PIPELINE Airs On PBS In Celebration of Black History Month

In honor of Black History month, the Live from Lincoln Center presentation of PIPELINE will air Friday, February 8 at 9 p.m. on PBS*. Produced in partnership with BroadwayHD, PIPELINE depicts a mother's hopes for her son and their clash with an educational system rigged against him. The powerful work was originally staged at Lincoln Center Theater in 2017 to wide critical acclaim, and was hailed as "potent and intensely acted" by the New York Times, and confirmed Dominique Morisseau's "reputation as a playwright of piercing eloquence".

In Dominique Morisseau's PIPELINE, Nya Joseph (Karen Pittman) is a dedicated, inner-city public high school teacher who is committed to her students' achievement, while she sends her only son, Omari (Namir Smallwood), to a private boarding school. When Omari is involved in a controversial incident which threatens him with expulsion from his school, Nya is forced to reconcile Omari's rage, her own parental decisions, and the public and private school systems, as she rallies to save her son.

"I'm thrilled to bring Pipeline beyond the stage to audiences across the country," said Morisseau, who won the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2018. "The school-to-prison pipeline has national ramifications for students, teachers, parents, and families. I hope the story of Nya, Omari, and their struggles within a biased system inspire new audiences to push this important topic forward in their own communities."