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Tarell Alvin McCraney

Writer

Miami, Florida

Tarell Alvin McCraney is best known for his acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays. McCraney’s script In Moonlight, Black Boys Look Blue is the basis for the Oscar-winning film Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, for which McCraney and Jenkins also won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Some of McCraney’s other plays include Head Of Passes, Choir Boy, and Wig Out!


McCraney is a 2013 MacArthur Foundation Fellow and is the recipient of the Whiting Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, the Evening Standard Award, the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Windham Campbell Award, and a Doris Duke Artist Award. He was the International Writer-in-Residence for the Royal Shakespeare Company from 2009-2011, and a former resident playwright at New Dramatists. Presently, he is an ensemble member at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and a member of Teo Castellanos/D-Projects in Miami. McCraney was recently named the Chair of the Playwriting Department at the Yale School of Drama.


Portrait photo courtesy of the MacArthur Foundation.

Donor -This award was generously supported by Shawn M. Donnelley and Christopher M. Kelly.

This artist page was last updated on: 07.08.2024

From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.

From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.

From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.

From Romeo & Juliet Outside the Box, presented by YoungArts Foundation.

Mahershala Ali & Alex Hibbert in Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, based on In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by the artist. Photo courtesy of David Bornfriend.

Mahershala Ali & Alex Hibbert in Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, based on In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by the artist. Photo courtesy of David Bornfriend.