Alley Theatre Resident Acting Company Member Shawn Hamilton sat down with Playwright Chisa Hutchinson to chat about new works.

Celebration Black History Month by shining a light on Black artists from Houston and around the country.

Houston playwright ShaWanna Renee Rivon bursts onto the scene with two exciting new plays this spring. Her artist’s mission is to create period-piece comedies centered around the lives of Black women. First, available February 18 – 22, 2021 via the Rec Room Arts Sound Scripts project, is Power to the Queendom. Set in 1970s Houston, the play follows four female members of the Black Panther Party. At the Alley, available April 16 – May 16, 2021, is a reading of Old Black & White Hollywood about a Black comedienne with big dreams in 1954.

Via a grant from the Fox Foundation, Alley Resident Acting Company member Shawn Hamilton is writing his first play. His subject is Arnett Cobb, the internationally acclaimed “wild man of the tenor sax,” a jazz musician who grew up in Houston and lived in the city for much of his career. During a virtual event, an excerpt was shared followed by a discussion of Arnett Cobb and his legacy with Shawn Hamilton; Cobb’s daughter, Lizette Cobb; and Tierney Malone of the Jazz Church of Houston and Houston Jazz Spotlight on KPFT.