Nia has had residencies at NYSAF and The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. Nia’s work will be featured in the 2024 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival, 2024 The Fire This Time Festival, was featured in the 2023 SPACE JAM @ Roundabout Theatre, and the 48th Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. She participated in the National Black Theatre Soul Series and received the 2023 Film & TV Mentorship by Mitzi Miller. She has been awarded 1st Place for the 2023 A is For Playwriting Contest, the Next Wave Initiative Lorraine Hansberry Writing Scholarship, a Miranda Family Fund Commission, and the NYSCA Grant (CCCADI).
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Robinson (she/her) is a playwright and actor who reps Harlem with all her might. She is a graduating second-year playwright in the Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. Her work has been seen and developed with Steppenwolf Theatre, The Hearth, The New Group, Theatre503 (UK), The Ground Floor: Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Conference, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Waterwell, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Urbanite, and New Georges. She has been a MacDowell Fellow, Travis Bogard Eugene O’Neill Foundation Fellow, and a writer for PEN America and EST/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (short play).
In 2021 Tony Winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition: presented Nia Akilah Robibson with a certificate for her … “Commitment to Black Stories”. Now she her latest writing credit can be added to her growing list of writing credit continuing that commitment with, “The Great Privation” is currently booking at Theatre503 in London.
She was shortlisted for the 2023 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award. She was a finalist for the Audible Commission, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and the Blue Ink Playwriting Award. She is a member or alumna of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, I-73 at Page 73, The Orchard Project NYCGreenhouse, The Wish Collective, and #TheBlackHERthePen. She is proudly represented by Alex Gold at Creative Artists Agency. ALT’s editor caught up with Nia for a quick chat ahead of The Great Privation book tickets now.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Written by Nia Akilah Robinson
Directed by Kalungi Ssebandeke
The Great Privation is about Grave Robbing: Grave Robbing during the early 1800’s. Grave Robbing during the Cholera outbreak. Grave Robbing in Pennsylvania. Robbing of Black bodies for medical research. Black bodies that were commodified even after death. Black bodies that never got their rest.
In early 1800’s Pennsylvania, a mother and daughter keep vigil at a grave. Today, at a Summer Camp on the same grounds, a new, yet not entirely different mother and daughter navigate a new, yet not entirely different landscape. Alongside them, two distinct male figures move in and out of both sets of lives, threatening to unearth dark truths – or to help create them. As timelines collide and secrets and lives become buried and revealed, a reckoning comes calling to them all: the roots to our ancestors are not as long as we may think.
Tell us about the journey to Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program?
Gosh, the journey has been a long one. I’ve always been in the arts, but it is the kindness of writers, actors, and directors who told me I’ve had something as a playwright! My parents always encouraged me to be an artist, so going to The Juilliard School was a dream. I auditioned twice as an actor but upon applying as a playwright, I earned my slot! I’ve just always felt a connection to the school because Lincoln Street was a stop on the train to my high school.
Why do you write?
I write for younger me.
Who are the role models that have helped you on your journey?
My mother. My father. My significant other. My friends. Everyone in the theater.
The Great Privation is a harrowing but important story tell us a bit about how it came to you?
It came to me from conversations with my mother and father growing up about grave robbing. And then reading newspapers from the Schomburg libraries archive, Harriet A. Washington’s Medical Apartheid, and Gary B. Nash’s Philadelphia Forging Freedom. A mix of this research, conversations, and finally an opportunity to write the play through the MacDowell fellowship, the play came to be.
We see the issues Black women are having with maternity care and NHS in the UK, a recent report showed discrimination against women of colour, can you talk on if you feel safe when or seeking medical care of course the story of grave robbers is not quite the same so maybe the question is are black bodies given any more care now?
What a nuanced question. I think there are a ton of doctors, medical conferences, and universities consistently unpacking these conversations. I’d love to direct everyone to the experts!
Tell us about the main protagonist in The Great Privation?
It’s Mother or Charity, I’m still not quite sure who it is! Our protagonist is who changes the most over the course of the play. I wonder what the actors playing these roles think?
Who are the main characters what drives them?
Since the play flips time, the characters’ needs and objectives in 1832 differ from those in present day. But, I will say what drives both characters is rooted in love and desire for a deeper connection for understanding of lineage.
Seeing the play now on stage what are your emotions?
Ultimate gratitude to the entire team at Theatre503, the creative team, and all who have supported the play. I haven’t taken it all in.
Where do you call home?
Harlem.
What kind of stories do you like to write?
Usually it is connected to Harlem, either directly or indirectly.
Who would you like to star in your next production?
People my parents love to watch in the theater, movies, or tv.
What’s next?
Push Party! From June 7th– June 23rd my play is being produced by The Hearth, and will be presented at TheaterLab in New York City. Our director is Chesray Dolpha! Julia Greer and the entire The Hearth team are incredible people both inside and out! https://theaterlabnyc.com/push-party-june-7-23-2024/
MOTHER/MODERN-DAY MOTHER
Sydney Sainté
CHARITY/MODERN-DAY CHARITY
Christie Fewry
CUFFEE/MODERN-DAY CUFFEE
Romeo Mika
JOHN/MODERN-DAY JOHN
Jack Gouldbourne
More about Nia and where to study writing.
Yale: (Pursuing an MFA in Playwriting in the fall!)
Website: https://www.niaakilahrobinson.com
Production (NEW YORK): http://www.thehearththeater.com/currentseason
