Before Evening Comes

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:
    14 Mar. 2020
    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:
    13 Feb. 2020
    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:
    1 Apr. 2018
    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

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

Awards

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