Before rehearsals commenced for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch, Studio’s Directing Fellow in Residence, Nayanna Simone, spoke with director Psalmayene24 about activism, church, community, and the legacy of Ossie Davis. The following is an excerpt from that conversation, edited for clarity and length.
Nayanna: You’re a fan favorite in the D.C. theatre scene! What’s your artistic origin story, and how did it bring you here?
Psalmayene 24: Just a love of performance, really, that's where it all started. Dance was my first love, and acting sort of grew out of that. And then learning that art could actually be used to really bring communities together—how it could be used to make people think about important ideas– that's really where it started for me. I came to D.C. from Brooklyn to go to Howard. H.U.!
Nayanna: You know!
Psalmayene 24: That’s right. That really was a golden era in my life. Meeting other young people who were committed to being artists at the highest level, creating works that really illuminated our community. It was certainly formative in terms of my commitment to making sure that stories about Black people are told in as beautiful a way as possible. After graduating, I transitioned into writing and later, directing, and made a professional life in D.C., and here we are.
Nayanna: I love it! And what a pleasure to have you back in action at Studio.
Psalmayene24: Yeah, I love working in Studio. There's a certain kind of virtuosity that is apparent in their work—just excellent, world-class theater. Purlie Victorious was actually a piece that David Muse sent me, and after reading it, I was just shocked that more theaters haven’t produced it, and that it doesn’t occupy the same space in our canon as A Raisin in the Sun or even like The Colored Museum.
It’s superiorly written and so pertinent—especially with its connection to Black history at a time when truth is being diminished. And the comedy! People need laughter with all the madness and pain we’re enduring right now. It’s subversive in a way that makes me think of my roots at Howard—creating work that has meaning not just for the Black community but for our country, our world. It really is the perfect play for this moment.
Nayanna: Perfectly said! Given that the show was written during peak tensions within the Civil Rights Movement, seeing how joy is also used as a tool of resilience is so empowering. It also has an intriguing way of subverting stereotypes.
Psalmayene 24: Yeah! Part of what makes Purlie Victorious brilliant is the way it uses these archetypes from the American imagination to deepen our understanding of the Black experience and the overall American experience. Gitlow is a version of the Uncle Tom archetype. Idella is a version of the Mammy character, Old Captain Cotchipee is a more contemporary archetype— this ultra-racist white man who also holds his own place in our imagination. All these characters create this constellation of archetypes, and as the play goes on we dig into the bones and the meat that are underneath. Understanding that history is the engine behind the comedy.
Nayanna: Something else that I find really exciting about the play is the ways that we see Purlie preaching the bible and activism at the same time.
Psalmayene 24: Well, church is one of our political territories. A lot of politics are playing out on the religious stage. And it holds a special place, particularly for Black people. That’s where a lot of our leaders have come from. It’s one of the places where we saw refuge. It’s also one of the places that has been used to oppress us. Utilizing this institution that has been a tool of liberation and also a tool of oppression is also another brilliant stroke by Ossie Davis. Centering the story around Purlie trying to get this church back becomes a reclamation of our heritage, of who we are, and our true spirituality. I think that’s also part of the beauty of this play: it seems very simple on the surface, but it’s highly sophisticated underneath.
Nayanna: After seeing Purlie, what would you want the audience to be left with?
Psalmayene 24: That’s a good question... Because there are a lot of forces trying to push the needle backwards, I hope they think about how we can continue to push the country forward. I'm just looking forward to jumping into the world of this play and learning what it wants to be in D.C. at this moment. It's going to be a big discovery, I think, for the artists involved, and for the audience members, too.
Nayanna: Definitely. And extremely fun!
Psalmayene 24: Absolutely.