It is my pleasure to recommend florissant & canfield by Kristiana Rae Colón. I had the opportunity to see a staged reading of the script at Goodman Theatre and was struck by its poignancy and poetry. The play does not sanitize issue for the sake of story. It presents a Ferguson that moves at a rapid pace, embracing a rhythmic quality to the poetic words of its large cast of characters. It has important things to say about activism and black lives, while doing so in a theatrical and poetic way. A large scale production would be lovely to experience.

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Kristiana Colón and their play florissant &canfield as a finalist for our 2017 National Playwrights Conference. The play rose through a competitive, anonymous, multileveled selection process that took nearly nine months to execute. As one of 55 finalists out of more than 1,300 submissions, the strength of its writing has allowed this work to prosper in such a competitive selection process. Our readers were struck by the vivid depiction of contemporary American issues, as well as its rhythmic dialogue and passionately political tone.