Tarell Alvin McCraney (born October 17, 1980) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble. He co-wrote the 2016 film ''

Moonlight Moonlight consists of mostly sunlight (with little earthlight) reflected from the parts of the Moon's surface where the Sun's light strikes. Illumination The intensity of moonlight varies greatly depending on the lunar phase, but even the ful ...

'', based on his own play, for which he received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for

Best Adapted Screenplay This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress# ...

. He also wrote the screenplay for the 2019 film '' High Flying Bird'' and 2019 television series '' David Makes Man''.

Early life and education

McCraney was born in Liberty City, Florida. He attended the New World School of the Arts (NWSA) in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. While attending NWSA, he also applied to and was awarded an honorable mention by the National

YoungArts YoungArts (previously National YoungArts Foundation and National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, or NFAA) is an American charity established in 1981 by Lin and Ted Arison to help nurture emerging high-school artists. The foundation is bas ...

Foundation (1999, Theater). As a teenager, he was a member of an improv troupe directed by Teo Castellanos. He matriculated into

The Theatre School at DePaul University The Theatre School at DePaul University, previously the Goodman School of Drama (also known as TTS and GSD, respectively) is the drama school of DePaul University. Founded with its first class conducted at the Art Institute of Chicago on January 5 ...

and received his BFA in acting. In May 2007 he graduated from Yale School of Drama's playwriting program, receiving the Cole Porter Playwriting Award upon graduation. He also is an Honorary

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

Graduate.

Career

As an actor, he has worked with directors such as Tina Landau of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, David Cromer, and B. J. Jones, artistic director of the Northlight Theatre (where McCraney co-starred in the Chicago premiere of

Joe Penhall Joe Scott Penhall (born 1967) is an English-Australian playwright and screenwriter, best known for his award-winning stage play '' Blue/Orange'', the award-winning West End musical ''Sunny Afternoon'' and creating the Netflix original series ' ...

's ''

Blue/Orange ''Blue/Orange'' is a play written by English dramatist, Joe Penhall. The play is a sardonically comic piece which touches on race, mental illness and 21st-century British life. Productions The play premiered in the Cottesloe Theatre at the ...

''), and developed a working relationship with

Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Sha ...

and

Marie-Hélène Estienne Marie-Hélène Estienne is a French playwright and screenwriter, probably best known for her collaborations with the British director Peter Brook and the International Centre for Theatre Research at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. ...

of the Bouffes du Nord,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. He is a member of the D Projects Theater Company in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. From 2008 to 2010, he was the RSC/

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

International Playwright in Residence at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. In April 2010, McCraney became the 43rd member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble. In July 2017, he became the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.

Theatre

* While at Yale, McCraney wrote the ''Brother/Sister'' trilogy of plays, which are set in the Louisiana projects and explore

Yoruba mythology The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitu ...

. The

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided ...

of plays includes ''In the Red Brown Water'', ''The Brothers Size'', and ''Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet''. While they are often produced with ''In the Red Brown Water'' coming first and then ''The Brothers Size'' and ''Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet'' together on a following night, the plays are not in chronological order, but rather are “in conversation” with one another. * McCraney’s play ''

Choir Boy ''Choir Boy'' is a coming-of-age play by American playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. The play premiered in September 2012 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, before going on to play productions at New York City Center, Alliance Theatre, Geffe ...

'' premiered at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 2012, with its American premiere the following year produced by the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has ...

. The play follows young Pharus on his journey toward becoming the best choir leader in the history of the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys and trying to find out where he fits in with the rest of his peers. The 2019 Broadway production of the play was nominated for four

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

, including the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first yea ...

, and won the Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play. * McCraney co-wrote ''Ms. Blakk for President'' with director Tina Landau. The show was first performed by the

Steppenwolf Theatre Company Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in 2019. Based on a true story, the play follows

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

Joan Jett Blakk (played by McCraney himself in the play's first production) in Chicago at the height of the AIDS crisis as she announces her bid to run for President of the United States.

Television

* McCraney writes and is an executive producer for the original scripted TV series, '' David Makes Man'', for Oprah Winfrey’s

OWN Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

Network. As of April 2022, the show is awaiting renewal for its third season.

Film

* ''

'', co-written by McCraney and director

Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Ind ...

, was based on McCraney’s earlier semi-autobiographical play ''In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue'', which he shelved. The film follows Chiron ( Alex R. Hibbert,

Ashton Sanders Ashton Durrand Sanders (born October 24, 1995) is an American actor best known for his portrayal of teenage Chiron in the Academy Award-winning film ''Moonlight'' (2016). Early life Sanders was born in Carson, California. He attended Grand A ...

Trevante Rhodes Trevante Nemour Rhodes (born February 10, 1990) is an American actor. He won several accolades and achieved recognition in 2016 for his performance as Chiron in the Academy Award-winning film ''Moonlight''. He has since starred in '' The Preda ...

), a young Black man who grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood in

. The film was critically acclaimed, and McCraney and Jenkins won the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

. * McCraney wrote the screenplay for the 2019 American sports drama, '' High Flying Bird'', directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker. Soderbergh's direct ...

and released by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. The film follows sports agent Ray Burke (

André Holland André Holland (born December 28, 1979) is an American actor, widely known for his 2016 performance as Kevin in the Academy Award-winning film ''Moonlight''. Throughout his career, Holland has acted in film, television, and theatre productions ...

) who finds himself caught between a league and its basketball players.

Personal life

McCraney is gay.

Works

Plays

*''Ms. Blakk for President'' ( Steppenwolf Theatre) *''Head of Passes'' ( Steppenwolf Theatre,

Berkeley Rep Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident ...

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

) *''

'' (

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

Samuel J. Friedman Theatre The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renais ...

, Steppenwolf Theatre) *''American Trade'', an adaptation of a Restoration comedy for young people ( RSC) * ''Wig Out!'' (developed at Sundance Theatre Lab produced in New York by the Vineyard Theatre and in

by the

)

''The Brother/Sister Plays'' trilogy

* ''The Brothers Size'' (simultaneously premiered in New York at

, in association with the Foundry Theatre, and in London at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

, where it was nominated for an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

for Outstanding Achievement at an Affiliated Theatre) * ''In The Red and Brown Water'' (winner of the Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, produced at the Alliance Theatre and the

) *''Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet''

Other plays

*''Without/Sin'' * ''Run, Mourner, Run'' (adapted from Randall Kenan's short story), both of which premiered at Yale Cabaret. He directed ''Hamlet'' for the RSC's Young Shakespeare program for GableStage in Miami. In the summer of 2006, McCraney, Catherine Filloux and Joe Sutton wrote ''The Breach'', a play on Katrina, the Gulf, and our nation, commissioned by Southern Rep in New Orleans, where it premiered in August 2007 to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy in New Orleans. ''The Breach'' also played at

Seattle Rep Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

in the winter of 2007.

Other projects

* '' High Flying Bird'', a script based on the 2011 NBA lockout starring

, who starred in ''Moonlight'', directed by

. It premiered on Netflix on February 8, 2019. *''In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,'' an autobiographical drama school project that is the inspiration for the 2016 film ''

.'' *An adaptation of Shakespeare's ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' ( First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in aroun ...

'' for the

in 2013, which puts the play in an 18th-century Caribbean setting. Reviews were mixed. * '' David Makes Man'', a 2019 television series on the

network.

Forthcoming projects

Commissions for the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

and

Awards and honors

*2007

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and ...

*2007 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award for ''The Brothers Size'' *2008 London's ''Evening Standard'' Award for Most Promising Playwright *2009 ''New York Times'' Outstanding Playwright Award for ''The Brothers Size'' *2009 Steinberg Playwright Award *2013 Windham–Campbell Literature Prize *2013

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

*2014

Doris Duke Performing Artist Award The Doris Duke Artist Award is undertaken by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and designed to "empower, invest in and celebrate artists by offering multi-year, unrestricted funding as a response to financial and funding challenges both unique to ...

*2017

: ''

'' *2017 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Awards American Playwright in Mid-Career *2017

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

Fellowship *2019 40 Under 40 List by '' Connecticut Magazine''"40 Under 40: The Class of 2019."
('' Connecticut Magazine'') (January 23, 2019) Retrieved March 5, 2019.

References

External links

Profile and Production History at The Whiting Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCraney, Tarell Alvin 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers 1980 births Living people African-American dramatists and playwrights American male stage actors DePaul University alumni Writers from Florida American gay actors American gay writers LGBT African Americans Male actors from Miami Yale School of Drama alumni LGBT dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights Alumni of the British American Drama Academy Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners LGBT people from Florida Steppenwolf Theatre Company players MacArthur Fellows 21st-century American screenwriters African-American screenwriters 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people African-American male writers