Speaker 1: What's up, everybody. I'm Gammy and this is positively gam
Speaker 1: I'm so excited for today's guests because we're talking about
Speaker 1: the hit television show on Stars P Valley. I mean,
Speaker 1: I love that show, like it was so innovative. I
Speaker 1: was like, what is happening? Oh my god. Yeah. The
Speaker 1: series is an adaptation of Katri halls play Pussy Valley
Speaker 1: and follow several people who work at a strip club
Speaker 1: in the Mississippi Delta. The critically acclaimed and record breaking
Speaker 1: series returned for its second season on June the three,
Speaker 1: So if you haven't already, you gotta get to it.
Speaker 1: Joining me today is my guest Katri Hall. She is
Speaker 1: a Pulitzer Prize, Olivier Award winning and Tony nominated playwright
Speaker 1: from Memphis, Tennessee. The play that I love so much
Speaker 1: that you wrote was Mountain Top, which was the fictionalized
Speaker 1: version of the Last Night of Martin Luther King's life.
Speaker 1: I love that play. I didn't even know you had seen. Oh,
Speaker 1: of course, absolutely absolutely. I saw it in Baltimore. She
Speaker 1: is the showrunner and executive producer of the hit Stars
Speaker 1: drama series P Valley. So welcome Kuturi to positively, gam
Speaker 1: I'm so happy to be here. And like I said,
Speaker 1: I'm such a such a fan, but we are a
Speaker 1: fan of yours and definitely a fan of p Valley.
Speaker 1: So tell me what made you decide to write a
Speaker 1: play number one about strippers and then to then turn
Speaker 1: it into a television series like what Sparred that? So
Speaker 1: you know, I'm just a home girl from the South
Speaker 1: and I grew up going to shrip last okay, so
Speaker 1: I knew that it was this strong, vibrant culture. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, when most people think about a shrip club,
Speaker 1: they think, you know, it's a full of sad, struggling women.
Speaker 1: And when I would go to strip clubs, I would
Speaker 1: see athletes. I would see like do so latesque performers
Speaker 1: whipping around the pole and so fast forward. I was
Speaker 1: living in New York and I started taking pole dancing
Speaker 1: classes myself, and yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah took
Speaker 1: pole dancing classes. Like. I didn't do it for very long, though,
Speaker 1: I have to say that I did not keep up
Speaker 1: with it. I only took it. I only took three classes.
Speaker 1: But it was very liberating. It really was absolutely and
Speaker 1: what you said right there liberating, and when I took
Speaker 1: those classes, I felt so sexually empowered. I felt limba,
Speaker 1: you know, I was just like such a beautiful art form,
Speaker 1: and so I really wanted to dell them too, the
Speaker 1: lives of the women who created this art form. And
Speaker 1: I knew that obviously, you know, it comes out of
Speaker 1: you know, the exotic dancing and the South, and so
Speaker 1: I just really wanted to do this fusion of my
Speaker 1: love for the South, my love for dancing, and my
Speaker 1: love for just you know, women who are about their hustle.
Speaker 1: So I ended up researching it for six years. I
Speaker 1: visited over forty clubs, interviewed over forty dancers. I remember
Speaker 1: I celebrated my thirtieth birthday in the locker room of
Speaker 1: Sin City in New York City. I was just really
Speaker 1: in love with the strength of the women and how
Speaker 1: resilient they were, even though, as we all know, the
Speaker 1: choice is hard. It can be hard when it comes
Speaker 1: to deciding to be a part of that life. And
Speaker 1: so you know, Pussy Valley just ended up being this
Speaker 1: excavation of the hardships, the struggles, but also the dreams.
Speaker 1: Like these women are dreamers, their hustlers, and so I
Speaker 1: was just so grateful that I was able to research
Speaker 1: for so long so I can get all these details.
Speaker 1: And so I ended up doing this play, which ended
Speaker 1: up being produced at Mixed Blood Theater in Minneapolis. And
Speaker 1: and when I saw the play, I was like, oh, Ship,
Speaker 1: this is the wrong medium. This is supposed to be
Speaker 1: a TV show. Ah, So you saw that as soon
Speaker 1: as you saw the thought as soon as I saw
Speaker 1: the plays, like, there's so much going on, and I
Speaker 1: wanted people to have Uncle Clifford and Mercedes and Miss
Speaker 1: Mississippi in their living rooms, not just in the theater.
Speaker 1: I didn't want people to have to travel to a
Speaker 1: space to be in the same room with them. I
Speaker 1: wanted to bring those characters inside of people's houses. And
Speaker 1: so that's why I decided to flip it into a
Speaker 1: TV show, because TV is just such an accessible medium
Speaker 1: and quite frankly my favorite medium. Yeah, it's so interesting
Speaker 1: because I took that class, but I've never been to
Speaker 1: a strip Closs know what we gotta get you to
Speaker 1: the Closs. I know. Now I'm feeling like I've done
Speaker 1: myself and injustice, like I probably need to actually experience
Speaker 1: it live and see what it's really like. If I
Speaker 1: were to do that, Katri, where do you think I
Speaker 1: should go for that experience? You have to get down
Speaker 1: to Magic City and they lay on them. Okay, Okay,
Speaker 1: I was so inspired by that place. We actually have
Speaker 1: more than a few dancers who are our core dancers
Speaker 1: who actually work at Magic City Kingdom Diamonds down in
Speaker 1: Miami and in Atlanta. That got an Atlanta spot now
Speaker 1: is a really great place to go, just because it's
Speaker 1: a theatrical experience. It is, it's spectacle, its show. You know,
Speaker 1: there's new to the Yes that it's kind of the
Speaker 1: requirement being a stripper, But like I said, these women
Speaker 1: are athletes what they can do on the pole with
Speaker 1: their bodies and also together. Like I get blown away
Speaker 1: when I see two women on the pole together because
Speaker 1: they're literally holding each other up and the figure around
Speaker 1: like the wind. So those are the two places that
Speaker 1: I think, you know you should go. You gotta get
Speaker 1: down South because the other strip club culture is different. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I actually am trying to plan a trip to Atlanta
Speaker 1: and over this year for a different event, So I
Speaker 1: might have to include a trip to what was the
Speaker 1: name of it, magic Magic City City? Okay, I might
Speaker 1: have to do that. So when you were in the
Speaker 1: room pitching p Valley to the TV executives, you know
Speaker 1: what was their response? They like, is this woman insane?
Speaker 1: Or was it well received? Did they jump on it
Speaker 1: right away? There was a lot of collection of pearls.
Speaker 1: I remember I brought this sizzle reel and it had
Speaker 1: that song as the background, like cut off together, and
Speaker 1: they were just like, whoa, this is a lot and
Speaker 1: you don't. It's understandable, but also frustrating, right, you know,
Speaker 1: I knew that the strip club culture was something to
Speaker 1: be celebrated and understood, and you know, they were just
Speaker 1: looking at it with you know, something of their noses,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh my gosh, it could be exploited.
Speaker 1: It could you know, it could It could have easily
Speaker 1: go in the complete wrong direction, in the wrong hands.
Speaker 1: I totally get that, totally got it. There are some
Speaker 1: places that wouldn't even let me come in and pitch.
Speaker 1: They were like, no, we're not stepping on that cultural
Speaker 1: land mind. But stars. I remember it was the last
Speaker 1: place I pitched, and I remember I was late, you know,
Speaker 1: the l A traffic, and I remember getting in there
Speaker 1: and I just poured out, you know, the why of
Speaker 1: why I wanted to do this series and tell this story,
Speaker 1: and I think at the core of it, you know,
Speaker 1: this is about celebrating the hard work and black women
Speaker 1: and black women who are survivors. Yes, you know, this
Speaker 1: particular profession is very complicated and not everyone understands it.
Speaker 1: It's very misunderstood. But they saw past the kind of lastidiousness.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, some people came to the pitch
Speaker 1: with in their mind and they really saw the truth
Speaker 1: of what I was trying to do, which was to
Speaker 1: humanize this world and these women. And I think the
Speaker 1: way that you do that, the way that you humanize
Speaker 1: the character is by making them so three dimensional, like
Speaker 1: we actually get into their lives so that we can
Speaker 1: relate to them. Is that right? Absolutely? Absolutely? You know
Speaker 1: that I was so blessed to have been able to
Speaker 1: sit in not only the locker room with a lot
Speaker 1: of these women, but also going to their homes, meeting
Speaker 1: their sons, meeting their husbands, you know, really just integrating
Speaker 1: myself into their lives like a fly on the wall.
Speaker 1: And so I really created that almost journalistic approach when
Speaker 1: it came to the research in helping me, you know,
Speaker 1: create this fictionalized world where everyone felt so human. Everyone
Speaker 1: feels like a sister or a cousin or a mama.
Speaker 1: You know, we know all of these women and all
Speaker 1: of these men. We've crossed paths with them many times,
Speaker 1: and I'm just so glad that our audience not only
Speaker 1: they see, you know, their family members, but oftentimes they
Speaker 1: see themselves when they watch the value. Now, I want
Speaker 1: to talk a bit about the casting too, because I'm
Speaker 1: assuming the women men that are cast in the series
Speaker 1: are real strippers. Is that correct or no? Then how
Speaker 1: the hell did you so? How in the hell did
Speaker 1: they learn to day? It was a process? Listen, because
Speaker 1: what I have done is watch a pole dancing contest
Speaker 1: on YouTube and you have to be strong and powerful
Speaker 1: and it's no joke. It was crazy. What's so cool
Speaker 1: is that we have very long casting process because for me,
Speaker 1: as a writer, I'm very adamant that the soul matches
Speaker 1: the soul of the character that I've created. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: the acting and who that person is, what they're going
Speaker 1: to bring to the role in terms of essence, it's
Speaker 1: the most important thing I left out in that. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about Brandy Evans, for example, she used to be
Speaker 1: a background dancer. She's danced for Snoop Dogg, She's danced
Speaker 1: for Katie Perry. She just she was a dancer. She
Speaker 1: had never you know, stripped, but you know she knows
Speaker 1: about a muscle memory and getting routines down and so,
Speaker 1: you know, for her, in terms of her particular trajectory,
Speaker 1: we just threw her in all dancing classes. She followed
Speaker 1: dancers like she studied and learned the art of it,
Speaker 1: just like she learned the art of hip hop dance.
Speaker 1: Then you had other people like Shannon Thornton, who has
Speaker 1: never been off the pole. In our lives. Let's step
Speaker 1: back for a minute, because Brandy Evans plays Mercedes, so
Speaker 1: she's the main character. So who is this So Shenon
Speaker 1: Thornton plays Miss Mississippi, right, yes, and so that's her thing.
Speaker 1: But now she trained so hard, gotten so sore. You know,
Speaker 1: we put them like in a boot camp, so if
Speaker 1: they were where of the city that they were living in.
Speaker 1: Once they got cast, we put them on a pole
Speaker 1: dancing program and so they learned, you know, from level
Speaker 1: one all the way as far as they could go
Speaker 1: in terms of cultivating their skill set so that when
Speaker 1: they got to set, they could do something. But of
Speaker 1: course we have these amazing dance doubles who step in
Speaker 1: and step up and do the way more complicated tricks.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you something, our ladies they sell
Speaker 1: it like you could. You cannot think that it's knocked
Speaker 1: them up on the pole, just because the way that
Speaker 1: it's edited and just how hard they work, Like we
Speaker 1: can really overlap a lot of their the dancing between
Speaker 1: them and the doubles when people are watching the show.
Speaker 1: So it's been a hard road, but they're hard workers.
Speaker 1: And so in terms of casting, you know, like I said,
Speaker 1: it's all about are they really good actors? They feel
Speaker 1: like the character that comes first, and you know, the
Speaker 1: skill set of pole dancing is something that they've all
Speaker 1: kind of trained together. Now, the first season of the
Speaker 1: show was entirely directed by women. I'm sure that was intentional,
Speaker 1: and why it's interesting. I was open men directing, I
Speaker 1: really was, but you know, I have a very tough
Speaker 1: interview process. So I remember during the interview process, I
Speaker 1: would be like, so what's your idea of the female gays?
Speaker 1: And also interesting was that the male directors that I
Speaker 1: you know, asked this question too. They never really have
Speaker 1: thought about it, They had never really done it in
Speaker 1: their work. They felt like it was necessary. And for me,
Speaker 1: the Female Gays is about centering the female experience looking
Speaker 1: through a woman's eyes. And it just so you know,
Speaker 1: every time a woman director, you know, stepped up to
Speaker 1: the play, they had already been dealing with it within
Speaker 1: their own work. And they also understood that, you know,
Speaker 1: historically women have not been framed so particularly women like
Speaker 1: strippers or or prostitute sex workers, and so you can
Speaker 1: very easily just center on the sexiness of a woman
Speaker 1: instead of who a woman is, who that character is.
Speaker 1: And so because this show is so much it's filtered
Speaker 1: through the female games, it's you know, those women, those
Speaker 1: female directors, they just answered that question so well that
Speaker 1: it was just obvious that those were the women who
Speaker 1: were the right folks for the job. Yeah, and like
Speaker 1: you said, it is a topic and how it's portrayed,
Speaker 1: you know, is extremely important because it can go left
Speaker 1: and they can go straight to the sex and the
Speaker 1: sibiousness that tends to come along when you think about
Speaker 1: strip clubs. For example, I remember asking a guy if
Speaker 1: you were, you know, lensing a beautiful dance what would
Speaker 1: you focus on? And the guy was like, yeah, we'll
Speaker 1: travel the camera will travel down her body and we
Speaker 1: will see her shape and then we'll go behind her
Speaker 1: and to see how plump she is. And it was
Speaker 1: just like, nah, do that? What do we need? So
Speaker 1: when were the kinds of comments and that you've gotten
Speaker 1: from fans of the show, Like when you're walking down
Speaker 1: the street. I don't really be walking down the street
Speaker 1: too much. I'm like, I'd be holed up in the
Speaker 1: house trying to finish these scripts. But you know, when
Speaker 1: I have been able to, like it's usually like my
Speaker 1: you know, my family like it like gatherings, you know. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: hitter or whatever, they're just like, oh my god, look
Speaker 1: cause listen you did. That's like my life. That's my uncle,
Speaker 1: that's actually me. You know. There's a lot of, like
Speaker 1: I said, people feeling reflective. You know, sometimes people are like, okay,
Speaker 1: episode two there was too much. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: lu y'all went there. Now. I saw an interview when
Speaker 1: you said that like Uncle Clifford was based on some
Speaker 1: members of your family or people that you know. Is
Speaker 1: that true? Absolutely true? So Uncle Clifford is a fusion
Speaker 1: of my real Uncle Clifford, and my mom and my dad.
Speaker 1: I wanted this character to feel very feminine and masculine
Speaker 1: and equal measure, and so I just pulled the best
Speaker 1: and the worst attributes from those three people and like
Speaker 1: put it in a pot, mix it together, and then
Speaker 1: out pop the fiction of Uncle Clifford. And something that
Speaker 1: I like to do in my work is I always
Speaker 1: love to name a really great character after a family member.
Speaker 1: It's a way to you know, pay homage to my
Speaker 1: living ancestors, the people who are with me, who raised me,
Speaker 1: who you know, make me right the way that I do,
Speaker 1: which is you know, steeped in Southern nous and just
Speaker 1: those kind of like quick witty things that Uncle Clifford
Speaker 1: says and the rules. So it's the way that people
Speaker 1: talk in the show is how I grew up speaking.
Speaker 1: And the people who you know, my closest family members,
Speaker 1: they just really poured that sound into me, and so
Speaker 1: it comes out of my fingertips every time that I write.
Speaker 1: Now for the listeners, in case you don't know, Uncle
Speaker 1: Clifford runs the Pink. The Pink is the club and
Speaker 1: cal Clifford is the one who runs the club. Are
Speaker 1: there any other characters that were plucked from your life
Speaker 1: really feel like every single character feels like someone I've known,
Speaker 1: or there's a sliver of me inside of all of
Speaker 1: the characters, yes, in terms of their personalities. And I
Speaker 1: grew up with all sisters, and so the sisterhood that
Speaker 1: happens in the locker room and on stage and on
Speaker 1: the main floor is something that I know very well,
Speaker 1: having grown up with a lot of women and a
Speaker 1: lot of extrogens in the house, you know, for good
Speaker 1: or or bad. It's inspired by everything that I've experienced
Speaker 1: in my life, in addition to all of the research
Speaker 1: that I've done over the years. When it comes to
Speaker 1: strip club and strippers. Okay, then let's talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about the relationship between Uncle Clifford and Little Murder
Speaker 1: the rapper on there. I was surprised by that. Why
Speaker 1: were you surprised? It just seemed like a hook up
Speaker 1: to me. I just it's like, he's a rapper, Like, okay,
Speaker 1: so what was that about. So that's exactly because I
Speaker 1: wanted people to be like, oh my god, what is this?
Speaker 1: They feel like a very odd couple. And yet yeah,
Speaker 1: and all the undercover you know, because that's real. It
Speaker 1: is some folks out here any streets and they're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out who they are, who they're attracted to.
Speaker 1: And it was very surprising, I think, you know, in
Speaker 1: in that first episode to Uncle Clifford for a homeboy,
Speaker 1: Little Murder played by j Alfons Nicholson to be like,
Speaker 1: you know, all just like lovey dovey, like just looking
Speaker 1: Uncle Clifford up and down. And so we really wanted
Speaker 1: to center a black queer relationship in the show's still
Speaker 1: very undercover undercover, particularly in season one, and you know,
Speaker 1: Uncle Clifford being much older than the murder, having gone
Speaker 1: through a lifegown south where the home of o be,
Speaker 1: it just extremely rank it to the point where you know,
Speaker 1: you know, you can get killed for being who you are,
Speaker 1: still can be killed for being who you are, right
Speaker 1: and so really did not want to put their relationship
Speaker 1: out on front Street, and the Little Murder was all
Speaker 1: trying to you know, take care out on dates and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And so if anyone has seen you know, the first season,
Speaker 1: at the end Latle Murder actually shuts her after all
Speaker 1: that kind of you know, rolling up on her, and
Speaker 1: that really is a slap in the face to the
Speaker 1: character of Uncle Clifford because it's just, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: my my worst fear of not being recognized and embraced
Speaker 1: by someone that I could potentially love. You know, it's traumatizing.
Speaker 1: And so we spent the first season really looking into that,
Speaker 1: that down lowness and how it's very hurtful on an
Speaker 1: emotional level. Um, and we're gonna pull that thread into
Speaker 1: season two, and I hope people are ready for the
Speaker 1: roller coaster that we're about to take them off. In
Speaker 1: regards to those two write their yeah, I'm ready. Now.
Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about Mercedes and
Speaker 1: her mom because I was sick of her. I was
Speaker 1: sick of her mom at the end of Look girl,
Speaker 1: what church lady. Yes, it's poor Mercedes. Is she ever
Speaker 1: gonna be without I guess you can't really give everything away,
Speaker 1: but is she ever be able to recoup from that?
Speaker 1: Because I'm like, that was everything. It was all her money.
Speaker 1: But for all y'all who don't know, like Mercedes, who
Speaker 1: was our handline, our best dancer at the club, you know,
Speaker 1: she had been trying to retire for years in order
Speaker 1: to you know, cultivate a relationship with her daughter and
Speaker 1: to get this gym for these major retes. You know,
Speaker 1: she was a coach for a man, and so she
Speaker 1: had say to all her scuirrell, all her money and
Speaker 1: her hypocritical bible, something relot of a mama, her trees
Speaker 1: would find deals, all of her money for the dance studio.
Speaker 1: And so her dream wiped out by her mother is trauma,
Speaker 1: like like on on twenty five, like it just upended
Speaker 1: everything that she'd have been working for. And so the audience,
Speaker 1: which totally made sense, hates her truths were by inded,
Speaker 1: you know. And I think it's because you know, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of mother daughter relationships that are very
Speaker 1: traumatic and they're toxic, right, and I think that storyline,
Speaker 1: in particular, those two characters really allow us to see
Speaker 1: our own relationships with our mother's and them and beyond
Speaker 1: the relationship with the mother. For me, what was so
Speaker 1: off putting was the hypocritical nature of her of the
Speaker 1: mother with the church, the whole church thing, and you know,
Speaker 1: the thing of being down south where there's these respectability
Speaker 1: of politics at play, where you know, I ran into
Speaker 1: that when I was even pitching the series, right in
Speaker 1: these rooms where people were thumbing their nose I don't
Speaker 1: know if we should do it show about strippers there,
Speaker 1: you know, are these women who have family members who
Speaker 1: they'll take the money that they're making, you know, shaking
Speaker 1: it because right, they'll talk about them the next second,
Speaker 1: because it's not seen as something that's moral. Um. And
Speaker 1: I really wanted to highlight that because I just think
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of judgment in our community, in
Speaker 1: every community, real talk, and so I think this particular
Speaker 1: relationship allows us to really deconstruct those feelings and those
Speaker 1: tensions when it comes to how religion oftentimes plays a
Speaker 1: very unfortunate role when it comes to how there's divides
Speaker 1: and like moral judgment communities and our families. To lastly,
Speaker 1: but not least, I love the relationship between Mississippi and Diamond.
Speaker 1: Is that right? Yeah? Because I think Diamond is so sweet.
Speaker 1: Are we gonna see that blossom more? We're gonna see something.
Speaker 1: We're gonna see something. Okay, We're not gonna give it away.
Speaker 1: I understand, I totally understanding. Before we wrap up, Cotri,
Speaker 1: I want to focus a little bit just on your
Speaker 1: own career, and I wanted to know if there was
Speaker 1: anyone growing up as you were coming and navigating your
Speaker 1: career that you emulated. I actually had a conversation with
Speaker 1: some folks and entertainment directors, and I was saying how
Speaker 1: important writing is, and I just feel like we need
Speaker 1: more writers. We need more Black writers, because I think
Speaker 1: there's just such an array we have. There an abundance
Speaker 1: of stories that we could be telling about our lives.
Speaker 1: And it's not all just about slavery. It's all just
Speaker 1: about you know, drugs and gangs. We live full lives
Speaker 1: as a culture, just like anybody else, but the stories
Speaker 1: aren't being told. So I just think writing is so
Speaker 1: important because you can't You gotta start from somewhere, and
Speaker 1: it starts with the writing. To me, I love this
Speaker 1: question because as a Black writer, I am stepping into
Speaker 1: such a beautiful tradition. There's so many amazing Black writers
Speaker 1: that have come before me, whether it's Tony Morrison, August Wilson.
Speaker 1: I would say, growing up, I thought I was going
Speaker 1: to be a novelist. I didn't think that I was
Speaker 1: going to step into the world of drama just because
Speaker 1: you know, I'd like to be by myself. But then
Speaker 1: as I grew up, I love the idea of community
Speaker 1: and that's what drew me to theater. So I think
Speaker 1: one of the writers that probably has influenced me the
Speaker 1: most is August Wilson. August Wilson absolute giants of the
Speaker 1: American theater, you know, just everything that he's written and
Speaker 1: everything that he stood for. I used to remember I
Speaker 1: met him one day and I was like, I want
Speaker 1: to be like you when I grow up. Obviously he
Speaker 1: laughed at me, but eventually I got to a place
Speaker 1: where I wanted to be more like me when I
Speaker 1: grew up, and it was seeing August Wilson, you know,
Speaker 1: write his world like the people around him that I
Speaker 1: think made me feel as though that I could do that.
Speaker 1: And so I would say August Wilson is probably one
Speaker 1: of my greatest influences, particularly stepping into the world of
Speaker 1: dramatic right. Yeah, I think I've seen every one of
Speaker 1: his plays. I absolutely love him. What advice would you
Speaker 1: have for any up and coming play rights out there?
Speaker 1: Keep your eyes on your own paper. What I mean
Speaker 1: by that is, oftentimes we get swept up into what
Speaker 1: the trend is and what the industry says it's the
Speaker 1: thing to do, and we want what other people got,
Speaker 1: who they got their deal or they've getting their play
Speaker 1: done at that place. And at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: you have to write what makes you special, what makes
Speaker 1: you unique. It's your voice. Try not to replicate somebody else.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be inspired influenced by another. Right. But the
Speaker 1: more you write the stories that only you can write,
Speaker 1: I think the more successful you'll be. Good advice, Good advice.
Speaker 1: Now what do you have coming up next? What can
Speaker 1: we look forward to? So? I have this play called
Speaker 1: The Hot Wing King that won the Pulitzer last year.
Speaker 1: It is going up at the Alliance Theater down in
Speaker 1: Atlanta and early and I'm directing it, so it'll be
Speaker 1: my theater directorial debut. I actually got a chance to
Speaker 1: direct the season finale of The Valley season two, okay
Speaker 1: this past earlier this year, which I was super proud of.
Speaker 1: So I'm definitely stepping into my little directing lane, which
Speaker 1: I really love. Like we need more directors of color,
Speaker 1: female directors. This season was directed by all women as well,
Speaker 1: so I just really excited to become part of the
Speaker 1: directing family when it comes to artists. Congratulations, I'm excited
Speaker 1: for you. Thank you, You're very welcome. I look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing that play as well. Yeah, come on down
Speaker 1: to Atlanta. Were how to get you there? And I
Speaker 1: know I gotta be that way. Now it's time for
Speaker 1: a segment. Wouldn't you like to know? I have a
Speaker 1: couple of rapid fire questions I'd like you to answer. Okay,
Speaker 1: what book are you currently reading? It's interesting. I'm actually
Speaker 1: rereading The Piano Lesson by August Wilson. It's one of
Speaker 1: my favorite plays and it's about to be on Broadway
Speaker 1: with Senor Jack. Yes, okay, what is one thing you
Speaker 1: want to get off your chest that people need to
Speaker 1: stop being racist? It's heartbreaking the other day the young
Speaker 1: white kid going to Buffalo and shooting up you know,
Speaker 1: black folks just because of all this hatred. It's just
Speaker 1: something that obviously is They talk about COVID being a virus,
Speaker 1: but that's a virus. Just you know, I want everybody
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to not just be Oh
Speaker 1: I'm not racist. People have to be a tie racist.
Speaker 1: So that's you know, I'm always on my soapbox about
Speaker 1: that is a lot of people are. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: really good conversation to have. And I was on Instagram
Speaker 1: and was looking at a comment that Amanda Seals made
Speaker 1: and my response to that was like, yeah, how do
Speaker 1: we because because it is something that we can't continue
Speaker 1: to ignore the hate of white supremacy. But it's also like,
Speaker 1: how do you fight that exactly? You know, how do
Speaker 1: you fight that? It's something to really think about and
Speaker 1: it's a really important conversation that I think we need
Speaker 1: to start having. So thank you for that. And what's
Speaker 1: the model that you live by? That's a good one. Um.
Speaker 1: Uncle Clifford has a new rule this season, and it
Speaker 1: goes like this, don't try to be everybody a cup
Speaker 1: of tea because you have nothing left to sit on
Speaker 1: for yourself. That's the rule, as that thing of you
Speaker 1: know you, you really gotta protect yourself, be yourself, don't
Speaker 1: try and just be out there. Make sure you keep
Speaker 1: something special for for you at the end of the day. Yeah,
Speaker 1: got you. That sounds like a good one. Where can
Speaker 1: we find you on social media? You can find me
Speaker 1: at Atuatory Hall, Instagram, and twittle. I was able. I
Speaker 1: was of that generation. I was actually able to get
Speaker 1: my name. I got it early, all right, I got
Speaker 1: my name. So that's how you can find me. That
Speaker 1: where y'all can get me a inquator Hall dot Com. Awesome,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, Thank you for stopping by Positivity
Speaker 1: Gamp and everyone go watch p Valley. New season is
Speaker 1: out now, come on down to the pank. My first
Speaker 1: takeaway after this conversation, it's really just acknowledging the importance
Speaker 1: of black writers. We have so many stories to tell
Speaker 1: and no one is gonna tell them better than we will. Secondly,
Speaker 1: every show isn't for everybody, but I hope you guys
Speaker 1: will back out PE Valley and not dismiss it because
Speaker 1: of some preconceived idea that you've cooked up in your head.
Speaker 1: It's really a good show. It's out on Stars right now,
Speaker 1: so check it out and that's our show. You can
Speaker 1: follow me online at Gammy. Naris also help us out
Speaker 1: by leaving a five star review on Apple Podcasts and
Speaker 1: by hitting the follow up button on I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Stay grateful, y'all, See you at the pink Positively. Gam
Speaker 1: is produced by Red Table Talk Podcast and I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Executive producers are Adrian Vanfield, Naris Balin, Jethro and Jada
Speaker 1: Pinkett Smith. Our audio engineer is Calvin Bailiff, and our
Speaker 1: associate producer is Irene Bischoff Burger. Our theme song is
Speaker 1: produced by d Beats Niveo