Before Evening Comes

by Philana Imade Omorotionmwan

With his 13th birthday around the corner, Totome is excited to meet “the butcher” and finally become a man. His mother, however, hopes to keep him whole for just a little while longer.

Set in a dystopian future, Before Evening Comes explores what becomes of black boys, men, and women in an America rooted in the founding myths that the black male body is either a commodity or a threat.

With his 13th birthday around the corner, Totome is excited to meet “the butcher” and finally become a man. His mother, however, hopes to keep him whole for just a little while longer.

Set in a dystopian future, Before Evening Comes explores what becomes of black boys, men, and women in an America rooted in the founding myths that the black male body is either a commodity or a threat.

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Before Evening Comes

Recommended by

  • Jan Rosenberg: Before Evening Comes

    Stunning, magical, and brutal. A not so subtle metaphor about how the U.S views and disposes of black bodies. This play is like music, and I can only imagine what it would be like to hear the beats in person.

    Stunning, magical, and brutal. A not so subtle metaphor about how the U.S views and disposes of black bodies. This play is like music, and I can only imagine what it would be like to hear the beats in person.

  • Alissa Rubinstein: Before Evening Comes

    Stunning and upsetting. The message isn't subtle, but there's no reason for it to be. Beautifully written, expertly paced. This is what I want from a play.

    Stunning and upsetting. The message isn't subtle, but there's no reason for it to be. Beautifully written, expertly paced. This is what I want from a play.

  • David Hansen: Before Evening Comes

    A Dystopian parable, set in a near-future where all African-American men are legal bound to make a very specific sacrifice to maintain their own survival. In days past, those enslaved told of people who could fly (and escape their captors) and that story is wound up in this, a moving and lyric tale of the men who are complicit in the system and the women who sacrifice everything to save their children from it. Highly recommend.

    A Dystopian parable, set in a near-future where all African-American men are legal bound to make a very specific sacrifice to maintain their own survival. In days past, those enslaved told of people who could fly (and escape their captors) and that story is wound up in this, a moving and lyric tale of the men who are complicit in the system and the women who sacrifice everything to save their children from it. Highly recommend.

Development History

  • Type Reading, Organization Geva Theatre Center, Year 2018
  • Type Reading, Organization La MaMa Experiments Reading Series, Year 2017
  • Type Workshop, Organization Br!nk New Play Festival, Year 2016
  • Type Workshop, Organization Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Year 2016

Awards

  • The List
    The Kilroys
    Selection
    2019
  • P73 Fellowship
    Page 73
    Semi-Finalist
    2019
  • Theatre503 Award
    Theatre503
    Finalist
    2018
  • Relentless Award
    American Playwriting Foundation
    Semi-Finalist
    2017
  • Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship
    New Dramatists
    Finalist
    2017