Fannie – (1W) In an audience immersive fashion, the musical play explores the mission of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer while employing the civil right era protest songs. Certainly, the subject matter has special relevance with the approaching election season.
Hoopla! – The fifth grade talent show is approaching, and everyone is abuzz at Baldwin Elementary. Winston wants to win the talent show with his cheerleading routine to prove to others that he’s more than the unfriendly “Fishboy” nickname they call him. Introverted artist Gina wants nothing to do with the talent show, and she knows that the overzealous (and generally unpleasant) twin sensations, Randy and Brandy, are probably going to win it all anyway. But with the persistence of Elliott, the school’s new kid and resident rebel, these unlikely friends form Hoopla, a dazzling hula hooping trio, and help each other navigate through the pressures of being a kid.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 – The play focuses on a buoyant, loving Michigan family of five who travel south to Alabama during the turbulent summer of 1963, a time of racially motivated upheaval and civil unrest. Ten year old Kenny is conflicted about this family vacation to grandma’s, because Kenny tends to get a little anxious about most changes to his routine. Yet, he will soon learn – after a horrific event that will rock the town as well as the country – that he’s more courageous than he ever thought himself capable. Based on Christopher Paul Curtis’s book “The Watsons Go To Birmingham — 1963”
Something Happened in Our Town – Josh and Emma are best friends and neighbors. They love jumping on the trampoline and joking with Emma’s uncle Manny. But something has happened in their town. When a Black man is killed by a police officer, Emma and Josh have questions—lots of questions about what happened, and why. Josh is afraid for his brother Malcolm who has gone out to protest and Emma is concerned about her Uncle Manny, who is a police officer. With so much going on, Josh and Emma don’t know how to keep their friendship from being pulled apart. Layered with compassion and humor, this new play invites you into the living rooms of these two families (one Black and one White) as they wrestle with how to help their children make sense of what happened. As we watch Josh and Emma try to come together to find answers, we can come together as a community and find our way to better understanding each other.
Holiday Heart – (4M 2W) A gay drag queen befriends a single mother and her daughter and tries to protect them from the criminal environment around them.
Lizzie Bright – (6M 2W) Turner Buckminster III, the new preacher’s son in Phippsburg, Maine, can’t seem to walk two feet without making trouble. His only friend is the smart and lively Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl who plays baseball even better than he can. However, his friendship with her may cause the most trouble so far: she’s black, poor and lives on the forbidden Malaga Island. When Phippsburg’s leaders threaten to wipe Malaga of all its inhabitants for their own economic benefit, Turner and Lizzie know they have to do something—but can they act before it’s too late?
Play On! – (4M 4W and ensemble) Cheryl L. West’s jerky transformation of Shakespeare’s ”Twelfth Night” into a romantic fable of 1940’s Harlem, which uses the sublime songs of Ellington as its score.
Pullman Porter Blues – (8M 2W) It’s 1937, and three generations of porters are hard at work on the luxurious Panama Limited train. Midwest blues songs flavor their journey from Chicago to New Orleans as the porters confront dark secrets from their past and tough truths about their future together. This captivating coming of age story is woven with iconic blues music and features a live band.
BIO:
Cheryl L. West’s plays include, FANNIE: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, Last Stop on Market Street, Shout Sister Shout, Akeelah and the Bee, Pullman Porter Blues, and Jar the Floor. Her plays have been produced in England, off-Broadway, on Broadway (Play On!) and in numerous regional theaters around the country, including Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, Old Globe, The Goodman, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Indiana Rep, Asolo Rep, Merrimack, Arkansas Rep, St. Louis Black Rep, Bay Street Theatre Festival, Syracuse Stage, Cleveland Play House, South Coast Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and Off-Broadway’s Manhattan Theatre Club and Second Stage. She has written TV and film projects at Disney, Paramount, MTV Films, Showtime, TNT, HBO, CBS, BET and is the Webby-nominated writer for the original web series Diary of a Single Mom. Ms. West is currently preparing a revival of Broadway- bound Jar the Floor, and working on commissions for Oregon Shakespeare Festival, LaJolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, and Seattle Rep.
Website: www.cheryllwest.com
* Please note that some titles are handled by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Broadway Play Publishing, and Playscripts.com. Please ask if you don’t see a particular play.