Alumnus presents ‘Don’t Look Black’
Nashville actors will read the latest work of Preston Crowder ’12 in February during Tennessee Playwrights Studio’s Virtual Reading Festival. Click here for tickets.
By Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director
University School of Nashville alumnus Preston Crowder ’12 continues to bring attention to social justice issues and share his perspective on current events through his plays. His latest work will be read Friday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. Central. Developed during monthly workshops with Tennessee Playwrights Studio, “Don’t Look Black” features Nashville actors and is free and open to the public.
In the play, a group of white friends is enthused after being given a chance to participate in a Black immersion experience. What they figure will be an opportunity to play in their harmful stereotypes quickly turns into a house of nightmares as they are shown the true magic of blackness.
No stranger to the stage, Crowder, who studied theater and African studies at Oberlin College, wrote 45 plays while a student at USN, including the book for a full-length musical. After graduating from college, he returned to USN in 2016 to present “Flames” and ignite a discussion on race relations and police brutality. It was the first production at USN to feature an all-Black cast. “Flames” brought Nashvillians inside the living room of a Black police officer whose teenage son and friend were enraged by a police reaction to a jay-walker, which led to protests and riots around the city. The one-act play in the Auditorium was followed by a panel discussion featuring Nashville civic leaders.
Devoted to social justice and activism, Crowder said he aims to create plays that create conversation and address issues facing people of all backgrounds. The Juilliard School presented Crowder’s “Break Your Chains” in 2017. He is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting at The New School.
TPS is a playwright-development lab and theater-production company founded in 2018 by Kenley Smith and Molly Breen to offer in-state playwrights the opportunity to develop fresh, incisive scripts that reflect a changing world.
Back
University School of Nashville alumnus Preston Crowder ’12 continues to bring attention to social justice issues and share his perspective on current events through his plays. His latest work will be read Friday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. Central. Developed during monthly workshops with Tennessee Playwrights Studio, “Don’t Look Black” features Nashville actors and is free and open to the public.
In the play, a group of white friends is enthused after being given a chance to participate in a Black immersion experience. What they figure will be an opportunity to play in their harmful stereotypes quickly turns into a house of nightmares as they are shown the true magic of blackness.
No stranger to the stage, Crowder, who studied theater and African studies at Oberlin College, wrote 45 plays while a student at USN, including the book for a full-length musical. After graduating from college, he returned to USN in 2016 to present “Flames” and ignite a discussion on race relations and police brutality. It was the first production at USN to feature an all-Black cast. “Flames” brought Nashvillians inside the living room of a Black police officer whose teenage son and friend were enraged by a police reaction to a jay-walker, which led to protests and riots around the city. The one-act play in the Auditorium was followed by a panel discussion featuring Nashville civic leaders.
Devoted to social justice and activism, Crowder said he aims to create plays that create conversation and address issues facing people of all backgrounds. The Juilliard School presented Crowder’s “Break Your Chains” in 2017. He is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting at The New School.
TPS is a playwright-development lab and theater-production company founded in 2018 by Kenley Smith and Molly Breen to offer in-state playwrights the opportunity to develop fresh, incisive scripts that reflect a changing world.
More USN News
List of 3 news stories.
-
Spirit Store flash sale November 18-22
Get your holiday shopping done early at the USN Spirit Store, where everything is 20% off.Read More -
5th and 6th graders compete in Quiz Bowl tournament
USN's Middle School Quiz Bowl Team hosted the third annual Welcome to Quiz Bowl tournament at the school, as students continue a strong start to the season.Read More -
Cum Laude Society welcomes 22 seniors
Congratulations to the Class of 2025 inductees of the USN Cum Laude Society: Lucy Elisabeth Callen, Collin Hamilton Chan, Ophelia Cherry-Pulay, Tessa Chomsky, Penelope Kathleen Graham, Daniel Guo, Anna Hulan, Caroline Alice Keiper, Kareena Banerjee Kloek, Stella Olivia Liebeskind, Lillian Brantley Martin, Margaret Woods McKay, Eleanor Igo Molvig, Joshua Hans Muellenbach, Rhea Nachnani, Elizabeth Seabury Nichols, Rohan Ramachandran, Elena Rothman, Bronson Royce Schmidt, Saul Sharfstein, Amelie Cormier Soslow, and Katherine Adriane Tong.Read More
Contact
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
USN Mission:
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.