Director’s Note
From the moment Zakiya sent me an early draft of the script of Suburban Black Girl, it was evident that not only was this a story that needed to be told, but that it was a story that I wanted to have a hand in telling. Although it is a deeply personal account of Zakiya’s individual journey, so many aspects of the play mirrored my own experience and that of so many others.
Suburban Black Girl is for everyone who finds themselves navigating the nuances of suburban America. For anyone who has complicated relationships with friends of a different race, with their family, their church family or even with their own identity. And for anyone who has had their heart shattered and is working to put the pieces of themselves back together again.
With the myriad of characters that Zakiya depicts in the play, Suburban Black Girl is poignant, funny, honest and raw, and it also welcomes its audience into a conversation that we don’t often get to have in mixed company.
It has been an honor and a joy to be on this journey of discovery with Zakiya, and am thrilled for others to experience it with us.
— Jacole Kitchen
Playwright’s Note
Suburban Black Girl was conceived in 2020. Black Lives Matter dominated our screens, and we could not look away because of the COVID lockdowns. The naïveté that many of my white friends expressed on social media was infuriating. My blood boiled as I read “I didn’t know it was that bad,” or “this isn’t the country I know,” or “what can I do to help?”
After I calmed down, my mind flooded with memories of all the times I stayed silent about the racism I experienced because assimilation and acceptance took priority over my own comfort and safety. That realization prompted me to post an impassioned video on social media. It went viral — and it’s the video that starts the show.
Robert Egan, former Artistic Director of Ojai Playwrights’ Conference, saw my post and reached out: “I think this is a one woman show.” Imposter syndrome set in immediately. But his encouragement helped me realize I was being given a powerful opportunity – to facilitate understanding by sharing a perspective rarely seen in the American theatre with those who want to understand and those who think they already know.
This show was born out of love for myself and love for my friends. I don’t claim to have the answers. But I can write my story, inhabit 23 different characters, ask some questions and maybe help one “token black person” feel seen. Who knows? You might even find similarities in our struggles.
I encourage you to stay open as you go on an eye-opening, funny, awkward, painful and powerful journey with me, your local SUBURBAN BLACK GIRL.
— Zakiya Urbi Young