The Specter Onstage: Historical Memory, Public Language, Interiority, and Contemporary Black Theatre

Moderator: Erika Dickerson-Despenza

• Tanya Barfield
• Patricia Ione Lloyd
• Nikole Salter

Erika Dickerson-Despenza: Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a Black feminist poet-playwright, cultural worker, and organizer from Chicago. Recipient of the Princess Grace Award, she has held numerous residencies and fellowships. Her acclaimed works include cullud wattah (Public Theater, 2020) and plays from her Katrina Cycle, which confront state violence and Black survival.

Tanya Barfield: Tanya Barfield’s plays have been seen off-Broadway, regionally and around the world. Her plays include Bright Half Life (Women’s Project Theatre), The Call (Playwrights Horizons/Primary Stages), Blue Door (South Coast Rep, Playwrights Horizons) and Of Equal Measure(Center Theater Group). In 2016, the Profile Theatre devoted their entire season to Barfield’s work. Tanya is a recipient of a PEN America Playwriting Award, a LAMDA Literary Award, a Lilly Award and a Helen Merrill Award. Television writing credits include: Mrs. America, The Americans and Ray Donovan. She is the recipient of two Writers Guild of America Awards and has been nominated for an Emmy Award. In addition to her own writing, Barfield is the Co-Director of the Juilliard Playwrights Program.

Patricia Ione Lloyd: IONE LLOYD was a member of the Emerging Writers Group, a two-year playwriting residency with the Public Theatre where her play PRETTY HUNGER was given a Lab production. She was a Sundance resident playwright at their theater lab in Morocco, and a New York Theater Workshop fellow. Ione's plays PRETTY HUNGER and EVE'S SONG have been included on the Kilroy's List which honors excellence in new plays by female and trans American playwrights. She is also the recipient of a Tow Residency Grant at the Public Theater. Ione was a resident playwright at the University of Mumbai, Brown University (through the Africana Studies Department/Rites and Reasons Theatre) and the International Theatre and Literacy Project in Tanzania. Ione was most recently a Supervising Producer on EVIL at CBS and was a Co-Producer on Lena Waithe's BET series TWENTIES. Ione’s play, EVE'S SONG, premiered at The Public Theater in NY. Ione is currently developing a supernatural television series with Amblin Entertainment and Netflix.

Nikkole Salter: Nikkole Salter is an award-winning actor and playwright, currently appearing as Calpurnia in Julius X at the Folger Shakespeare Library. A Helen Hayes, OBIE, and Outer Critics Circle Award recipient, she has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally. She holds degrees from Howard (BFA) and NYU (MFA).