Dear Ann

by Nikki Brake-Silla

“Dear Ann” follows Penny (7) and her great-grandma, Nana (80) as their relationship is tested when she asks Nana “Is you White?” Penny and her family communicate with tough love, a consequence of growing up in the still segregated North Carolina of the late 1980’s. Penny hopes the “Dear Ann” advice column will assist her as she navigates difficult questions. How do home, family, and the construct of race...

“Dear Ann” follows Penny (7) and her great-grandma, Nana (80) as their relationship is tested when she asks Nana “Is you White?” Penny and her family communicate with tough love, a consequence of growing up in the still segregated North Carolina of the late 1980’s. Penny hopes the “Dear Ann” advice column will assist her as she navigates difficult questions. How do home, family, and the construct of race influence us? What weight does Nana carry when her place is questioned inside and outside of her home? “Dear Ann” gives a peek inside a everyday lives of a Black Southern family as they navigate betrayal, absence while showing how their bond of blood is tested.

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Dear Ann

Recommended by

  • Premiere Stages at Kean University: Dear Ann by Nikki Brake-Silla
    “

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “Dear Ann” by Nikki Brake-Silla as a semifinalist for the 2020 Premiere Play Festival. “Dear Ann” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 26 semifinalists out of 939 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the play’s compelling language and complex family dynamics, which authentically reveal the characters’ experiences in relation to race and age and gender. Our congratulations and...

    Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “Dear Ann” by Nikki Brake-Silla as a semifinalist for the 2020 Premiere Play Festival. “Dear Ann” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 26 semifinalists out of 939 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the play’s compelling language and complex family dynamics, which authentically reveal the characters’ experiences in relation to race and age and gender. Our congratulations and thanks to Nikki.

    read more
    ”

Character Information

  • Nana
    very fair skinned, Black woman, clear features to Black folks but White folks only see her as one of them.
    80
    Black,
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      70s+
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Penny
    Black, girl, precocious, highly intelligent child whose sun is her Nana
    7
    Black
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Child
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Rocky
    Black girl, innocence fully intact with a naïveté that makes one forget how ugly the world can be
    4
    Black
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Child
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Ducky
    Black woman, weight of the world on her shoulders, constantly running from one place to the next
    28
    Black
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Grandma
    Black woman, second in command matriarch, recently retired
    54
    Black
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      50s,
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Twitch
    Black man, life of the party, always good for a story, lacks follow through
    25
    Black
    Male
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s,
      30s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Julia
    white woman, low rent Jackie O.
    60
    White
    Female
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      60s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      White
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Residency, The Mitten Lab Residency, 2019

Awards

  • Premiere Play Festival
    Premiere Stages at Kean University
    Semi-Finalist
    2020