Griots' INK!
A eight-week session created especially for early- to mid-career playwrights to work on original material written to be performed on stage. We will provide a workshop leader and a nurturing environment for sharing and critiquing work and encouragement to the participants as they develop their scripts. Each week, up to 3 participants will bring in pages to be read aloud by members of the Company's roster of actors and discussed by fellow writers in order to provide useful feedback as scripts are developed.
Stephanie Bok
Playwright's Lab Facilitator
Click here for Stephanie's bio
Karina Billini
Playwright
Brooklyn bred playwright and poet, Karina Billini allows the fast-paced urban playground of New York City to be her muse in creating new worlds on paper. A Bachelor’s in playwriting from Marymount Manhattan College (in which she took great pride in being the only Latino playwright in her class), Billini has had her plays produced in Kingsborough Community College, Roy Arias Studios, and the Player’s Theatre in New York City. She has had her poetry published in the Marymount Review, The Burningword Magazine, scissor and spackles Magazine, Huizache Magazine and other literary magazines. She recently hosted and coordinated a poetry slam for the Society of Menstrual Cycle Research Annual Conference.
Charles Edward Drew, Jr.
Playwright
Charles got his professional theater start at LaMama ETC. As artistic director of Absolute Theater Company, he produced over one hundred plays in NYC and LA. Charles collaborated on five musicals with composer Janice Lowe and was commissioned by the NYC Parks Dept. to write Central, presented at Summer Stage. He has produced numerous readings at April Barton's Suite #303 in the Chelsea Hotel. Currently, his play Nightmare 1965 - The Lynching of Emmett Till is touring at local colleges.
Kari Joy Hinkson
Playwright
Kari is a native New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn. She received her BA in English with a concentration in Third World Literature from Cornell University and went on to pursue her MFA at the Actors Studio Drama School. Writing since she was in elementary school, Kari Joy has always been passionate about sharing her heart in poetic, lyrical and narrative forms. She is honored to have the opportunity to express her perspective through play writing. She is currently developing her first play, That Shameful Part . In Him, to Him and by Him!
Pharah Jean-Philippe
Playwright
Pharah has a diverse entertainment background which includes acting, directing, filmmaking, playwriting, screenwriting, teaching and producing. Her plays include: LOVE AND HAPPINESS, BLACK BOOK and HAM IN THE LET. It is her desire to create work that will excite, motivate and heal. She is currently the Founder/Artistic Director of The Modern-Day Griot Theatre Company.
Janice Lowe
Playwright
Janice is composer-librettist of the opera Dusky Alice. Her music theater pieces include Sit-in at the Five & Dime, text-Marjorie Duffield (New Harmony); This Esther, text- Charles E. Drew, Jr. (Chelsea Playhouse); Lil Budda-text Stephanie L. Jones (O’Neil Music Theatre Conference; NAMT New Works). She was songwriting coach on the pilot episode of OWN’s My Time and holds an MFA, Musical Theatre Writing, NYU.
Thanks to the great folks at Visions Bar & Lounge, we were able to hold our first Griot's INK! Playwright's Lab Reading Series.