We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Che’Rae Adams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Che’Rae below.

Che’Rae, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

After being a freelance director and dramaturg for most of my career, it has been an adjustment to have a full time Artistic Leadership position in the arts. I have been the Artistic Director of PlayPenn, a new play incubator in Philadelphia, for a year and a half now. Going from constantly looking for the next gig to running a small non-profit has been exciting and challenging at the same time.

Che’Rae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My first job out of college was assisting the Staff Producer at The Mark Taper Forum where I worked on the writing workshop of the Pulitzer Prize winning “Angels in America, Part II: Perestroika”. Also for the Taper, I coordinated the 1991 Taper Lab Series and Mentor Playwright’s series. These projects were like master classes in new play development. During my early training period in the theatre, I wanted to assist as many professional directors as possible so I could learn from them. Some highlights from that time were Tom Hulce and Jane Jones on the premiere of “The Cider House Rules”, (another Pulitzer Prize winner) at The Seattle Repertory Theatre. I also worked with John DiFusco on the 20th anniversary of “Tracers” at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble where it was originally developed. Regional theatre introduced me to the best artists in America and taught me discipline, structure, and best practices. Eventually, I moved out of assisting and into directing my own work. I was lucky enough to establish relationships with local playwrights and went on to develop and direct their work. Some of the West Coast premiere productions that I am most proud of are: “Chesapeake”, by Lee Blessing for Venice Theatre Works; “Freak of Nature” by Ken Hanes at The Road Theatre Company; “Fixing Frank” by Ken Hanes at the Celebration Theatre; “Ser” by Ser Anzoategui at Company of Angels & Stella Adler Theater; “Gracie and Rose” by Anastasia Coon at the Hollywood Fringe Festival; and “Tender” for The Syzygy Theatre Company. I call myself an accidental dramaturg because directing new plays and new play development can sometimes go hand and hand. I learned about dramaturgy “on the job” so to speak and take what I learned in those early years in regional theater and apply it to the work that I do today. After developing and directing new plays for many years, I became more of an advocate for playwrights than anything else. I wanted to start an organization that nurtured their talent and provided services that they needed to take their work to the next level.

I created the LA Writers Center (LAWC) in 2005 because I wanted to provide a safe and nurturing environment in which writers could develop their work and hone their skills, without the expense or pressure of production. LAWC began at the Lankershim Arts Center in North Hollywood as an invitation only writing workshop for local writers with whom I had worked with at The Road Theatre Company and other small theaters in the LA area. Those same writers became LAWC’s first members and are still part of the advanced writing workshop today. I was lucky to be in the room with talented and diverse writers such as Jon Bastian, John DiFusco, Tim Toyama, Blaine Teamer and Ken Hanes to name a few. We eventually felt like we needed help from talented actors and directors, so in 2007, LAWC joined forces with Martin Bedoian and The Syzygy Theatre Group to create a new play reading series called New Alignments. Its purpose was to provide playwrights with the opportunity to receive feedback on works-in-progress, to provide the community with an opportunity to participate in and observe the creative process, and to provide actors and directors with an opportunity to hone their craft. Many wonderful plays came out of that development process and have gone on to be produced by theaters across the country.

I took all of these experiences with me to PlayPenn and used them to create an environment of equity, diversity, and inclusion. More on that later…

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

During the pandemic, the LA Writers Center had to pivot and move all programming online. We felt the need for a call for action after George Floyd’s murder and wanted to stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. We decided to produce a reading series called “Breathe” which was designed to amplify BIPOC stories. HowlRound TV came on as a partner which increased our global reach to over 1,500 viewers. We then added Home: Asian Voices Reading Series to our schedule because we feel the need to tell more Asian American stories because we believe they are a vital part of the American narrative. Shortly thereafter, moved by the Taliban invasion of Afghanistan, we created a theater piece called “Voices From Afghanistan’ based on interviews we conducted with Afghan artists in hiding.

It was this online series that brought attention to my work, and what eventually led me to PlayPenn. Sometimes something that might be seen as an obstacle can actually widen your view and lead to life changing events.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I am most proud of the diversity of The LA Writer Center. We are committed to diversifying the voices of the theatre, and we have an effective framework and track record for accomplishing that. Plays such as “Muse 90401” by Fadik Atasoy; “Villains”by Marc Ewing; “Gracie and Rose” by Anastasia Coon; “Chasing the Wolf” by Nathan Singer; “Strange Fruit” by Jon Bastian; “Yuri and Malcolm X” by Tim Toyama; “Thems Ponies!” by Rebekah Chang, “YLO” by Dru Park; “Displacement” by Shauna Vartanian and “Ser L.A. vs B.A.” by Ser Anzeotegi (to name a few), tell stories about people who have suffered from discrimination in America. I feel it is important to tell these stories in order to further the conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion in this country.

Although I am proud of the good work that has come out of LAWC, I am most proud of the diverse community of artists that it has created, nurtured and supported. This has been especially evident during the pandemic due to the isolation, loneliness and despair that some of the writers have felt during quarantine. Even though the classes pivoted to online, there was a sense of community that was stifled by not being together in the same room. Once we were aware of the problem, we implemented a digital green room after each class so that the writers could spend time together. In a way, it has been a sort of life preserver for our artists. I feel that our biggest achievement has been to bring artists together in a safe space in which to share their ideas and support one another.

When I took the position at PlayPenn, I knew that I had work to do in creating an anti-racist instituion. One of the inititives that I am most proud of is our new submission process in regards to our New Play Development Conference. In order to combat bias during the reading process, we have begun to match the demographics of the readers with the demographics of the writers so that they play has the best possible chance of moving forward in the process.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.playpenn.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playpenn/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayPennNewPlays
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/15548264/admin/

Image Credits
1st page photo: Che’Rae’s headshot photo credit is Ken Sawyer 2nd page photos: 1. PlayPenn Artistic Staff onstage preshow-From left to right: Susan Dalian, Che’Rae Adams and Santi Iacinti. Photo credit James Kern 2. PlayPenn Artistic Staff Photo-From left to right: Susan Dalian, Che’Rae Adams and Santi Iacinti. Photo credit James Kern 3. PlayPenn talk back after the reading of Santi Tonauac Castro’s play “Gente Del Sol”. From left to right: Santi Iacinti, Che’Rae Adams, Santi Tonauac Castro, and Gilberto Vega. Photo credit James Kern 4. PlayPenn talk back after the reading of “Fat Muslim Girls” by Ken Kaissar. From left to right: Ken Kaissar and Che’Rae Adams. Photo credit James Kern. 5. The Directors Lab West Steering Committee from 2014. From left to right: Ernest A Figueroa, Che’Rae Adams, Diana Wyenn, and Douglas Clayton. Photo credit unknown. 6. Che’Rae speaking at the Ovation Awards Ceremony. Photo credit unknown.