The Jamaica Center of Arts and Learning hosted its first Meet the Playwright event of the new year on January 30th, showcasing ‘A Step-by-Step Guide on How To Succeed In The Myth Making Business’ by playwright and artivist Amalia Oliva Rojas. The event was free and open to the public.
Meet The Playwright is a yearly series of staged play readings that runs from November to February, dedicated to highlighting NYC-based BIPOC playwrights and giving them an opportunity to get their plays performed in front of a live audience. What began as Zoom meetings held at the height of the lockdown attended by a handful of people five years ago has blossomed into a local cultural mainstay that regularly draws crowds that fill JCAL’s 99-seat Black Box Theater.
“People have started recognizing me on the street as ‘the Play Lady’,” says Brenda Jones, the curator of Meet The Playwright. “I think that’s wonderful.”