Nikki Brake-Silla

GTFOH follows a couple in their therapist office on the brink of the dissolution of their marriage. The work deals with the perception of truth and the gray area between what is said and what is heard.

Julian loves Mario. Mario loves Julian. Janice, Mario’s mother, cannot reconcile her first generation, Catholic upbringing to love all of him. Trouble of the World is in conversation with The Merchant of Venice, is told through the lens of Nema, a wealthy attorney, as she seeks justice after Janice, a Dominican police officer, kills her son, Julian. Trouble of the World explores classism, colorism, homophobia, and the complexity of the love and loss between two very different mothers.

ReWombed takes place over the course of multiple office visits, between Pastor Rachel Johnson and Dr. Eve Jardín, OBGYN. Eve has a crisis of conscience, after renouncing her faith years before, and wonders if the recent death of a patient, is a sign from God. As their bond strengthens, Eve challenges Rachel’s participation in a trial whose selection process, coupled with the biological harm of immunosuppression drugs, cervical biopsies, and numerous abdominal surgeries, have made it impossible for her to uphold her vow to do no harm.

“Say It Ain’t So” weaves a tale of Sandra, an affluent Black mother, on the lam with her Deaf sister, Renny. Sandra encounters her Ancestors; Past, Present and Future, who bring into question, can Black women ever truly be free? In conversation with Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Sun Tzŭ’s “Art of War,” the play asks, What do we inherit? What past should we not pass on? Can cycles really be broken?

In Defense of Ourselves occurs across three crucial time periods for Black America. Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells-Barnett prepare for the Women's Suffrage March of 1913. In 1954, Mary and her grandson protest segregated eating establishments in Washington, DC., one year before Emmett Till's lynching and eleven years before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The play concludes on November 9, 2016, when a conversation between two women leads to clarity after a recent turn of events.

“Dear Ann” follows Penny (7) and her great-grandma, Nana (80) as their relationship is tested when she asks Nana “Is you White?” Penny and her family communicate with tough love, a consequence of growing up in the still segregated North Carolina of the late 1980’s. Penny hopes the “Dear Ann” advice column will assist her as she navigates difficult questions. How do home, family, and the construct of race influence us? What weight does Nana carry when her place is questioned inside and outside of her home? “Dear Ann” gives a peek inside a everyday lives of a Black Southern family as they navigate betrayal, absence while showing how their bond of blood is tested.

Who's responsible for the evolution of a toxic Black man?

Two years into a global pandemic... But what is time? Enough time has passed for people to have bought back into the capitalist agenda.

Dusty enlists the help of their best friend, Randy, to teach them how to wind, in-order to be crowned DanceHall champion, and win back the heart of their ex-girlfriend, Trace.

"Everything the Devil Stole" tells the story of Patience and Mohamed, a couple who built a life, paid taxes, and raised a family in West Philadelphia until 2018. For the next two years, they live in involuntary exile, seeking sanctuary in a church due to their undocumented immigrant status. Their story unfolds in the final 15 minutes before they are able to reunite with their children. As the couple reckons with the guilt of leaving their offspring to fend for themselves, and the turmoil that separated families endure after narrowly escaping ICE raids and deportation proceedings, they find hope and joy.

Lily on the Rise focuses on the historical importance of a salon that showcased rising artists and gave voice to a cadre of Philly talent; Jill Scott, Kindred, Jazzyfatnastees, Jazmin Sullivan, Lady Alma, Ryva, and Ursula Rucker. Its closing in 2005 left a hole that has yet to be filled. Lily on the Rise captures the magic and wonder of a place in Philadelphia’s rich, Black musical history.

"How to be Married to a West African Muslim" was inspired by
"How to Write about Africa"by Binyavanga Wainaina

A Satire

A.M.A. Against Medical Advice is a monologue performance that takes place over one week in a NICU.