Derek Lee McPhatter

Imagine a Priestess Dark, in full "Africana" garb, mystical powers at their height, glaring -- as an Avenging Angel might -- at the impetuous Blackademic before her, demanding she forget the video game she comes from and finally tell him the truth, from his modest perch in his basement apartment.

As climate catastrophe reshapes Chicago, a queer black intellectual confronts a lover, a computer, and a mysterious visitor on his quest for truth in virtual worlds. . The lines between the physical and digital blur as our blackademic grows obsessed with researching a problematic video game.

A play with drums, Underdrown is part of The NightQueen Performance Suite – three evening-length works blending theater, music, new media and oral storytelling traditions to conjure a mythology reflecting the contemporary Black experience.

Drawing from Afro-surreal and Afro-futuristic creative praxis, NightQueen follows an ensemble seeking hope in one another as their world is transformed by a global water crisis, unbridled network technologies and resurgent fascism. The suite is an affirmation of the diversity, beauty, creativity and resilience of Black life in opposition to modern-day forces that continue to debase Black communities.

FULL LENGTH - Dr. Nichelle Vye has spent years developing an alternative medical approach to cure a mysterious disease. Despite best efforts, she cannot complete her research alone. The science keeps leading back to her years as a graduate student, particularly her time with Paula, one of the few survivors from a clinical trial that went terribly awry.

Dr. Vye will show Paula how much she’s grown since their time at that lab, but Paula has good reason to suspect Dr. Vye isn’t being completely honest. Therefore, the true nature of the experiment shall be revealed! But before further progress can be made, Dr. Vye must contend with Paula’s family – a skeptical fiancé and a long-lost sister. Analyzing their problems is a simple matter, but to unlock the transformative potential of this healing, Dr. Nichelle Vye will need their help to finally confront her own pain.

From the marvels of the modern laboratory to the inner depths of the human psyche, Serious Adverse Effects is an imaginative contemporary drama unfolding at the intersection of medical ethics, blood memory, and forgiveness.

FULL LENGTH - Real Talk with Auntie B follows an African-American woman of a certain age who expects her new memoir to make America love her again.

But only her most outrageous behavior attracts social media attention. With the help of a few "millennial" youth, Auntie B eventually earns a modest spot in the mainstream, and she’s certain the people are primed to adore her again! Yet the election looms, and a man from her past has thrown a wrench in the next political whatever. Did Auntie B have a “relationship” with this dreadfully unfit presidential hopeful? Interests are piqued! So to save America, this diva finds herself stepping forward to share the whole scandalizing truth of it. But Auntie B’s obsession with telling her story her way puts her at odds with people she might actually care about, and out of step with a nation already ready to move on.

Tweet by tweet and post by post, the characters in this comedy strive to make the best of a dizzying digital media landscape and ever-shifting standards of moral decency. Real Talk with Auntie B is a satirical take on modern-day American ambition, with social media as both a help and a hindrance to responsible collective action.

Bring the Beat Back is a queer, black, sci-fi, music-theatre experience.

Tru Believers know the Musicship Megarhythmic will save them from the end of the world. But you can’t get on if you can’t get down...and somebody done stole da beat!

DJ Desdemona has died, and her children - Trudy and Dayton - are the new leaders of the DJ’s “Tru Believer” movement. Trudy’s boyfriend, Studness, hires an ex-gay consultant, Rey, to make Dayton heterosexual, as is expected for all Tru Believers. Rey’s fabulous intervention mesmerizes Dayton with memories of a queer black underground and news of the Grandest Ball of All (a competition on the other side of town). Meanwhile, Trudy and Studness prepare the Tru Believer congregation for the apocalypse, and Trudy’s negotiations with The Krew (a boisterous collective of computerized spirits in outer space) leave no doubt: the world is beggin’ for Armageddon. The Krew reminds everybody about the Tru Believer gospel: mysterious rhythms are the path to salvation. Dayton leads a music ritual to reveal the beat. Rey claims that rhythm as originally created by the queer underground and invites Dayton join him at the Ball with the beat.

So we’re off to the Ball! Rey’s longing for his glory days; Trudy’s frustration at her brother’s faltered steps; Studness’ confusion with a fiancé who barely sees him – and Dayton, following his heart even unto the End of the World. Maybe the Krew is right and this is how it’s all going to end. Or maybe, just maybe, this can be the beginning of something new for all of us…

FULL LENGTH - This App is Not the Business is a dramedy unfolding in the worlds of corporate finance and the digital space. It is inspired by the history of Black-owned banks in America, Black Diaspora Trickster folktales, and cyberpunk, bringing audiences on a quirky journey grounded in questions of value. How we value one another, how institutions value us, and the ways collective and individual values shift in the digital age.

CORINNE, a young African-American loan officer, finds herself working for one of America’s infamous large financial institutions. She’s tasked with managing recently-acquired assets of a community bank that has disintegrated (the latest sign of gentrification’s rise in her neighborhood).  Success for Corinne means navigating a hostile corporate culture while remaining true to herself. Her task is complicated by untrustworthy co-workers and her latest debt-ridden client, TAWRUSS, a charming computer coder eager to enlist Corinne in his crusade against corporate America. When the corporation sets its sights on Tawruss’ latest innovation -- a digital “economic development” application -- Corrine finds herself at the center of a crisis. What seemed like a simple matter of collecting payment ultimately moves Corrine towards a decision about what (and who) she values most.

FULL LENGTH Unless a computer engineer in the distant future can uncover the truth about a gay bashing event in our time, the incident will be deleted from history. But no one is being honest: not the victim, not the assailant, and certainly not their mothers. Future-shock and culture-clash abound as The Lattice Crashes invites audiences to a fictional Historically Black College to explore paradigms of memory, forgiveness and hope.

A time travel operative for the liberation tries to buy her way out of a “post-progressive” timeline.

The world’s favorite super(s)hero comes to vivid life tonight. Don’t worry if she seems fed up or tired of saving the world. She had better give us the happy endings we deserve, or else!

Somehow our presidential hopeful has bet his candidacy on a conspiracy theory, a media spin job and a chief of staff who’s nowhere to be found. But if the intern-who's-not-fired-yet can pull everything together before the next campaign speech, Mr. Tunks might just be America’s Next President-Elect. Or Not.

Bethany's the biggest fan for the best-est boy band you've never heard of. And tonight she's finally putting the publicity stunts, medications, restraining orders, hallucinations and whatever else behind her...we hope.