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Cassandra Medley

American writer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cassandra Medley
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Cassandra Medley (born August 12, 1949) is an American playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include A... My Name Is Alice (1984) Ma Rose (1988), Noon Day Sun (2001), Relativity (2004), and Cell (2011). From 1995 to 1997 Medley served as a staff writer on the long-running ABC series One Life to Live, for which she was twice nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.[1]

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In 2023, Medley was awarded the Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting,[2] “one of the nation’s largest and most significant prizes for playwrights.”[3] Among numerous other career honors, she has been the recipient of an Outer Critics Circle Award, the August Wilson Playwriting Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts Playwright Award.[4] In 1989 she was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.[5]

Medley's plays span a rich array of topics, including the African-American family structure, passing, colorism, melanin theory, the prison–industrial complex, folk religion, and social inequality.

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Early life and education

Medley was born an raised in Detroit, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech & Drama in 1971. Upon graduating, Medley moved to New York City and joined the Ensemble Studio Theatre.[6]

Career

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Medley began her theatrical career in the 1970s as Literary Manager of The American Place Theatre. During this period she studied playwriting under María Irene Fornés. She would later name Fornés, as well as Lorraine Hansberry, August Wilson, Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare, Adrienne Kennedy, David Hare, and Tom Stoppard as major influences.[7]

Playwriting

Medley's plays Ma Rose (1986), Waking Women (1987), Dearborn Heights (1995), Maiden Lane (1999), Relativity (2006), Daughter (2009), and Cell (2011) were all produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s MainStage / Marathon of One-Act Plays.[8] A... My Name Is Alice (1984), Ma Rose (1988), and Coming in for a Landing (1993) were all produced by Women's Project Theater.[9] Pay Our Respects (1986), New Kid (1992), and The Senator (1993) were all produced by The 52nd Street Project.[10]

Waking Women was staged by BlackBerry Productions Inc. in 1991.[11] Dearborn Heights was staged by Second Stage Theater as part of The Drama League’s DirectorFest in 2006.[12] Noon Day Sun was produced by Diversity Theatre Company at Theatre Row in 2008.[13] Cell was revived by Keen Company as part of The Drama League’s DirectorFest in 2024.[14]

Regionally, Medley's plays have been produced by Eureka Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, L.A. Theatre Works, People's Light, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Southern Rep, and elsewhere.[15]

Throughout her career, she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Walt Disney Studios.[16]

A... My Name Is Alice

Main article: A... My Name Is Alice

A... My Name Is Alice is a musical revue conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd. It consists of some 21 songs by composers David Zippel, Doug Katsaros, and Lucy Simon, alongside a libretto of scenes by Medley, Winnie Holzman, Anne Meara, and Marta Kauffman.

A... My Name Is Alice was produced by Women's Project Theater and played Off-Broadway at The Village Gate, from November 2–14, 1983. The review subsequently transferred to The American Place Theatre, running from February 24 - March 11, 1984. The revue then returned to The Village Gate in May 1984 and ran for 353 performances.[17][18] The original cast featured Roo Brown, Randy Graff, Mary Gordon Murray, Alaina Reed, and Charlayne Woodard. The revue was directed by Silver and Boyd and choreographed by Yvonne Adrian. A... My Name Is Alice won the 1984 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Revue.[19]

A... My Name Is Alice was published by Samuel French, and has been performed across the United States and internationally.[20]

Ma Rose

Ma Rose was first produced as a one-act by the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 1986. The following year, Julia Miles commissioned a full-length version of the play. This version was produced by Women's Project Theater and played Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater, from October 11–30, 1988. Directed by Irving Vincent, the cast featured Rosanna Carter, Herb Lovelle, Lizan Mitchell, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson. The creative team included Phillip Baldwin (sets), Judy Dearing (costumes), Pat Dignan (lighting), and Aural Fixation (sound).[21]

The play depicts the titular "Ma Rose," an aging matriarch of a Midwestern African American family, who experiences visions that blur the lines between reality and the spiritual. Her children, concerned about her mental state, attempt to intervene, leading to familial tensions. The narrative delves into themes of memory, generational trauma, and the complexities of familial relationships.

Ma Rose received critical acclaim, with D. J. R. Bruckner of The New York Times writing

''Ma Rose is rich with insights into the (not invariably benign) power of continuity in families... Miss Medley reveals the complex ties among the women so naturally and subtly that the great range of history she surveys - of American families, blacks since the Civil War and women in the last 100 years - becomes a simple story. Every character grows from the first moment to the last and the action is swift and inevitable. While the story is serious, the play is filled with laughter. Arguments can start hilariously and then rise to a shattering pitch in moments without a hint of contrivance. And one character, Wayman's wife, Ethel, is a creation of comic genius, a woman who tells everyone else's stories for them and steals lines from them with the best will in the world. The casting is inspired, especially in the assignment of the powerful roles of Ma Rose and Vera-Rose."[22]

Ma Rose was a 1989 finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The play had its Regional premiere the following year at Eureka Theatre Company in San Francisco. This production received similar praise, with The San Francisco Examiner likening Medley's titular heroine to "a Black Queen Lear."[23] In 2004 the Ensemble Studio Theatre staged a special reading of Ma Rose, featuring Ruby Dee and Mary Alice, as part of Medley's Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony.[24]

Ma Rose was published by Samuel French, and has been performed across the United States.[25]

Noon Day Sun

Noon Day Sun was first developed by Women's Project Theater in 1998. The play received further development with a staged workshop at the International Black Theatre Festival in 2000. Noon Day Sun made its world premiere the following year at TheatreFest in Montclair, New Jersey. Later that same year the play was produced at Theatre Charlotte. Noon Day Sun was subsequently produced Off-Broadway at Theatre Row by Diverse Theatre Company in 2008.[26] Directed by Gregory Simmons, the cast featured Victor Lirio, Gin Hammond, Ron Cephas Jones, Melanie Nicholls-King, Mike McGlone, David Newer, and Penelope Darcel. The creative team included Maruti Evans (Sets & Lighting), Elizabeth Rhodes (Sound), and Arnulfo Maldonago (Costumes).[27]

Set in 1957, the play centers on Wendy Sims, a woman who has constructed a new life for herself by passing as white. Born as Zena, a Black woman from the South, Wendy has reinvented herself in Detroit, where she and her husband, Brian—both self-described "night school loners from Fort Wayne"—have achieved recognition as the "Autorama Couple of the Year" at a major auto trade show. Brian's career is soaring as a leading salesman of automotive accessories, and Wendy is basking in the glow of her burgeoning pregnancy, symbolizing their shared pursuit of the American Dream. However, Wendy's carefully curated existence is threatened when she unexpectedly encounters her Black husband from her past on a "white hot day in August." This chance meeting forces Wendy to confront the life she left behind and the secrets she has kept hidden, challenging the stability of her new identity and the future she has envisioned.

Noon Day Sun received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for the 2008 AUDELCO August Wilson Playwriting Award. A 2016 production at Sarah Lawrence College, where Medley served on the faculty, inspired controversy for casting a white actress in the lead role of Wendy.[28]

Noon Day Sun was published by Broadway Play Publishing, and has been performed across the United States.[29]

Relativity

Relativity was first commissioned by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2000.[30] The play had its world premiere at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 2004.[31] Relativity was subsequently produced Off-Broadway at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2006, running from April 26 - May 14. Directed by Talvin Wilks, the cast featured Melanie Nicholls-King, Anthony Craine, Elain Graham, Petronia Paley, and Kim Sullivan. The creative team included Maruti Evans (sets and lighting), Clint Ramos (costumes), Graham Johnson (lighting), and Maya Ciarrocchi (projections).[32]

The play follows Kalima, a young molecular geneticist whose research challenges her late father's notion of melanin theory, which posits that higher concentrations of melanin confer superior mental, physical, and spiritual attributes to people of color. Kalima's mother, Claire, remains a staunch advocate for her husband's work and is preparing to publish a book based on his findings. As Kalima's scientific discoveries contradict her family's legacy, she faces a profound ethical dilemma.

Relativity received critical acclaim, with Robert Hurwitt of The San Francisco Chronicle writing,

“The dramatically compelling argument spins off sparks about stem cell research, race and the Human Genome Project. But the gripping heart of Cassandra Medley’s Relativity is a showdown between relatives in a battle of the umbilical cord … Relativity is a full-fledged drama bristling with challenging ideas and emotional complexity. It’s a brave play. Not only has Medley set her drama, as one character puts it, ‘on the cut of the cutting edge’ of research, but she’s also grappling with the very touchy subject of reverse racism … The mother-daughter bond is so tight, and so beautifully detailed in the writing … In Medley’s Relativity, passionate mass and intellectual energy equals pretty compelling drama.”[33]

The New York Times offered similar praise, noting "Relativity offers dandy fringe benefits to go along with the heady science in two especially dazzling scenes."[34] Relativity won the 2006 AUDELCO August Wilson Playwriting Award. The play was adapted for radio the following year by L.A. Theatre Works, featuring a voice cast of Deidrie Henry, Judyann Elder, and Lorraine Toussaint.[35]

Relativity was published by Broadway Play Publishing, and has been performed across the United States.[36]

Cell

Cell premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre's One-Act Play Marathon in 2011. Directed by Jamie Richards, the cast featured Shyko Amos, MaConnia Chesser, and Lizan Mitchell. The creative team included Jason Simms (sets), Greg MacPherson (lights), Benjamin Furiga (sound), Erica Evans (costumes), and Starlet Jacobs (props).

Set in Flint, Michigan, the play follows Rene, an African American woman who secures employment for her sister, Cerise, and niece, Gwen, at a private immigrant detention center—the only remaining source of jobs in the economically depressed city. As the story unfolds, Gwen's compassionate nature leads her to form a bond with a detained child, challenging the facility's strict no-fraternization policies. This act of empathy places her at odds with Rene, who is determined to maintain job security at all costs. The ensuing conflict among the three women exposes the moral compromises individuals make when personal survival is pitted against ethical convictions.

The play received critical acclaim, with David Rooney of The New York Times noting, "Ms. Medley has the sturdy bones of a full-length drama here, with three strong characters and a male supervisor who, though unseen, is a vivid presence. This powerful play deftly explores the dirty antidemocratic secret of institutionalized racism. Terrified of losing her job, Rene refuses to jeopardize her humble standing as an American by identifying even for a second with anyone beneath her on the social chain." In 2012 Dramatists Play Service included Cell in their Best New Plays of 2012 collection. In 2014 DPS included the play their anthology of Best American One-Act Plays.[37]

NPR's Playing on Air produced a radio production of Cell in 2021. Directed by Victor Lirio, the voice cast featured Tonya Pinkins, Condola Rashad, and Melanie Nicholls-King.[38] Cell was later revived Off-Broadway by Keen Company at Theatre Row in 2024, as part of The Drama League's annual DirectorFest.[39]

Cell was published by Dramatists Play Service and has been performed across the United States.[40]

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Teaching

From 1989 to 2009, Medley was Professor of Playwriting at Sarah Lawrence College, where she received the Marilyn Simpson Award for Excellence in Teaching (1995). From 1993 to 1995 she was a visiting faculty member at the Columbia University School of the Arts. From 1997 to 2003 she was a visiting faculty member and filmmaker at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.[41]

Throughout the 1990s Medley taught courses in playwriting and screenwriting at the Gotham Writers' Workshop. Additionally, she has been a guest artist at Yale University, Vanderbilt University, and the Iowa Playwrights' Workshop.[42]

Plays

  • A... My Name Is Alice (1984)
  • Ma Rose (1986)
  • Pay Our Respects (1986)
  • Walking Women (1987)
  • Mildred (1991)
  • Golden Days (1992)
  • New Kid (1992)
  • The Senator (1993)
  • Coming in for a Landing (1993)
  • Ms. Edie (1994)
  • Dearborn Heights (1995)
  • Maiden Lane (1999)
  • Relativity (2004)
  • Noon Day Sun (2008)
  • Daughter (2009)
  • Cell (2011)

Awards and honors

Awards

Fellowships

Residencies

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References

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