Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre Lecture: “Art as Righteous Indignation”
Meet playwright Dominique Morisseau, Fordham’s new Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre, at her talk titled “Art as Righteous Indignation.”
Morisseau’s talk will touch upon her personal experiences as an artist. In her words: “I once had to admit to a mentor that I wasn’t the charming, obedient, teacher’s pet that she may have thought I was in college. I had a lot of anger towards my department and professors and spoke my mind in unpopular ways. What this mentor said in response to my fear of disappointing her was life-changing for me, and made me the unapologetic artist that I’ve become ever since. Whether individual or collective, outrage can give way to some powerful creative expression. How do we transcend the madness around us? Let’s have some real talk about it!”
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DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU is the author of The Detroit Project, a three-play cycle that includesSkeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company/Broadway, Tony Award nominee for Best Play), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Confederates (Signature Theatre), Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre), Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre), and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is the Tony Award–nominated book writer on the Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre) and is currently working on her latest, Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical (ACT). Her TV/Film credits include: co-producer on Shameless (Showtime), the film adaptation of the documentary STEP(Fox Searchlight), and consultant on the Netflix animated feature, Tunga. She is the recipient of a PoNY Fellowship, a Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, Variety’s Women of Impact for 2018, and a MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient. Her awards include the TEER Trailblazer Award, the Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, the NBTF August Wilson Playwriting Award, the Wyndham Campbell Prize, the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, and two OBIE Awards. In 2022, Dominique was awarded the key to the city by the mayor of Detroit.