Aleshea Harris on the Power of Creating Your Own Worlds

About this episode

Aleshea Harris discusses her journey from playwright to director and the challenges of adapting her work for film.

Playwright and director Aleshea Harris knew early on she wouldn’t be satisfied playing a role in someone else’s story—she wanted to create her own. Harris initially set out to be an actor, but quickly realized the limits of waiting for permission to tell more expansive stories centered on the Black experience. So began her career as one of the most fearless playwrights in contemporary theater, with works including What to Send Up When It Goes Down, On Sugarland, and Is God Is, the latter of which has been adapted into a film. But Harris didn’t hand the reins to another director—she took on the challenge of extending her vision from stage to screen on her own terms. In this episode, Harris explores transforming Is God Is into a film, what new muscles she’s developed as a first-time director, and how she thinks about white audiences consuming her very Black art. For more of the latest business and innovation news, go to https://www.fastcompany.com/news To listen to the latest episodes of Creative Control on Fast Company:https://www.fastcompany.com/podcasts/creative-control

People in this episode

Host: Fast Company

Guest: Aleshea Harris

Topics covered

• playwriting
• directing
• Black experience
• theater
• film adaptation
• artistic vision

Keywords

• Aleshea Harris
• playwright
• director
• Black art
• Is God Is
• film adaptation
• theater

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fast Company

Books & works: What to Send Up When It Goes Down, On Sugarland, Is God Is

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