Plays written by Mylan Gray:
MOTHERLOSS
BOXED
809 ALMOND
LONNIE’S LAMENT
BURIED IN BLOOD
Synopses:
Motherloss – When Dwayne meets his long-lost mother in a dream, he leaves behind everything he’s ever known to go find her. In a fantastical journey through space and time, “Motherloss” follows Dwayne as he retraces his mother’s steps from the Gold Coast, through the Middle Passage, to the New World. On the way, he meets strangers, tricksters, and unexpected guides who teach him how to traverse a history of loss and grief, and how to hold those closest to you near.
Boxed – BOXED is a dystopian thriller set in a corporate world where co-workers are forced to fight to the death at whim of their overseers. David, the reigning office champion, struggles to maintain his dominance when a young, hopeful upstart refuses to ‘shut up and stack papers’ like he’s told. In a world that mandates murder for survival, BOXED asks: is it possible for Black men to dream in a world where lethal, gratuitous violence is the only sanctioned currency?
809 Almond – 809 Almond St. is a Berkeley co-op founded during the anti-war Counterculture movement, but things have changed a lot since the 60’s. Instead of marching in the streets, the co-op’s residents are starting tech start-ups and launching podcasts. In an effort to get back to their progressive roots, they launch their best DEI initiatives to recruit a Black roommate – eventually they succeed, but their new roommate, Angela, has plans of her own. A dark comedy about race, sex, and late-stage capitalism, 809 ALMOND explores the blind spots and hypocrisies of well-intentioned liberalism.
Lonnie’s Lament – After having his marriage proposal turned down by his long-term girlfriend, Marvin leaves Chicago for New York City to pursue his dream of becoming a saxophone legend. While reveling in the freedom of 1920’s Harlem at its peak, he falls in love with a man for the first time. When his ex-fiancé comes back into his life, he is forced to choose between the two loves of his life. What does it mean to fashion new ways of being both/and through the notes of your horn? Is it possible to love two people fully at once? Should you?
Buried in Blood – What does it mean to a Black family to heal their intergenerational wounds? Buried in Blood is an Afro-surreal, conjure play, where the spirits of the Johnson family’s repressed past bubble up to the surface, forcing them to confront the secrets in their basement to make room for each other and heal.
Biography:
Mylan Gray is an Eagle Scout and Kansas State Debate champion turned playwright. He is a graduate of Stanford University, where he received the Kennell Jackson Jr. Award for his honors
thesis. He has also received the Lorraine Hansberry Award from the Kennedy Center for his play Buried in Blood. His work has been developed by the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Portland Center Stage, Cygnet Theatre, Tank Theater, Workshop Theater, Kansas City Public Theater, Whim Theater Company, the Mid-America Theater Conference, Whitman College, Loyola Marymount College, and the Writing Downtown Residency in Las Vegas. Currently, he is under commission from La Jolla Playhouse for a play about AI companions, masculinity and intimacy.
Most recently, Gray is joining us from his fellowship at Whitman College as Visiting Faculty in Theatre and Dance. His work draws on his deep reverence for Brazil and his penchant for spiritual journeying.