Chisa Hutchinson

Chisa Hutchinson is an American playwright. Her plays have won multiple awards including the 2010 GLAAD Award, a Lilly Award in 2010, as well as a Lanford Wilson Award in 2015. She was a Lark Fellow as well as a Dramatist Guild Fellow in 2010–11. She was also a cast member of the Neo-Futurists in New York. Hutchinson was a staff writer for the Blue Man Group. She has been a member of New Dramatists for four years. Currently she is a Humanitas Fellow and the Tow Foundation Fellow at Second Stage.[1] Hutchinson teaches creative writing at the University of Delaware.[2] Most recently her play Somebody's Daughter was included on the 2017 Kilroys List which includes un-produced plays by female and trans playwrights.[3]

Chisa Hutchinson
Hutchinson on HowlRound in 2020
Born1980
Queens, New York, US
OccupationPlaywright, Performer
Alma materBA Vassar College
MFA New York University
Notable awardsGLAAD Award (2010), Lilly Award (2010), Lanford Wilson Award (2015)

Early life

Chisa Hutchinson was born in Queens, New York in 1980. At the age of four she was unofficially adopted by a family in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of 14 Hutchinson relocated to the Short Hills section of Millburn, New Jersey to attend Kent Place School.[4] It is here that she was exposed to theatre for the first time. While attending high school, her drama teacher took her to attend a debate between August Wilson and Robert Brustein which inspired her to write African American centric theatre.[5]

Education

Hutchinson attended Vassar College where she received a B.A. in Dramatic Arts. She would later go to receiver her M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing from Tisch School of the Arts.[2]

At Vassar College, Hutchinson was the only Black drama major. Because her education was not exploring theatre by Black writers, Hutchinson felt compelled to create her own work.[4]

Themes

Hutchinson's work centers around responding to social issues, although she states that, "the best way to write a play about a social issue is to not make it about a social issue." Her plays tell stories of people that are rarely seen on stage, such as transgender stories or stories of people of color.[5]

In interview she stated[6]

I’m not a politician. I’m not a lawyer, an economist. I don’t know how to fix big stuff. I feel like someone handed me a shoelace and said, “Okay, build a rocket ship.” Words, that’s what I got, words. It’s what I have. But if change doesn’t happen it won’t be for my lack of trying, even if all I have to offer is words. I’m going to try every which way to wield those words to see what they can produce, what ripples they can make.

Plays

Awards
  • GLAAD Award (2010)
  • Lilly Award (2010)
  • New York Innovative Theatre Award (2012)
  • Paul Green Award (2013)
  • Helen Merrill Award (2013)
  • Lanford Wilson Award (2015)

Personal life

After the opening of her play She Likes Girls in 2008 Hutchinson's sexuality was put into the spotlight because the play centers around a young lesbian woman. Hutchinson however self identifies as bisexual.[4]

Critical reception

Hutchinson's play She Likes Girls centers around a young lesbian couple at an inter-city high school. This play and the topics it deals with would lead her to receive a GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Award. Not only did the play win this award but it received positive reviews throughout its run in New York City.[8]

References
  1. "Chisa Hutchinson Bio" http://www.chisahutchinson.com/, accessed November 5th, 2017
  2. "Chisa Hutchinson" Archived 2018-04-18 at the Wayback Machine http://www.english.udel.edu/people/Pages/bio.aspx?i=301 , accessed November 5th, 2017
  3. "The List" https://thekilroys.org/list-2017/, accessed November 5th, 2017
  4. "SistersTalk: Interview with Playwright Chisa Hutchinson" Archived 2016-08-12 at the Wayback Machine http://sisterstalk.net/chisahutchinson.html , accessed November 5th, 2017
  5. Myers, Victoria. "The Interval: An interview with Chisa Hutchinson" http://theintervalny.com/interviews/2015/02/an-interview-with-chisa-hutchinson/, accessed November 5th, 2017
  6. Project Muse "Shoestrings: A conversation with Chisa Hutchinson and Rodney Gilbert" https://muse.jhu.edu/article/664869, accessed November 5th, 2017
  7. "Chisa Hutchinson Author Bio" http://howlround.com/authors/chisa-hutchinson, accessed November 5th, 2017
  8. "She Likes Girls" https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/she-like-girls, accessed November 5th, 2017


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