MARSHALL INSTITUTE Blog

Maya James is a Howard University acting major student who won the national Dr. Gaffney African American Playwriting Contest - now in its second year at UCSD’s Theatre & Dance Department. Below is a brief interview with her.

Your prizewinning play explores the harsh realities of Hurricane Katrina and America’s social inequities. Could you please elaborate on how you came to write “WADE IN THE WATER?”

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I was really moved by the images of families searching for one another, the frustration of people being stranded for days on end without any immediate help in sight, and the stories I would see and hear on television. All of these things stuck with me and haunted my dreams and thoughts for days on end and I was angered by the government’s response to the situation. I knew I wanted to do something but the what wasn’t apparent. About a month after the Hurricane’s initial impact, I kept hearing different phrases and lines from the character Josette in my mind. So I sat at my computer and started to type them and more started to come and before I knew it I was writing a play. Lines, conversations, characters, and scenes started to pour out of me like sweat. I didn’t choose to write this play, Josette chose me to tell the story of her family’s experience.

Which African American artist or author has influenced and perhaps inspired you in the last few years?

I have a trinity of writers that I look to the most for inspiration; Zora Neale Hurston is the father, Toni Morrison is the son, and Alice Walker is the spirit. But I still enjoy and draw from other writers. Ntozake Shange and Pearl Cleage inspire me as playwrights because their fiction and poetry is just as strong, lush, and colorful as their theatre works and they gave voice to the African American woman experience in this country which is still highly ignored. Our experience has been and still is vital to the progression of this country and the stories that are told in the beauty shops, kitchens, and porches of America are valid and can enrich the human experience on a universal level. Susan Lori-Parks is another one because she challenges the form and reminds me that I don’t have to always follow the rules or play the role that has been set for me as a writer who is a woman of color in order to have a impact in the literary community. Most Recently I have been reading Eugene O’Neil and Mamet so I can step out side of what I normally read and broaden my perspective as a writer.

Your major at Howard University is theatre arts with an emphasis on acting. Will you continue to pursue acting and the performing arts after you graduate?

Writing is my calling and acting is my therapy so I need both in order to maintain my sanity as an artist! I also write poetry and fiction and would have never have thought of playwrighting as an option had it not been for my friend Keon White (R.I.P.) and my professor Sybil Roberts who is an amazing and prolific playwright in the D.C. area. I would love to pursue the notion of theatre for development and use the stage as a means for change within my local and global community. Theatre is a powerful tool for this because it allows people to suspend their preconceived notions and ideals for an allotted time and be open to a point of view that may not have considered on the sidewalk of theatre they are attending. This invigorates me as an artist and to have that live connection with an audience and to be privileged to witness the thought process and go on the journey with them is amazing! To make a long answer short, yes I will!

How do you view the current Presidential campaign and the mood of the electorate?

When I talk to my parents and older people I realize how fortunate I am to be alive to witness this time in political history. It is wonderful to see a woman and an African-American man actually have a real chance at becoming the next president of this country. I feel like this election challenges the ideals and action that this country was built on and is a rich backdrop for some amazing artistry to be created.

What topics would interest you if you were to write another full length play?

Again, writing feels like channeling at times so I’m just open to what story or character will come to me so no topic is unapproachable. I just returned from Cuba so I’m excited about what stories will come from those experiences.

What was your reaction when you found out that you won the national Dr. Floyd Gaffney Playwriting Competition?

I was so happy when I found out I won. I was at work when UCSD’s Theatre Program called and I started jumping up and down and the students I work with were like “what’s wrong with Ms. Maya?”. I couldn’t believe I won because my play reading professor told me about the competition three days before the deadline so I spent like 20hrs. at my computer typing like a mad woman and running to the post office to get it in! So I just figured it’s your first playwriting competition just do it for the experience, I never thought that I would win so I was shocked, I still am. Thank you all so much for this recognition and opportunity.