Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to ShaWanna Renee Rivon. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
ShaWanna, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I am working towards completing my cycle plays that focus on Black Women throughout 7 decades in this country. For me, the Black Woman’s voice has been missing. We needed more narratives about life for Black Women in the past decades; how she dreamed, loved, hobbies, dealt with racism, and most importantly for me, how she found joy. My work is always based in truth and comedy. It is important for me to watch a play about a Black Woman from our past and regardless of what was happening on the outside, I want to show her finding peace and happiness. I’ve written 3 installments thus far. “You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In” had its world premiere Spring 2022 at Stages Theater. The play is centered around the first sit-in demonstration in Houston and in it we meet Mae Florence, a Black college Freshman who, despites living in a world of segregation, dreams of becoming an international singer. “Old Black & White Hollywood” received a reading at the Alley Theatre’s All New Festival. The play is about a 1950’s Black Woman comic who wants to become the first Black movie star without playing tropes. “Power to the Queendom” was developed through Rec Room Theater and was a part of their 2020-21 audio season, and also won the 2021 Black & Latino Playwright Celebration. The play follows 4 female members of the Black Panther Party in a hostage situation with a police captain, 1970 Houston.
These stories are all meaningful to me because they’ve never been told and it’s beautiful to see a plethora of characters for Black Women
ShaWanna, 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?
I’m one to examine the world through the lens of Blackness and ask how did we get here. I can’t just look at this country as a whole, I look at our communities, look at our issues, and wonder where did the problem start, what stories aren’t being told. I love Houston and I feel Houston stories should be told just as much as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. If we know about Harlem then we also should know about Third and Fifth Ward. Community centered movements and art was happening and being created here along with hardships for Black communities that we are still dealing with today. I’ve made it my business to tell those stories. I started out as an actress. I trained and lived in Los Angeles for 10 years. My day job was working on cartoon shows; The Bratz, Care Bears, and my favorite Strawberry Shortcake. After my 50th audition for a teenage role on the Disney lot in my thirties, I decided to try writing roles for myself to play. I fell madly in love with writing. It is a great feeling to sit at a desk and create my own worlds.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
It is rewarding when folks can watch one of my plays and either see themselves or can now understand the plight of another person who looks different than them. When people in an audience hear about a situation that happened in their community on stage and it brings them joy, that is the only review I will ever care about, because representation matters and it’s something Black people don’t see often. However, the biggest reward for me is laughter.
Is there a mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to provide more roles for Black women and to teach, entertain and instruct. When I started acting in High School, we never did shows with characters that were written for a Black person. My favorite play for me in school was “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” however nothing more was being shown to me. Black girls and women deserve to have a plethora of roles to play. There’s a whole history about Blacks in this country we have to dig deep, and find. Then once we find these stories they aren’t widely shared. We are living in a world where the truth about the development of this country and Black American history are under attack. What we learned in schools about us as Black people was already limited. During Black History Month, schools only want to teach us about 9 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks. At the height of the Covid shutdown, I would listen to my daughter’s online class. During Black History Month, her teacher was speaking about important people and mentioned MLK and Rosa Parks, and my daughter raised her hand and said “and also The Black Panther Party.” Or the many kids who saw “You Are Cordially Invited to Sit-In” and their lives were forever changed in a positive way. Kids walked away from a play that’s about segregation, but yet they were excited, feeling good and learned something incredible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shawannareneerivon.com
- Instagram: Reneerivon
- Facebook: ShaWanna Renee Goffney
Image Credits
Tasha Gorel