What is Black Trans Women at the Center
Long Wharf Theatre's Black Trans Women at the Center is the nation's only festival of new work by Black trans women playwrights, offered virtually to heighten visibility and ensure the safety of this important community of artists.
Our start
Established in 2020, Long Wharf Theatre produces this annual event in partnership with multi-hyphenate Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, a member of our Artistic Ensemble. Short plays by Black trans women are identified through a free, open application process. Each script receives a workshop, a professional cast and director, and reading broadcast nationally to audiences online through a premiere event and on-demand viewing. Creative team members are primarily from the Black trans and non-binary community with race-specific casting filled by trans artists, building awareness of the rich and vibrant talents of these creatives.
Our impact
To date, Black Trans Women at the Center has produced readings of 15 scripts by Black trans women playwrights, putting money in the pockets of 49 trans and non-binary performers and directors.
Highlights include Simone Immanuel's From Inside Out (2023), a one-woman play performed by L Morgan Lee (the first trans woman to be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance), and Mickaela Bradford's Under False Colors (2021), which went on to become a film. Additionally, CeCe Suazo's You Will Neve Enter Our High Holhy Blackness-Hiya! (2020) received a subsequent staged reading as part of Concord Theatricals and Samuel French's Off-Off-Broadway Festival in 2022. CeCe was the first openly trans woman of color to be included in this Festival over its 46 years.
Support Black Trans Women at the Center
Support Black Trans Women at the Center with a tax-deductible donation TODAY! Your generosity supports the electrifying creativity and raw talent of Black trans women in the creation of new works.