James Ijames | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1980 (age 44–45)[1] Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Occupation | Playwright |
| Education | Morehouse College(BA) Temple University(MFA) |
| Notable awards | Whiting Award[2] F. Otto Haas Award[3] |
James Ijames (/aɪmz/)[4] is an Americanplaywright originally fromBessemer City, North Carolina. He received his B.A. in Drama fromMorehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and earned his MFA in Acting fromTemple University inPhiladelphia, where he is now based. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Theatre atVillanova University[5] and former co-artistic director of theWilma Theater in Philadelphia.[6] Ijames is a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia's first playwright producing collective.[7] His adaptation ofHamlet, titledFat Ham, won thePulitzer Prize for Drama in 2022 after premiering as a "digital production" at the Wilma in 2021.[8] A second production ran atThe Public Theater during the summer of 2022,[9] before opening onBroadway in April 2023. He is the recipient of the 2018Whiting Award for drama and the F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist.
Ijames grew up inBessemer City, North Carolina. He received his BA in Drama fromMorehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and his MFA in Acting fromTemple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] He isgay.[10]
Ijames' work has been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon (Norristown, Pennsylvania), The National Black Theatre (Harlem), Ally Theatre Company (Washington, DC), and others.
Kill Move Paradise had its premiere at the National Black Theatre in 2017. Ben Brantley ofThe New York Times noted that "Mr. Ijames's play has no sense of an ending, or of resolution. It takes place in a nightmare of history, in which events are repeated, fugue-like, into eternity." He compared Ijames' work to the early works ofSuzan-Lori Parks.[11]
White was produced at the Theatre Horizon. In his review, Jim Rutter of thePhiladelphia Inquirer remarked on the play's ending and how it "adds a surreal twist by driving home Ijames' exploration of black women's exploitation by feminism, by contemporary culture and white women."[12]
Moon Man Walk was produced by Orbiter 3 in Philadelphia. Bryan Buttler writing forPhiladelphia Magazine praised the quality of the new work, stating "there's a lot of talk about "new work" in theater and opera in this town, butMoon Man Walk provides the kind of artistic quality that the Philadelphia arts community needs to not only achieve with new works but invest in."[13]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | F. Otto Haas Award | Emerging Artist | Won | [3] | |
| Barrymore Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play | Superior Donuts | Won | [18] | |
| 2012 | Barrymore Award | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play | Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches | Won | [18] |
| 2014 | Barrymore Award | Outstanding Direction of a Play | The Brothers Size | Won | [19] |
| 2015 | Terrence McNally Award | New Play | White | Won | |
| Pew Fellowship in the Arts | Playwriting | Won | |||
| 2017 | Whiting Award | Drama | Won | [2] | |
| 2018 | Kesselring Prize | Playwriting | Miz Martha | Honorable mention | |
| 2022 | Pulitzer Prize | Drama | Fat Ham | Won | [1] |
| 2023 | Tony Award | Best Play | Nominated | ||
| 2024 | Lambda Literary Award | Drama | Pending | [20] | |
Authority control databases: National |
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