Nathan Alan Davis

Nathan Alan Davis is a playwright from Rockford, IL, now based in New York. His plays include NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM (NYTW; New York Magazine Critic's Pick), DONTRELL WHO KISSED THE SEA (NNPN Rolling World Premiere; Los Angeles Times Critic's Choice; Steinberg/ATCA New Play Citation) and THE WIND AND THE BREEZE (Cygnet Theatre; New Harmony Project Residency; Blue Ink Playwriting Award; Lorraine Hansberry Award). Current and recent development includes The Public Theater, McCarter Theatre, Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Rep., NYTW and The Lark. Nathan is a Lecturer in Theater at Princeton University, a Usual Suspect at NYTW and a 2016 graduate of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. MFA: Indiana University. BFA: University of Illinois.

Scripts

Nat Turner in Jerusalem

by Nathan Alan Davis

Cast Size

2

Genre

docudrama/historic,

drama

In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner's startling account of his prophecy and the insurrection was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. Nat Turner in Jerusalem is a timely new play that imagines Turner’s final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they reckon with what has passed and what the dawn will...

In August 1831, Nat Turner led a slave uprising that shook the conscience of the nation. Turner's startling account of his prophecy and the insurrection was recorded and published by attorney Thomas R. Gray. Nat Turner in Jerusalem is a timely new play that imagines Turner’s final night in a jail cell in Jerusalem, Virginia, as he is revisited by Gray and they reckon with what has passed and what the dawn will bring. Woven with vivid imagery and indelible lyricism, Nat Turner in Jerusalem examines the power of an individual's resolute convictions and their seismic reverberations through time.

Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea

by Nathan Alan Davis

12

Cast Size

7

Genre

comedy,

drama,

fable/folktale

Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero’s quest exploring the lengths and...

Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero’s quest exploring the lengths and depths we must go to redeem history’s wrongs.

The Wind and the Breeze

by Nathan Alan Davis

1

Cast Size

6

Genre

comedy,

drama

Sam, the legendary, undisputed, greatest emcee in Rockford, IL, plans to rest on his laurels all winter and, if possible, stake out an early spot to watch the Independence Day fireworks –but his closest mentees and their outsized dreams challenge him to a battle he can't win.

The Wind and the Breeze explores the politics of place, the unspoken expectations of friendship and what happens when we choose to stand...

Sam, the legendary, undisputed, greatest emcee in Rockford, IL, plans to rest on his laurels all winter and, if possible, stake out an early spot to watch the Independence Day fireworks –but his closest mentees and their outsized dreams challenge him to a battle he can't win.

The Wind and the Breeze explores the politics of place, the unspoken expectations of friendship and what happens when we choose to stand our ground on shifting sands.