User:Janeereagan/sandbox

Childhood
Morisseau grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother's family is from Mississippi. Her father's family is from Haiti.

Acting
She began her career in the theatre as an actor. She attended the University of Michigan where she received her BFA in acting. She has stated that there was a lack of roles for her there, which is what drove her to start writing plays. She wrote The Blackness Blues: Time to Change the Tune, A Sister’s Story at this time.

After college, she continued acting. At the Lark Play Development Center she worked as an actor in The Mountaintop by Katori Hall. In 2013, she performed the role of Camae, which she workshopped, in a production at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville.

She continues acting now, but has stated that she would not act in any of her plays' premieres.

Playwriting
Morisseau is currently working on a 3 play cycle, entitled "The Detroit Projects." The three plays are:

Detroit '67 Paradise Blue Skeleton Crew
 * started at the Public Theater
 * went on to the Classical Theatre of Harlem with the National Black Theatre
 * nominated for 8 Audelco Theatre Awards
 * developed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, and the Public Theater
 * winner of the L. Arnold Weissberger Award
 * recently received a developmental production at the Lark Play Development Center

Other plays she has written that are not included in the cycle include:

Follow Me To Nellie's

Sunset Baby

Blood At The Root

Morisseau is on the list of Top 20 Most Produced Playwrights in America 2015–16, with 10 productions of her plays being produced.

Awards
Jane Chambers Playwriting Award (honoree)

NAACP Image Award (twice received)

Primus Prize by the American Theatre Critics Association (honoree)

Stavis Playwriting Award

University of Michigan: Emerging Leader Award

City of Detroit: Spirit of Detroit Award

Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama