Sam Kebede

Sam Kebede is a first generation Ethiopian/Eritrean Writer/Actor/Comedian based in New York City and his works center predominantly around the comedy and history, grappling with the absurdism of "how we got to the world we have". He has had the privilege to collaborate on projects around the world, including writing for a TV show in Taiwan, VR performances pieces in Austria and Italy, and stand up in Ireland.
He is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a former Ars Nova CAMP fellow, a New Victory LabWorks Fellow, and an artist with The Public's Developmental Theater Working Group.

He is currently in the process of developing a play cycle adaptation of the Kebra Nagast (the written record of the lineage of Ethiopian kings and queens) as a modern response to Shakespeare’s history plays.
Separate...

Sam Kebede is a first generation Ethiopian/Eritrean Writer/Actor/Comedian based in New York City and his works center predominantly around the comedy and history, grappling with the absurdism of "how we got to the world we have". He has had the privilege to collaborate on projects around the world, including writing for a TV show in Taiwan, VR performances pieces in Austria and Italy, and stand up in Ireland.
He is a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a former Ars Nova CAMP fellow, a New Victory LabWorks Fellow, and an artist with The Public's Developmental Theater Working Group.

He is currently in the process of developing a play cycle adaptation of the Kebra Nagast (the written record of the lineage of Ethiopian kings and queens) as a modern response to Shakespeare’s history plays.
Separate from these cycles is his play ETHIOPIANAMERICA which was recently produced by Definition Theater Company at the Tony-Award winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. The show was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference for 2019 and won the Black Theater Alliance Award for Best Play. The play is possibly the first American play to heavily feature the Ethiopian language of Amharic and is the first major American play to feature all Ethiopian/Eritrean characters.

Scripts

A Christmas Carol

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

The classic tale performed with only Three Performers (Race/Gender blind). There's magic, music, comedy, and more, all while keeping to the original story.

The classic tale performed with only Three Performers (Race/Gender blind). There's magic, music, comedy, and more, all while keeping to the original story.

The Plagues: A Comedy

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

Set during the Plagues of Moses, Desta and Yakob are not the main characters of the traditional Biblical tale. As the Nile runs with blood and pharoah sits in indecision, this enslaved couple must endure the worst time in history. While still raising a daughter and having a fulfilling work-life balance. Sound familiar?

Set during the Plagues of Moses, Desta and Yakob are not the main characters of the traditional Biblical tale. As the Nile runs with blood and pharoah sits in indecision, this enslaved couple must endure the worst time in history. While still raising a daughter and having a fulfilling work-life balance. Sound familiar?

Three Years

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

In this two hander play, we follow a couple from their first date to their breakup over three years. There's joy, there's pain, there's a pandemic.

A great piece for scene study as well as production.

In this two hander play, we follow a couple from their first date to their breakup over three years. There's joy, there's pain, there's a pandemic.

A great piece for scene study as well as production.

Uncle Brown

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

A Take on Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Uncle Brown follows a black family in the 1930s south. All the existentialism and repression of Pre-Lenin Russia exchanged for the externalism and repression of the Jim Crow South. But with humor and a few other liberties

A Take on Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Uncle Brown follows a black family in the 1930s south. All the existentialism and repression of Pre-Lenin Russia exchanged for the externalism and repression of the Jim Crow South. But with humor and a few other liberties

Whenever You're Ready

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

Did you know there has never been an all-black cast comedy play on Broadway? There have been musicals, there have been dramas, but there's never been a full comedy. This is the story of what could be the first one. And it's a farce.

Did you know there has never been an all-black cast comedy play on Broadway? There have been musicals, there have been dramas, but there's never been a full comedy. This is the story of what could be the first one. And it's a farce.

Souvenir

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

Loosely based on the family of Alex Dumas, this story begins with the end of slavery and takes us through to the end of the Haitian Revolution. Imbued with Haitian religion, lore, language, and dance, we see the titans of Haitian history grapple with what is necessary for liberty while struggling to hold on to what they want most.

Loosely based on the family of Alex Dumas, this story begins with the end of slavery and takes us through to the end of the Haitian Revolution. Imbued with Haitian religion, lore, language, and dance, we see the titans of Haitian history grapple with what is necessary for liberty while struggling to hold on to what they want most.

JERICHO.

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

A Black man wrote a play about killing all white people. Then someone killed white people. Now he stands trial for class A-1 felony in this examination of hate, retribution, and how far we're willing to go in the fight against white supremacy.

A Black man wrote a play about killing all white people. Then someone killed white people. Now he stands trial for class A-1 felony in this examination of hate, retribution, and how far we're willing to go in the fight against white supremacy.

Black Metamorphosis

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

After the fall of Rome, the illuminati realizes that they can no longer tolerate the influx of foreigners and decides to set on a campaign to eliminate all people of color. But once they're successful they find that they miss the sweet sexy labor of black people, and decide to create their own from scratch. The rest is as Kafka intended in this adaptation of his magnum opus The Metamorphosis.

After the fall of Rome, the illuminati realizes that they can no longer tolerate the influx of foreigners and decides to set on a campaign to eliminate all people of color. But once they're successful they find that they miss the sweet sexy labor of black people, and decide to create their own from scratch. The rest is as Kafka intended in this adaptation of his magnum opus The Metamorphosis.

ETHIOPIANAMERICA

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

O'Neill 2019 Semifinalist, World Premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, produced by Definition Theater Company
Winner, Black Theater Alliance Best New Play Award
From the outside in, the american dream is not something that's given but rather something that is earned. And Girma and Elizabeth Kifle earned it. They immigrated from Ethiopia, had two kids, and even have a white picket fence outside their...

O'Neill 2019 Semifinalist, World Premiere at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, produced by Definition Theater Company
Winner, Black Theater Alliance Best New Play Award
From the outside in, the american dream is not something that's given but rather something that is earned. And Girma and Elizabeth Kifle earned it. They immigrated from Ethiopia, had two kids, and even have a white picket fence outside their apartment. But all it takes is one bad day for everything to change. In this unnervingly charming family tragedy, the heart of the first generation african experience is exposed and the blood of abuse rushes to every vein.

Unite the Right

by Sam Kebede

Synopsis

After overcoming the hurdles of her race and sexuality, Lauren Yang has risen to the seat of Artistic Director at one of the most prominent theater development centers in the country. Now in her second year, she has decided to invite established white playwright Charles Lenighan to showcase his newest play about the Black Lives Matter Movement. But following the marches in Charlottesville, he has decided to...

After overcoming the hurdles of her race and sexuality, Lauren Yang has risen to the seat of Artistic Director at one of the most prominent theater development centers in the country. Now in her second year, she has decided to invite established white playwright Charles Lenighan to showcase his newest play about the Black Lives Matter Movement. But following the marches in Charlottesville, he has decided to change his Black Lives Matter play into an All Lives Matter play, the day before the first table read. Now the theater must struggle with premiering the world's first Alt-right play.