My Work

I believe in the power of storytelling to inspire change and build community. Through my work as a playwright, Artistic Director, and advocate, I strive to create spaces where voices are heard, stories are shared, and lives are transformed. Dive into some of my proudest projects and collaborations.

Artistic Direction

This is a workshop performance of a one-man show I directed and produced for Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT) at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. I mentored the playwright, a Howard University Theatre Arts student, as part of the Young Playwrights in Progress script development program I launched in 2020.

A live community performance exploring wellness from the perspectives of activists who were formerly incarcerated. I commissioned seven young playwrights to interview community advocates through a partnership with Voices Unbarred (VU). The playwrights created pieces inspired by these interviews, and the advocates shared their artistry before each performance at the Prince George’s Community College Center for Performing Arts in Largo, MD.

A one-on-one interview I conducted with Thembi Duncan, the director of Young Playwrights’ Theater’s play Silence Is Violence: Wish Me Well.

I created and produce a decade-long, award-winning social justice performance series through my work with Young Playwrights’ Theater in Washington, DC called Silence is Violence.

One of my favorite productions I’ve done is Silence is Violence: Mothering While Black. I wrote and directed a choreopoem based on the lives of young, displaced mothers I facilitated writing workshops with through the Sasha Bruce program, Olaiya's Cradle.

Arts Education

I am a professional theatre artist who often writes plays and poems based on personal experiences. In this video, I share three of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in creating this type of work to be shared with public audiences.

This video was originally created for Ocean Ana Rising’s Black and Queer Storytelling FIRE!! Summer Playwriting Practicum, in collaboration with Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts.

Facilitation

A live artist conversation I facilitated with three writer-performers I taught and led to create a 3-episode web series about the future of American theatre after the racial reckoning of 2020.

A talkback I facilitated after a public live-reading of the play, Dresses That Twirl, by Amira Al Amin. I mentored Amira, advised her on multiple rounds of script revision, and directed and produced the performance at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC.

I facilitated a conversation with playwright Tom Minter and director Angelisa Gillyard about the play’s central central themes, style, and wonder in 'how we scaffold care', for audiences in 'theater of trauma'.

Interviews & Panel Discussions

In this episode, podcast host, Thembi Duncan, speaks with me about my journey as a breast cancer survivor and how my experiences have influenced my approach to storytelling, leadership, and wellness. I share how the challenges I have faced, both personal and professional, have refined me as an artist and leader.

I was featured as a panelist for this livestream “BIPOC Artist Panel” discussion with Young Artists of America.

Writing

Plays

"Kimmy" - A Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) Radio Play By Farah Lawal Harris

Commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Theater for Young Audiences
Remounted by the University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance

12-year-old Kemi and her parents, immigrants from Nigeria, moved from Washington, D.C. to a smaller town in Maryland halfway through the school year. On her first day at her new school, her teacher mispronounces her name as “Kimmy,” and in an effort to fit in, Kemi lets it slide. Kemi’s passion and talent for rapping help her make a few new friends, but personal problems and the COVID-19 pandemic that get in the way of Kemi’s new life in a new place as she struggles to negotiate her relationship with her parents, her new friends, and herself.

Screenplays

Produced by Round House Theatre, “Homebound” is a 10-episode web series about life under stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 outbreak in the nation’s capitol.

I wrote Episode 3 of the series, enttled “We Wear The Mask.”

I was commissioned to write a monologue for Arena Stage’s film, The 51st State. The film was inspired by the protests after the murder of George Floyd and the quest for the creation of the 51st state and sovereignty in Washington, D.C.

I wrote the first monologue in the film.

Wellness

In this video, I share my story of triumph over health challenges. This video has inspired over 50,000 women living with uterine fibroids.

I was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in November 2022. I documented my journey on social media and inspired hundreds of thousand of people with my story. Here are some of the highlights.

Social Media Content