I approach most of my work as a way of healing others. I’ve always prided myself on writing stories that engage the heart. Soulful stories that allow both the actors and the audience to leave the room feeling as if there is some sense of hope in this life. I challenge myself to write transformative plays that may not completely change a person but plants an idea.

I didn’t have many opportunities to see young black men in leading roles growing up. Because of that experience, my work has always had a young black male as the protagonist. I believe this gesture allows for black men to always have a voice in my work, a role to play that creatively challenges them.

I would also describe my work as having a certain type of magic. I never quite outgrew that young man that would stare up at the stars or immerse himself in the world of a comic book. So, I set my young black men, my underdogs, in unusually mystical environments that challenge them to overcome. Magical realism that distorts the veil between this world and the imaginary. Ordinary men with extraordinary destinies that transform them. This is quite evident in my comic book hip-hop musical, The Fly & Incredibly Dope Adventures of Tyrone Jenkins.

Growing up as a black man in America comes with extraordinary obstacles. Tyrone battles with gentrification and police brutality in comic book form. Even though it’s fantasy, the musical and much of my work reflects the real-life villains that we face every day. Often, ones that feel otherworldly. I’ve always used magic to cope with violence and prejudice as a teenager. I embrace the black imagination through afrofuturism in my work which allows my audience to find peace with a story that offers an escape and a call to action.

I thoroughly enjoy writing plays with a sonic landscape that speaks to the audience in a way words can’t. Sound that engages the audience’s senses and creates an enjoyable dramaturgical challenge. Everything from the cacophony of voices wall in The Bridge to the score of Thin Places by Stephen Berkemeier. Our intention behind those sound designs was to create an otherworldly portal to the afterlife by using one of the only musical instrument that elevates us there, the pipe organ.

My work is musical, whether it be a musical theatre piece or a straight play. I believe songs, like sound design, also speak when words can’t. The melody elevates the language. I also find myself creating what Eric Whitacre calls the emotional architecture of the piece. A map of the emotional journey I’d like the audience to experience by intentionally placing certain moments of emotional power throughout the play. I accomplish this by drawing out a line and placing different moments of emotional and sensory impact at the height of the line then bringing the audience down the line. Scene by scene until we’ve reached a place to settle and reflect. Like a breathing exercise or a roller coaster, depending on the show. In plays like The Bridge, I enjoy using the act break to suspend the audience on the edge of a dramatic question, the presence of Joshua’s mother, like a held breath that is released in the second act.

My goal is to continue writing shows that expand on the imagination and visually challenge the creative team to create an experience for the audience. Something that shocks the senses and reminds us of what it means to be alive, to grieve and celebrate for others. I’m also interested in writing more historical fiction. I myself am a lover of ancient symbols and the complex history of science and the Christian church. These themes found their way into Haze: Book One but I am interested in exploring history plays on stage.

I am an explorer, a musician, and a magician. My ambition is to continue inviting audiences on my adventures and seeing what we find together in this beautifully strange world.