Mingus

B Coleman is a high achieving, first generation college student who has revolutionary ideas but struggles with the confidence to put them forward. When the opportunity arises to win a prestigious scholarship, she seeks out a letter of recommendation from the most popular faculty member on campus, Harrison Jones, a former member of the Black Panther Party, current Black Studies professor, and prolific author from Oakland. Harrison takes her under his wing as a mentee and challenges B to see her own worth. Over conversations on theory, jazz, and family, they unlock something inside each other, and their relationship develops into an undefined entangled web of blurred lines. When Harrison makes a bold decision, will B finally find the strength to use her voice? 

Mingus is the recipient of the 2020 Leah Ryan FEWW Playwriting Award, the 2018 KCACTF Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, a 2019 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist, and a finalist for the 2018 Goldberg Playwriting Prize. It was one of five plays in the 2020 Bay Area Playwrights Festival.