Vinecia Coleman Takes Center Stage
One of the most exciting things about our work at Trademark is we often get to work with artists during pivotal moments in their careers.
Artists who have built a reputation for impressive work but are ready to make a career pivot. To try something new.
And Vinecia Coleman? Well, she’s building up to something big.
Meet Minnesota’s Next Big Playwright
Vinecia Coleman in WEATHERING at Penumbra Theatre
THE FEBRUARY PLAY might be the first time you’ve seen Coleman’s work on Trademark’s stage, but you’ve definitely seen her around town.
Coleman is a regular on Minnesota stages, frequently performing with Jungle Theater and Penumbra Theatre. But in recent years, her focus has shifted from telling stories onstage, to telling stories offstage.
Coleman has been steadily building up her resume of original works. Many of her plays have been workshopped and produced across the country, including the Great Plains Theatre Commons Conference, Boise Contemporary Theatre’s BIPOC Playwright Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Black Swan Lab. Recently, she’s also been named as a Many Voices Fellow through the Playwright’s Center in St. Paul.
So when she approached us with a pitch for her newest work, we couldn’t have been more excited to work with her.
Behind The Scenes of THE FEBRUARY PLAY
Much of Coleman’s work, she admits, is a reflection of her own experience onstage, and the challenge of finding a space as a black woman in a white-dominated industry.
In THE FEBRUARY PLAY, a group of artists are gathering for their performance of Lorraine Hansbury’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” when their director mysteriously dies. As the cast and crew fight to escape the haunted theater, Coleman plays with the murder mystery format to explore the behind-the-scenes challenges of Black artists working in institutions that weren’t build to support their stories, history, or identities.
Q&A With Vinecia Coleman
Vinecia Coleman in JIMMY & LORRAINE: A MUSING at Pillsbury House Theatre
We asked Coleman to take us deeper into her creative process, and what defines her as an artist.
Q: Where did the inspiration for THE FEBRUARY PLAY come from?
A: I was inspired by events in my own life as a Black theatre artist. I was (and still am) wrestling with those times when I feel welcomed in a theatre space and the times that I don't.
Q: You got your undergrad degree in microbiology and ended up getting a Master's in Dramatic Writing and Directing! Tell us a little bit about your artistic journey, and where your passion for telling stories on and offstage comes from.
A: I always wanted to be a doctor, but my senior year in college, I took an acting class. It changed my life forever. I'd always loved stories, but I didn't know I could tell them for a living. But here I am!
Q: Tell us a bit about your creative process and what development of this piece has looked like for you, so far?
A: Through the support of the Playwrights' Center and Trademark Theater, I was able to bring some incredible Black theatre artists here in the Twin Cities together to talk about their experiences as artists. Their stories have been incredibly influential to what and how I'm writing. Shout out to: Charla Marie Bailey, Eshay Brantley, Ashawnti Sakina Ford, Nubia Monks, Essense Renae, James A Williams, Mikell Sapp, Darrick Mosley, Darius Dotch, Ricky Morisseau, and Dorothy Vang.
Q: What are you hoping to get out of Trademark's workshop process?
A: This play didn't exist a year ago. Because of Trademark, it's allowed me the space to put it out in the world. I'm mostly excited to hear it read out loud for the first time!
Q: What are the things happening in the Twin Cities art scene that inspire you the most right now?
A: I have been really excited by the new work/plays being worked on at Playwrights' Center.
Q: What do you wish more people understood about the new works process and the value of supporting it?
A: To tell a story is to conjure magic. Sounds corny, I know, but I really believe that. Stories have the power to make you laugh, to make you cry, to change your mind, to change your life. Stories are at the very heart of our humanity. Supporting new work, supporting the arts, allows more stories to be born.
Q: Fill in the blank! Audiences will enjoy THE FEBRUARY PLAY if they like....
A: To giggle.
Q: Where else can audiences see you and your work?
A: I'm playing Mattie over at Penumbra Theatre [in August Wilson’s JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE] with performances May 28-June 21. You can also visit my website: https://www.vineciacoleman.com/
See THE FEBRUARY PLAY & More!
Trademark’s IN THE WORKS showcase is two weeks away! If you want to see THE FEBRUARY PLAY in its’ earliest stages, and more exciting work from our other Season Nine comissioned artists, you can purchase your tickets here.