The Broadway Bound Theater Festival (background here) is running through Sept. 1 at the Powerhouse Theatre in Waveny, presented by the Town Players of New Canaan.
We put some questions to Karl O’Brian Williams, a contributing playwright whose work, “Project Sankofa,” runs 7 p.m. Thursday and 5 p.m. Friday (tickets here).
Here’s our exchange.
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New Canaanite: Give our readers some of your own background. When did you start playwriting?
Karl O’Brian Williams: I began writing plays after my father died in May 2000. I guess it’s true what they say sometimes about tragedy and life changing events… you just need an outlet for the pain and that’s when the poetry flowed, and the stories followed, and out came plays.
How did you come to hear about the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival?
I came across the information on social media while scrolling, and just said “what the heck, let me throw my hat in the ring.”
Here’s the description of your play, Project Sankofa, on the Town Players of New Canaan website: “Shawn Thompson is on a journey, whether he knows it or not. The soon-to-be-21-year old seeks answers about his cultural and personal past in order to understand his present and ultimately his future. By his side, to challenge and guide him, are African Elders Abebi, Shomari, Xola and Anan. Their goal? To help him find the answer to his question: Who am I?” Where did the idea for your play originate?
I kept thinking of what happens if we track the family line of the protagonists Ephraim and Rosa from the play “Moon on A Rainbow Shawl” by Trinidadian playwright Errol John. Then I kept thinking about the mostly second-generation Caribbean students I teach at BMCC/CUNY, and somehow linked those two with my longtime obsession with the West African Adinkra symbol of Sankofa which means to look back in order to go forward and got to writing this story about a young man who became curious about his heritage.
What has this experience been like for you, seeing your written words come to life on stage? How are you feeling about the premiere?
The process was challenging and rewarding, the two things you want from any writing journey. I feel good about the whole thing, and to see an audience appreciate what you’ve written come to life on stage is always gratifying!
What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers about yourself, your play or the festival?
This is an awesome partnership between The Powerhouse Theatre and the Broadway Bound Theatre Festival—it’s a win for community building and artistic opportunity. I am grateful beyond words!