Richard Wesley Headlines 16th Black & Latino Playwrights Conference

Critically-acclaimed playwright Richard Wesley will be the special guest during the 16th Annual Black and Latino Playwrights Conference at Texas State University on September 3-9.

The conference, hosted by the Department of Theatre and Dance, will present a tribute to Wesley at 7:30 p.m. September 7 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Wesley received the Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright for his play, Black Terror. He won the Audelco Award for The Mighty Gents, which New York Times called "bleak and touching...a lyrical work about the trap of the black ghetto." Wesley is also a successful screenwriter of films including Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do it Again and Native Son, and television writer of production including Murder Without Motive, Mandela and De Klerk, Bojangles and Deacons for Defense.

The Play Writing Workshop with Marilyn Torres will take place 1-5 p.m. September 8 in room 201 of the Theatre Center. Tickets to the workshop are $10 and may be purchased attxstatepresents.com.

The New Play Development Reading Presentation of The Real People Play by Messiah Hagood-Barnes will take place 7:30 p.m. September 8 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Tickets are $5 for all attendees.

The New Play Development Reading Presentation of LeRoach's Lament by Ruben C. Gonzalez will take place at noon September 10 in the Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Tickets are $5 for all attendees.

The mission of the Black and Latino Playwrights Conference is to celebrate the voices of Black and Latino playwrights by workshopping new plays in collaboration with professional directors, actors and university students. For more information, contact Eugene Lee at mreugenelee.el@gmail.com.

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,694 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State's 188,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world. Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under "Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity," the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.