A Public Conversation with Tarell Alvin McCraney and Jordan E. Cooper

Yale Cabaret 55: Parachute, in partnership with the Schwarzman Center and the Afro-American Cultural Center, presents A Conversation on Black Queer Theater, with Tarell Alvin McCraney and Jordan E. Cooper; A Kickoff Event for Dragaret: House of Parachute, the Cabaret’s Annual Drag Show featuring Local Queens and Yale Performers

Tarell Alvin McCraney (’07 Drama) is the Chair, and Professor in the Practice of Playwriting at the School of Drama; and is the Yale Repertory Theatre Playwright-in-Residence. He is also a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects Theater Company in Miami, a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble, and co-wrote the 2016 film Moonlight, based on his own work In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. His numerous awards include the Whiting Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Doris Duke Artist Award, Windham-Campbell Prize, London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, the Paula Vogel Award, and a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship.

Jordan E. Cooper is a 27-year-old Obie Award-winning playwright and performer who was chosen to be one of OUT Magazine’s Entertainers of the Year. His play Ain’t No Mo’ was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and in 2019, Cooper won a special citation Obie Award for Ain't No Mo'. He was recently selected as a Whiting Award winner for Drama. Jordan was also featured on the final season of FX’s groundbreaking series Pose as MC Tyrone. He recently created and executive produced his first television project The Ms. Pat Show which is hailed by critics as "One of the most radical sitcoms of the modern era". He is currently the youngest black showrunner in television history and is now also the youngest American playwright in Broadway history.