BLOOMING IN DRY SEASON: A PLAY BY ELJON WARDALLY

On tonight’s show, we’ll be joined by playwright Eljon Wardally and director  Jackie Alexander to discuss Blooming in Dry Season, about a Caribbean family in conflict over the musical only daughter’s desire to leave her roots for a musical career, but more for regrets for their past. With a calypso musical score by Etienne Charles,  Blooming in Dry Season is presented by Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre in collaboration with the North Carolina Black Repertory Company

Playwright Eljon Wardally is an award-winning Grenadian Italian-American playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work focuses on underrepresented voices, identity, trauma, and the complexities of family and cultural inheritance. Born in New York with Grenadian roots, she is a graduate of Clark University and received her MFA in Playwriting from Fordham University/Primary Stages as part of its inaugural class. Her artistic path shifted decisively toward writing after a stroke prompted her to pursue storytelling. Her writing often blends realism with dark comedy and lyrical theatricality, exploring themes such as body image, war, diaspora experience, mental health, and the resilience of family bonds. Wardally’s theater work has been widely developed in major new play incubators, including multiple National O’Neill Theater Conference finalist selections.

Her plays include By A Thread, Big Black Balloon, Bishop, and I Am…a Shepherdess.. Wardally is also known for her web series Docket 32357, and America in Noir" a short film she wrote and produced. Her MLB-produced video, Play, Run, Win, Rise, narrated by Leslie Odom Jr., recounts Jackie Robinson’s trailblazing legacy as a big leaguer, social justice advocate, civil rights icon and business and broadcasting pioneer. She wrote the narrative for Etienne Charles' San Juan Hill: A New York Story, an immersive multimedia concert visiting the neighborhood of Lincoln Center and its indigenous and immigrant communities before it was replaced by Lincoln Center.

Director Jackie Alexander is former Artistic Director of The Billie Holiday Theatre in New York, current Producing Artistic Director of The North Carolina Black Repertory Company, and Executive Producer of the International Black Theatre Festival. He is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, director and author of six plays. His stage directing credits include his own play, "Brothers from the Bottom" (AUDELCO award for Best Play), Jelly’s Last Jam, and world premieres of Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou, Freedom Summer and Maid’s Door. (which won seven AUDELCO awards including Best Play). His debut novel, Our Daily Bread, was published by Turner Publishing. His debut feature film, Joy, was awarded Best Feature Film by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and Best Actor and Best Screenplay honors on the festival circuit.

Hosted by Janet Coleman and David Dozer