Donnetta Lavinia Grays

Donnetta Lavinia Grays

Donnetta Lavinia Grays - raised in Columbia, South Carolina - is a Brooklyn-based playwright and actor whose writing credits include WHERE WE STAND (Lucille Lortel Nominee, Drama League Nominee, 3X AUDELCO Nominee, World Premiere Co-production - WP Theater and Baltimore Centerstage. O’Neill Center National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist.), WARRIORS DON’T CRY (Theaterworks USA/Bushnell commission), LAST...
Donnetta Lavinia Grays - raised in Columbia, South Carolina - is a Brooklyn-based playwright and actor whose writing credits include WHERE WE STAND (Lucille Lortel Nominee, Drama League Nominee, 3X AUDELCO Nominee, World Premiere Co-production - WP Theater and Baltimore Centerstage. O’Neill Center National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist.), WARRIORS DON’T CRY (Theaterworks USA/Bushnell commission), LAST NIGHT AND THE NIGHT BEFORE (World Premiere - Denver Center for the Performing Arts.  Kilroys List. Colorado New Play Summit. National New Play Network Showcase. Todd McNerney National Playwriting Award Winner.  O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist.), LAID TO REST (O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference Finalist.) THE REVIEW OR HOW TO EAT YOUR OPPOSITION (WP Pipeline Festival. O’Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference Finalist.) THE NEW NORMAL and THE COWBOY IS DYING.

Donnetta is a recipient of the Whiting Award for Drama, the Helen Merrill Playwright Award, Lilly Award, National Theater Conference Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award, and is the inaugural recipient of the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award. She is a former Space on Ryder Farm Working Farm Resident, is a Time Warner Foundation WP Playwrights Lab alumna, a Civilians R&D Group alumna, an Actors Studio Playwright/Directors Unit alumna, and a terraNova Collective Groundbreakers Playwright group alumna. Her work has been previously developed with, Hedgebrook (*Covid Class), New Harmony Project, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Labyrinth Theater Company, New York Theater Workshop, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Portland Stage Company, Pure Theatre Company, [the claque], Naked Angels, Classical Theater of Harlem, Slant Theater Project, terraNova Collective, and TOSOS.

In 2018 Donnetta founded Gap Toothed Griot, LLC as a home for her particular brand of storytelling. Donnetta - as GTG - is currently under commission with True Love Productions, Steppenwolf, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and WP Theater. For television, she has been staffed on Spectrum Original/Lionsgate’s "Manhunt," "Y: The Last Man" for FX Network/Color Force. She was an Executive Story Editor on "Joe vs. Carole" starring Kate McKinnon for Peacock and is currently Co-Producer on "Seconds" for AMC.

Plays

  • Last Night and the Night Before by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
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    Keyword: coming of age, murder + 4 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller
    Keyword: coming of age, murder, American South, Lesbian, family, heightened language
    When Monique and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha show up unexpectedly on her sister’s Brooklyn doorstep, it’s the beginning of the end for Rachel and her partner Nadima’s orderly lifestyle. Monique is on the run from deep trouble, her husband Reggie is nowhere to be seen, and Samantha becomes ever haunted by the life in southern Georgia she was forced to leave behind. Poetic, dark and often deeply funny Last...
    When Monique and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha show up unexpectedly on her sister’s Brooklyn doorstep, it’s the beginning of the end for Rachel and her partner Nadima’s orderly lifestyle. Monique is on the run from deep trouble, her husband Reggie is nowhere to be seen, and Samantha becomes ever haunted by the life in southern Georgia she was forced to leave behind. Poetic, dark and often deeply funny Last Night and the Night Before explores the power, necessity, and beauty of loss.



    At the root of this play is the daughter of a small town that is lost to the current sweeping epidemic of heroin abuse in this country. She is a mother who tries desperately to break a cycle of despair for her own daughter. Last Night and The Night Before is a drama infused with laughter, lightness, poetry and hope. It speaks to so many small towns across this country that have lost brilliant children due to lack of industry and economic opportunity within those communities.

    Todd McNerney National New Play Award Winner. Eugene O'Neill Center National Playwright Festival Semifinalist.
  • The Review or How to Eat Your Opposition by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, experimental
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    Keyword: Art and Artists, Lesbian + 7 more
    Genre: drama, experimental
    Keyword: Art and Artists, Lesbian, Criticism, Sex, power, visual art, football, war, Iraq war
    In the fall of 2001 the air has a marked change in New York City. Dana – a naïve yet self-righteous art critic - and her sports loving partner Kerri struggle to reconnect through its weight. This freshly weighted air, by contrast, provides new life for Naomi – an iconic visual artist - who, after years in the business, finally experiences the throes of financial success just as a debilitating disease threatens...
    In the fall of 2001 the air has a marked change in New York City. Dana – a naïve yet self-righteous art critic - and her sports loving partner Kerri struggle to reconnect through its weight. This freshly weighted air, by contrast, provides new life for Naomi – an iconic visual artist - who, after years in the business, finally experiences the throes of financial success just as a debilitating disease threatens both that success and her legacy. When Dana questions Naomi’s artistic integrity the stage is set for a sexy, emotional and intellectual game of football between critic and artist. Secrets are revealed, beliefs are shattered, hearts are broken and art is made in this fast-paced drama that explores loss and sacrifice.
  • Laid To Rest by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5–8
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 1 more
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    Keyword: police brutality, activism + 8 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, political
    Keyword: police brutality, activism, social media, black lives matter, multimedia, social justice, Twitter, Facebook, instagram, virtual
    When his fatal shooting stirs a community into fevered protest, Vanda's son Clarence becomes yet another hashtag in the ongoing fight against police brutality. Social media overwhelms and recreates Clarence's story beyond even Vanda's recognition. While struggling to find a sense of peace, Vanda meets Grace - a well-meaning yet casual armchair activist- and the need to mourn Clarence's death...
    When his fatal shooting stirs a community into fevered protest, Vanda's son Clarence becomes yet another hashtag in the ongoing fight against police brutality. Social media overwhelms and recreates Clarence's story beyond even Vanda's recognition. While struggling to find a sense of peace, Vanda meets Grace - a well-meaning yet casual armchair activist- and the need to mourn Clarence's death and reclaim his story in the concrete offline spaces of the real world becomes ever urgent.
  • The New Normal by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: breast cancer, survivor + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: breast cancer, survivor, Seattle, based on a true story
    *Seeking Further Development

    Inspired by the life of 2009 Puget Sound Survivor of the Year Anna Warren Schumacher, The New Normal is a frank and, often times, witty play that tells the unique story of how a young woman finds humor and grace in the unexpected challenges of survival.

    Anna is a 34-year-old broke, clumsy, wine sippin’ southern hairdresser living in present day Seattle...
    *Seeking Further Development

    Inspired by the life of 2009 Puget Sound Survivor of the Year Anna Warren Schumacher, The New Normal is a frank and, often times, witty play that tells the unique story of how a young woman finds humor and grace in the unexpected challenges of survival.

    Anna is a 34-year-old broke, clumsy, wine sippin’ southern hairdresser living in present day Seattle, WA. She is a trying desperately to raise her 2 and half year old son…and her would be rock star husband Kevin. In addition to a complicated marriage Anna is searching to make sense of her recent title of “breast cancer survivor.”

    She has just returned from a weekend of fun with her survivor support group to find the house a wreck, the bills unpaid and a mysterious stranger parked just outside of her home.
  • The More Things Change by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: Sisters
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: Sisters
    Two sisters. One lifetime. Ten minutes.
  • On Break at L.L. Bean by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, political
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    Keyword: refugee, Immigrants + 7 more
    Genre: drama, political
    Keyword: refugee, Immigrants, Somalia, Maine, Race, Africa, African, African American, Donald Trump
    Ali, an 18-year-old Somali refugee grateful to his adoptive nation, wants to enlist in the Army. Jerome, Ali’s 65-year-old coworker who views him as close as a son, fears for this young Muslim man’s life in a nation increasingly resistant to him. Set in Freeport, Maine. About a half hour outside of Lewiston.

    A play about love of country and the love between men.

    Commissioned by Now...
    Ali, an 18-year-old Somali refugee grateful to his adoptive nation, wants to enlist in the Army. Jerome, Ali’s 65-year-old coworker who views him as close as a son, fears for this young Muslim man’s life in a nation increasingly resistant to him. Set in Freeport, Maine. About a half hour outside of Lewiston.

    A play about love of country and the love between men.

    Commissioned by Now Africa Playwrights Festival
  • Take by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    2
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    Genre: drama, experimental + 2 more
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    Keyword: coast, Lesbian + 2 more
    Genre: drama, experimental, mystery/thriller, tragedy
    Keyword: coast, Lesbian, LGBTQ, dark
    Two women sit on the edge of a dark coastal town.
  • the cowboy is dying by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: biography, comedy
    Genre: biography, comedy
    REVIEW

    ''the cowboy is dying is a fine model of a fully-developed story. It is a fusion of a great narrative, heartfelt drama, and original music dressed in soulful vocals. Grays captures our attention from the beginning, with bold claims of being able to start fires and thunderstorms even though her posture suggests uneasiness. However, that uneasiness folds neatly into the development...
    REVIEW

    ''the cowboy is dying is a fine model of a fully-developed story. It is a fusion of a great narrative, heartfelt drama, and original music dressed in soulful vocals. Grays captures our attention from the beginning, with bold claims of being able to start fires and thunderstorms even though her posture suggests uneasiness. However, that uneasiness folds neatly into the development of a socially uncomfortable character trying to find her niche....Grays links her dreams of being a preacher to her dreams of being an actor. When she struggles with integrating her lesbianism with her spirituality, her conflict is conveyed through her strong pipes (India Arie, watch out!) and intelligently written script. Grays is not afraid to get emotionally naked onstage either, singing "I know my body works even if you don't know. I know my body works even if you're through with it" to an unrequited love interest. The reasons for her isolation change throughout her life, but they all stem from a social root. She goes from being a outcast because of her connection to God to being confined within herself for fear of acting on her desires, and all of it is very gripping. She creates wonderful characters and anecdotes, and when she likens herself to the Marlboro man, it is not only hilarious, but also painfully tender. The cowboy may be dying, but unlike in the Westerns, we don't watch him go with sorrow. From his death springs the birth of a rising, talented artist.'' - Theater Talk's New Theater Corps
  • The B Factor by Donnetta Lavinia Grays
    Cast: 
    3
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: lgbtqia, Lesbian + 2 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, experimental, fantasy, political
    Keyword: lgbtqia, Lesbian, Fantasy, gender
    Inspired stylistically in part by Robert O’Hara’s Insurrection and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, The “B” Factor is a fantastical comedy that explores the lives of Duane and Anthony (both played by women) on their quest for sexual identity.

    This is an older play. Seeking further development.