Gun & Powder is inspired by the true story of Mary and Martha Clarke, Angelica's great-great aunts, African American twin sisters who passed for White and were notorious outlaws. Set in Post-Emancipation Texas, the musical follows Mary and Martha's journey of defying racial boundaries and seizing what rightfully belongs to them, by any means necessary. They are successful at their charade until they each find themselves in love, but with two very different men. 

7W, 7M

Angelica wrote the book and lyrics for Gun & Powder, and all music and vocals were composed by her collaborator, composer, performer and arranger Ross Baum. 

Gun & Powder will have its World Premiere production in January of 2020 at the Signature Theatre, directed by acclaimed director Robert O’Hara (Bootycandy, Slave Play) and produced by Holtzman-Lopez Productions (Be More Chill), featuring a star-studded cast.

Gun & Powder was awarded with the prestigious 2018 Richard Rodgers Award and chosen to be featured in the 30th annual NAMT Festival of New Musicals. It was also featured in the 2018 NEXT Festival at Theatre Latté Da, and chosen out of 170 submissions to participate in the 2017 Sigworks Lab at the Signature Theatre. Select songs have been presented at Lincoln Center, both in Ross' Songbook  and the Broadway's Future Songbook concert series, as well as in the Drama League's DirectorFest at the Sheen Center.

Gun & Powder has been developed in residencies at Goodspeed Opera, Two River Theater and the Barnett Residency. It was originally developed in the NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program Thesis Musical Series, and then given the Inaugural Workshop Production of the NYU Tisch Center for New Musicals). 

After committing an unforgivable crime, Leroy is granted one final wish: a chance to make amends with his long-lost lover Berta. Their reunion swells from a quarrelsome conjuring of the past to an impassioned plot to escape their impending fate.

The play is inspired by the prison chain gang song "Berta, Berta" which originated on Parchman Farm, Mississippi State Penitentiary. It is a fictional origin story. 

1W, 1M 

View on New Play Exchange

Upcoming Production at Everyman Theatre, March 17th-April 26th, 2020.

Berta, Berta premiered in the 2018 Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF), and encored in the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival, directed by Reginald L. Douglas.

Berta, Berta was one of six plays selected for the 2018 PlayLab at Florida Repertory Company. Out of 500 submissions, Berta, Berta was one of 25 finalists for the 2017 Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and the only play to be selected for a slot in the Playwrights Foundation's Rough Reading Series with staged readings at the National Black Theatre's and Elephant Run District's hERD Podcast series.

Read Review by DC Metro Arts
Read Review by DC Theatre Scene

Performed to Igor Stravinsky’s iconic composition “Rite of Spring”, A Mother’s Rite is a ballet exploring the stages of grief experienced by a Black mother who loses her young son to police brutality.

Featuring Alvin Ailey dancer Courtney Celeste Spears, A Mother’s Rite was choreographed by the Founder and Artistic Director of the Black Iris Project, Jeremy McQueen and Angelica wrote the libretto.

The ballet premiered on August 16th at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem, presented by NYC Summerstage, and a film adaptation is available for viewing (see link).

A Mother’s Rite was commissioned by the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Read article on The Root

Crowndation; I Will Not Lie to David, Part Three of the Prophet's Cycle, is a One-Woman-Show following 29-year-old Fatima Seed. Now the same age as her mother when she died of breast cancer, Fatima battles her inner-contradictions, yanked in multiple directions by her faith, her sexuality, her purpose and a secret she discovers about her father, all in pursuit of becoming whole before her time runs out.

1W

View on New Play Exchange

Crowndation was commissioned through the National Black Theatre's I Am Soul Residency from September 2016 to February 2018, and culminated with a workshop production starring Sheria Irving, directed by Cezar Williams. 

Crowndation is available for a World Premiere production. 

David Wayne Seed, a minister with a unique gift of healing through song, and his wife Mina take refuge at the family matriarch's home to give birth to their first child. After giving birth, Mina is attacked with an illness that challenges David's faith in his voice.  

3W 2M

The play is inspired by Angelica's mother's battle with breast cancer.

The Sting of White Roses was produced as a limited engagement at the North Carolina Black Repertory Company in October of 2016 and encored at the 2017 National Black Theatre Festival with a Sold-Out run. Directed by Jackie Alexander. Featuring Jalila A. Bowie, Perri Gaffney, Eboni Flowers,  Brandon D. Jones and Derrick Parker. 

View Mention in American Theatre Magazine

View Feature in the Winston-Salem Chronicle

View Feature in Journal Now

Because of the limited run at the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, The Sting of White Roses is still available for an official World Premiere production. 

Fifteen years after her first husband's passing, Thea Seed finds love again in TL, a dashing wanderer who looks and feels like the perfect man. Thea's children, however, have different instincts about their new father-figure. Especially David, who discovers that a prophecy spoken by his late father may be the family's only answer once the tension rises. 

2W, 4M

The Seeds of Abraham was produced by The Billie Holiday Theatre in the spring of 2014. It was directed by Reginald L. Douglas and produced by Jackie Alexander. Starring Donnell E. Smith (David), Simone Leanora (Esther), Bianca LaVerne Jones (Thea), Keldrick Crowder (TL), Alex Ubokudom (Willie Cartwright) and Ty King (Jimmy).  

Originally entitled Ruby Place Nest on the Ground, the play was first developed at Columbia University, in the New Plays Now MFA Thesis Festival, and received a workshop production at the Pershing Square Theatre Center Off-Broadway, with the same cast except for the roles of David (played by Larry Powell) and TL (played by Willie Teacher). The workshop was mentored by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. 

Feature in the BK Reader

Set in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, young Cadence moves from her home on the East Side to a fabulous new house on the West Side after her mother lands a high-paying new job. All seems like a wonderful upgrade until Cadence is accosted with vicious cyber-bullying on the first day at her new school. Thankfully, her mythical, poetry-quoting Godmother and talking doll come to the rescue.

1W, 4G

Learn to Speak Doll is a children’s play commissioned by Peppercorn Theatre at Kaleideum, which premiered in the summer of 2018, directed by Nathan Ross Freeman. Inspired by the legacy of *Dr. Maya Angelou, the play highlights the importance of using one’s voice, especially in the face of adversity.

*Used with permission of Caged Bird Legacy, LLC

A Letter to Auntie Rosa is a short children's theatre piece, written from the perspective of young Sheila McCauley Keys, Rosa Parks' niece. It highlights the moment when young Sheila discovers the true meaning of her aunt's legacy, and the impact she's had on American History. 

A Letter to Auntie Rosa was commissioned by Diverging Elements Theatre Company, and toured to several book stores in New York City including Book Culture, the Strand and Barnes and Noble. 

It was directed by Sammy Lopez, with original music composed and arranged by Ross Baum and Ben Holtzman, with the vocal talents of RANGE a cappella. 

Trapped on the island of their bed, Iris and Mo whether the storms of their tumultuous relationship. At first, their intimacy seems to be  keeping them scarcely afloat, but then a smokable substance called Mother Earth comes to play and shakes their blissful illusion to its core. 

1W, 1M

The Yin and the Yang was workshopped at Columbia University's Schapiro Theater. It was directed by Katie Naka, starring Donovan Christie Jr. (Mo) and Simone Leanora (Iris). 

It is currently being adapted into a webseries. 

The Yin and the Yang is available for a World Premiere production. 

Two friends turn into lovers during a heated card game of gin rummy, but Harold doesn't know is that there's a painful reason why Dinah is hesitant to "bare it all".

"Slow Gin Fits" is a ten-minute play that was featured in Season Five of the Fire This Time Festival, directed by Cezar Williams, starring Leopold Lowe (Harold) and Toccarra Cash (Dinah).

It opened to rave reviews and was published online at Indie Theatre Now.

Read the review on StageBuddy

Buy the Play!

Angelica was invited to participate in the Obie Award-Winning 6th Annual 48 Hours of Harlem Festival, produced by the Harlem 9. In the festival, the 6 chosen playwrights are given 6 plays written by prominent African American playwrights, months in advance. Then, upon arriving, playwrights are assigned one of the six plays, a director and three actors. Playwrights are then tasked with writing a 10-minute inspiration based on their assigned play overnight, and the director and actors mount the play and perform it within 48 hours. 

Angelica's play "Daddy Blue Parker" was inspired by Ceremonies in Dark Old Men by Lonne Elder III. 

"Daddy Blue Parker" was directed by Charles Rice-Gonzalez, starring CK Allen, Sita Johnson and Christina Sajous. 

Angelica is also a poet and spoken word performer. She has performed at open mics and poetry café's in both Los Angeles and New York City such as Da Poetry Lounge (LA) and the Nuyorican Poets Café (NYC). Her poem "Then and Again" was published in the inaugural issue of Spook Magazine. She was host of the on-going Fire This Time Festival Open Mic along with co-host Najah Muhammed. She is currently working on a collection of poetry to published. 

To book Angelica for spoken word features, Contact Angelica

Buy Spook Magazine, Issue One