Vera Stark, aspiring film actress, is determined and talented. The time is 1933, and the place is Hollywood, USA, and Vera is Black. What awaits this young, ambitious woman is a string of roles as slaves, maids, cooks, and mammies. Public recognition of her contribution to the arts emerges only after several decades in the business, when she is invited to appear on a popular TV talk show, and years later, when she becomes the subject of a movie retrospective and an academic symposium. This life story of an actress of color in America is bitter, but also wildly humorous – a full-blown satire that takes on old-time Hollywood, latter-day pop culture, and private and public hypocrisies.

Playwright awarded Pulitzer Prize for RUINED (2009) and SWEAT (2017)

By The Way, Meet Vera Stark: Online Program
Printable PDF Version of Program (13 pages)