Denise J. Hart

A black 75 year old vigilante grandfather plots to assassinate the president in 2019.

When Cheryl, a Black woman professor teaching at a (PWI) predominately white institution, is denied tenure by her all white review panel, she resolves to get her denial overturned. But her life gets even more complicated when a woman claiming to be her sister, connects with Cheryl via facebook, and sends Cheryl's obsession with other people’s identity into over-drive. After a total melt-down with her on-again off-again boyfriend is followed by a blow up between her white and black best women-friends, Cheryl throws caution to the wind and agrees to meet her "new" sister. Unfortunately, it’s not all peaches and cream and as her mental health hits rock bottom Cheryl discovers that her brash “secret sister” has a lot more wisdom than she counted on, leading Cheryl on a journey to regain her self-worth and sanity. Each character grapples with hidden-identity, secret-holding and healing, while Cheryl embraces the hard truth, that healing from years of soul-crushing code switching is what she needs to be set free.

Set in Omaha Nebraska six months after Hurricane Katrina. After two 13 year old black male cousins end up dead after a gang initiation goes awry, black television newscaster Stephen Campbell struggles to come to terms with his inability to prevent the deaths. Campbell had been a mentor to the one of the youth, but his efforts to be a role model seem to have been in vain. The tragedy awakens Campbell's conflicting intra-racial views and threaten to tear apart what Campbell treasures the most, his very own family.

During the final hours before her scheduled “life saving” surgery to remove breast cancer and both of her breasts, Shaebaby Hudson grapples with the issues of death, loss, body image, God and the true meaning of family and love .

That evening, when her former lover, Hampton, shows up in hopes of reconnecting with her, she finds herself unable to tell him the truth about her disease and determines that instead she’ll have one last fantasy evening before morning’s dawn renders her life permanently altered. As the night proceeds, Shaebaby’s conscious gets the best of her and she reveals her secret. However, she finds that her worries are unfounded and recognizes that she alone must confront her narrow and constricted views on body image, interpersonal trust, and the true meaning of family. In the end, she realizes that despite life’s adversities and even in the midst of them, people can choose to love and to live fully.

A Pandora's box of questions are opened when fresh behind the ears college student, Chayresse decides to stop straightening her hair. She might a well have declared war with her best friend who choose to go to cosmetology school over traditional college and is now making a living helping black women use the creamy crack to get the most coveted images in society. The play explores the questions: If, in fact, the women perm their hair in an effort to conform to a society that is brutally judgmental, what is to be said about the women of continental Africa? Does the long arm of Johnson Products and Ultra Sheen reach the women there? Are they as concerned about style as the women in America - about fitting in - about acceptance? About respect? With an ending that seeks to raise more questions than answer them, the audience will leave discussing their beliefs and opinions well after the end.

A story of a mixed race brother and sister who believe they are hell bent on vindicating their mother for being abandoned by their white father, but when they stumble into an opportunity to finally confront him, they come face to face with their own fury at being abandoned and the results are tragic.

“It’s about the bruises that hang in the air” – Richard Price

“My father taught me three things – How to drink and not get drunk,
How to gamble and not get cheated; How to always be aware of my surroundings and how to handle myself in those surroundings.” – Juan Abraham

Two women, one old and the other young are thrown together by the ancestors and they each have something powerful to teach the other about African American culture.

African American Culture-Much of the depth of African American culture and identity grows out of the ancestral context of the ring shout, of an expression of reverence for those ancestors who have gone before. In the cadence of the sermons and the stories, in the motion of the sacred holy dance, in the sound of the lined hymn, in the midst of the congregational song, the rhythmic genius and the cultural core of the congregants is expressed. And, in the offering of these core expressions, the worshipers affirm life under the weight of dire circumstance; they teach coming generations to assume responsibility for their survival by mastering the dialectical linking of joy and sorrow and of mind and body. -Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (1989)

When their mother dies unexpectedly, two sisters confront the distrust that has undermined their relationship since forever. Will their relationship survive life without their mother as the peace maker?

This production can be summed up in one word: Appreciation. It was inspired by kids who start to believe that its cool to act older than they really are. I wanted to write something that reminded young people and adults to cherish the different stages of maturation and personal development at all ages of our lives. It's important that our young people cherish each stage of life because the truth of the matter is there's no perfect age or level of maturity. At each stage of our journey through life we learn something valuable to help us on the next leg of living this beautiful gift! My desire if for the campers to value themselves and who they are at each and every stage.

This production was inspired by the unfortunate epidemic of bullying that is adversely affecting our communities. Whether it's cyber bullying or in person, bullying has a devastating effect on everyone, from young to old and in between. Sometimes people choose to bully because of their own insecurities and feeling lack of belief in their own capabilities. Sometimes people choose to bully others because they grew up in an environment where that kind of behavior was reinforced of my favorite new shows on television, Glee. The story at the center of Glee, the extreme competition between the two glee club coaches and how it impacts everyone at each school, is both humorous and thought provoking. It’s also a lesson for us adults to remember how much of an impact we have on our young charges. When I presented the final draft of The DC County Spelling Bee from A to Z, the students loved how the story played out

A community tragedy rips at the foundation of Steve and Winnie. Will their marriage be able to survive?

A Real Black Comedy is a play that uses absurd situations and juxtapositions sprinkled through with edgy wit and satire to tell the story of a fictitious group of black actors relegated to exist in the sitcom genre. As the characters tire of portraying the same static stereotypical situations they increase their inner and outer actions of revolt and rebellion. However, they also begin to turn on one another as they work through the psychological trauma that has oppressed their spirits for so long. The challenge for the group of My Good… actors in the play is for them to recognize that they have the power to determine their own future and destiny and they simply have to use that power for their own personal and collective benefit.