Meet Playwright Angela J. Davis

Sponsored by Jason Dion

MEET THE PLAYFEST PLAYWRIGHT ANGELA J. DAVIS

“AGATHE“

By Angela J. Davis
Directed by Joshian Morales

Performance: November 4, 2023
Time: 8pm

An interview with Caroline M. Hull

Without giving any huge spoilers for the audience, please give a brief description of the plot.

AGATHE is inspired by the overlooked history of the woman who served as Rwanda’s true president in the 14 hours just before the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Although the play takes place in one of the darkest moments of history, the play’s true inspiration is the bravery, wisdom, and foresight of its title character, a beacon for our time. AGATHE was recently performed in London, a small production by the Sohaya Visions Company, directed by Mukul Ahmed, and was also named the winner of the SETC New Play Award and the Henley Rose Playwright Award, a national award named for Pulitzer Prize winner Beth Henley, a top-four finalist for the prestigious Jane Chambers Award, and a Woodward/Newman Drama Award Finalist, among other honors.
 
What initially inspired you to begin writing this particular piece?

I have a longstanding interest in women and other individuals who have been marginalized — or even overlooked entirely — by history. Agathe Uwilingiyimana, the title character, was an extraordinary woman: a university professor by training, an advocate for women and girls’ education, and the mother of five children.
 
What pushed you into the field of playwriting?

I have a longstanding love of language and literature and theatre, by its very nature, is an art form that embodies the immediacy of language. I also believe that theatre — even during recent years when the COVID pandemic generated theatre that was streaming or recorded — fundamentally is an art form that demands human connection and that demands that we witness something.
 
Do you have any major creative influences that you’d like to share?

Oh, definitely! I am a huge “consumer” of theatre and other art forms. My literary tastes are decidedly omnivorous: I love Shakespeare and think many of the oldest plays are timeless – for example: Oedipus Rex. I also love many twentieth-century writers – Harold Pinter, David Hare, August Wilson- and many contemporary dramatists, including Paula Vogel, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Sara Ruhl, Anna Ziegler, Qui Nguyen. . . . and so many others I’m forgetting to mention. And so MANY writers in other genres have been extremely important to me: Jorge
Luis Borges, Hernan Diaz, Elena Ferrante. . . . and so many nonfiction writers who dive deeply into character, time, and place…Isabel Wilkerson, Patrick Radden Keefe, and many, many others.
 
Any advice to offer for playwrights who are just starting out?

I think it’s critically important for writers to be readers and for writers to find what they love most in what they read. Playwrights also need to be good consumers of theater: read plays, go to theater festivals and readings, and get acquainted with actors and directors. I also think being “in love with” your subject is critically important. Write about what moves you most, what keeps you up at night, what makes your heart pound!
 
If you could guarantee that audiences at PlayFest could take away one thing after seeing
your play, what would it be?

My aim is that this play is both deeply moving and thought-provoking for the audience. Notably, the 30-year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide will be in 2024.
 
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