WE BOTH SUCK OUR TEETH by Jelisa Jay Robinson
Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 6:30 PM
Online
Igbo class is a safe space for Black students at Texas Harris University. When that class becomes the backdrop of a viral video of an intense argument between Faith, a Black American Senior and Uchenna, a Nigerian American graduate student, the divide between the African community and the Black American community on campus is pushed to the forefront. In order to alleviate her campus’ issues, Dean Thompson assigns Faith and Uchenna a mandatory project that will seek to connect the members of the Black community… if only they can put aside their differences long enough to create it. In this funny, ensemble-driven love story, WE BOTH SUCK OUR TEETH explores the division and unity within the African diaspora. The play was created with the support of a ScriptWorks Groundwork Grant in 2020.
Jelisa Jay Robinson is a Black American playwright from Houston, Texas. Her plays include The Stories of Us, Fae and Paciencia, Delivery, Circle, and We Both Suck Our Teeth. Her work has been developed and/or presented at The Billie Holiday Theatre (50in50), Fade to Black (Houston), Teatrx (Houston), 14/48 Theatre Festival (Austin), Austin One Minute Play Festival (Austin), the Austin Latino New Play Festival, Teatro Vivo (Austin), Now Africa Festival (New York), The Black and Brown Theatre (Detroit), The Rec Room (Houston), the Echame Un Ojo Festival (commission), Fornes Playwriting Workshop (Chicago), The Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration (San Marcos), The Landing Theatre (Houston)and Vision Latino (Chicago). She is a finalist for the La Mansion Baldwin Writers Residency in France (2020), a Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist (2020), a finalist for the Seattle Public Theatre New Play Prize (2017), a writer in the Rec Room Writers Group, a two time Fulbright Alternate and an alumnus of the Fornes Playwrighting Workshop where she worked under the tutelage of Migdalia Cruz. Jelisa has held residencies with Vision Latino Theatre Company (Chicago), the National Playwrights Retreat (Colorado), and Texas State’s Black and Latino Playwrights Celebration. She is a theatre educator who has taught high school and elementary theatre. Jelisa has hosted various writing workshops for organizations like Clinton Global Initiative University, Texas State University, University of Texas-RGV, and Sovereign Noir’s Black Women Virtual Writers Conference. She is also the co-founder of the Love Guru’s, a group dedicated to promoting self-love in the greater Houston area and beyond. Jelisa is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild, ScriptWorks, an Alumna of Artist Inc., and a sister of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc.