Download THE PLAYS THE LIFE

In 1992, Hurricane
Andrew hits Homestead,
FL. The McCraney home
is not destroyed, but
everything in it is.
Tarell joins a troupe
of teenagers formed
by Teo Castellano
who use theater as a
vehicle for
spreading HIV
awareness at youth
detention centers.
Tarell’s mother
leaves to attend
rehab for her
drug addiction.
He and his
younger brother
move in with
their father.
Tarell Alvin
McCraney is
born in Miami,
FL on October
17, 1980.
Tarell is cast in a
production of
Blue/Orange (Northlight
Theatre), directed by
David Cromer, which
earns him a Joseph
Jefferson Award
nomination.
Tarell auditions for an
English version of Le
Costume that Peter Brook
and Marie-Hélène
Etienne are creating in
Chicago and establishes a
working relationship with
them.
Tarell enrolls at
DePaul University
in Chicago, IL to
study Acting.
Tarell graduates from
New World School of
the Arts High School.
Tarell’s mother dies from
an AIDS-related illness.
He is 23.
Tarell graduates
from DePaul
University in
Chicago, IL, with a
BFA in Acting.
BIRTH TO EIGHTEEN
Tarell enrolls in
the playwriting
program at Yale
School of Drama
in New Haven.
Tarell wins first annual
Paula Vogel
Playwriting Award
(presented by the
Vineyard Theatre).
NINETEEN TO TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY - SIX
Tarell’s plays Without/Sin
and Run Mourner, Run
are produced as part of
the Yale Cabaret season.
THE PLAYS
THE LIFE
Tarell is cast in a Steppenwolf Theatre
production of Theatrical Essays, directed by
Tina Landau.
The Brothers Size begins
as a workshop at Yale
School of Drama.
In the Red and
Brown Water is
produced in the
Carlotta Festival
by students at
Yale School of
Drama, New
Haven, CT.
In the Red and Brown Water
is produced as a reading in
New Works Now at The
Public Theater.
The Brothers Size is
produced at McCarter’s INFestival at the same time as
it is produced by Foundry
Theatre in the Under the
Radar Festival at The Public
Theater. McCarter also
produces readings of In the
Red and Brown Water and
Marcus; or The Secret of
Sweet
Marcus; or The
Secret of Sweet is
produced in the
Carlotta Festival
by students at
Yale School of
Drama, New
Haven, CT.
Page 1 of 2
The Brothers Size
receives Olivier
Award nomination
for Outstanding
Achievement in an
Affiliate Theatre.
Tarell wins Kendeda
Graduate Playwriting
Competition (presented
by Alliance Theatre) for
In the Red and Brown
Water.
Tarell graduates from Yale
School of Drama in New
Haven, CT with an MFA in
Playwriting, winning the
Cole Porter Playwriting
Award.
Tarell is named a
Hodder Fellow by
Princeton University.
Tarell receives
Kesselring Honors
(presented by the
National Arts Club).
The Brothers
Size receives
Lucille Lortel
Award
nomination
for Best Play
(The Public).
Tarell wins Whiting
Writers’ Award
(presented by the Mrs.
Giles Whiting
Foundation).
The Breach, cowritten with
Catherine Filloux
and Joe Sutton,
premieres at
Southern Repertory
Theatre in New
Orleans.
The Brothers Size is
named Best
International
Show by the
Association of
Critics of
Barcelona.
(ATC/Young Vic).
Tarell is named the
International
Playwright in
Residence at the
Royal Shakespeare
Company.
TWENTY – SIX
Wig Out! A play on
the KIDZ is workshopped at the
Sundance Theater
Lab.
Wig Out!
receives
GLAAD Award
nomination for
Outstanding New
York Theater:
Broadway &
Off-Broadway.
TWENTY – SEVEN
The Brothers Size is
produced simultaneously
at The Public Theater in
New York and the
Young Vic in London.
In the Red and
Brown Water
premieres at
Alliance Theatre,
Atlanta, GA.
Tarell’s Promise
Not to Tell is a part
of the New World
School of the Arts
Playwrights
Festival.
TWENTY – EIGHT
Wig Out! premieres
at the Vineyard
Theatre.
In the Red and
Brown Water is
produced with The
Brothers Size at the
Young Vic in
London.
McCarter Theatre
stages the first
production of The
Brother/Sister
Plays performed in
their entirety,
featuring the world
premiere of
Marcus; or The
Secret of Sweet.
The trilogy is coproduced with
The Public Theater.
The Brothers
Size opens at
City Theatre in
Pittsburgh.
The Brothers Size is
produced at Dublin’s
Abbey Theatre.
The Brothers Size is
produced at Studio
Theatre,
Washington, DC.
Tarell wins
London’s
Evening
Standard
Theatre Award
for most
promising
playwright.
The Brothers
Size is produced
in the Grec
Festival in
Barcelona.
Wig Out! is produced
at the Royal Court
Theatre in London.
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