←Recommendations of Black Americanah for Sale

A powerful look at the history of racism, imprisonment, slavery and the ongoing trauma of it all. Well done.

This series of vignettes is full of poetic language and brutal imagery that I can't wait to see fully realized on stage. Excellent piece for an ensemble of actors to really get to the heart of the theatrical form.

It is the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's pleasure to recommend Eljon Wardally and their play Black Americanah for Sale as a finalist for our 2020 National Playwrights Conference. This particular work emerged from a highly competitive, anonymous, and multi-tiered selection process to become one of 63 finalists out of more than 1,500 submissions. This enthralling piece galvanized the hearts and theatrical imaginations of our reading teams and is fully championed by our offices. We are honored to put our enthusiastic support behind this writer and their ongoing contributions to the American Theater.

A brilliant theatrical poem with unforgettable images, motifs, and sequences. Each vignette told a bold and engaging story even if just taken at face value, while also communicating with striking, sophisticated, but crystal clear metaphors about the legacies and traumas of slavery and white supremacy, and their connection to the cyclical and ongoing oppression of black people in America. Wardally's use of multiple bodies to illustrate internalized conflict and trauma was fantastic too. This feels impeccably structured, yet also like a beautiful, multi-faceted blueprint for a creative production team. Essential poetry and drama that all should experience.

Black American for Sale is at once thoughtful and deeply spiritual. Each vingette illustrates a painful split consciousness and artfully describes the experience of living in plurality.

A chilling, sobering keening of anguish, hope, love, hate, and everything in between, "Americanah" is a stellar piece of theatre that demands staging. Wardally’s dialogue is poetic and evocative, and I can only imagine the ferocity and power of the images that a company could conjure with her blueprint. It is nothing less than a tour de force. Read this. Produce this. Break the circle.

Black Americanah for Sale is both an illuminating and haunting expression of the Black identity in America. Eljon Wardally takes us through a journey of vulnerability with measured grace and brutal honesty. This stunning collection of vignettes is a timely piece of work that serves to make us mindful of our difficult past while challenging us to make our future better. Black Americanah for Sale takes its craft seriously and dares to recognize the social importance of art.