10 On Tuesday with Kristiana Rae Colón

Show you first wrote (and was it produced)? the first play i wrote was but i cd only whisper, a reimagining of the story of beau willie brown from ntozake shange's poem in for colored girls... i started it when i was 17 years old in a high school summer writing workshop, as a persona poem in the voice of beau willie brown. adapting that poem into a full-length play became my creative bachelor's thesis at the university of chicago, where it had a workshop production. it later had a world premiere at the arcola in london and an american premiere at the flea in new york.

When did you first know you wanted a career in theater? i've been writing and acting since i was small. when i was less than 5 i would write dialogue for my stuffed animals and have them act it out. i acted in my first production at eta creative arts when i was 11. in high school i wrote and directed a a hip-hop adaptation of the wiz. it was also in high school when i started understudying roles in my mentor idris goodwin's early plays. he was the first personal example i had of a poet rapper playwright making a living like an everyday person. it was his example that inspired me to crossover into playwriting as my primary literary focus, and once i experienced my first production process, i was addicted.

See Sideshow Theatre Company's production of Kristiana Rae Colón's TILIKUM through July 29 at Victory Garden Theater's Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 North Lincoln Avenue. For tickets, visit VictoryGardens.org.