You. Have. Done. The work.

You. Have. Done.   The work.
Pull.  Away. From the scene.

As soon as you
Can.
Crowds of people can. Kill you.

--Adrienne Kennedy

That is advice my aunt, playwright Adrienne Kennedy, gave writer Scott Brown after he had experienced some success.  Her syntax is unique and quirky, like her plays.  Best known for Funnyhouse of a Negro, which premiered in 1964 and won an Obie Award, she has penned more than 20 plays over six decades and taught playwriting at Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Berkley.  Now, at 91 years old, Aunt Adrienne finally made her Broadway debut.  

Ohio State Murders opened at the James Earl Jones Theatre on December 8, 2022 with the "undisputed Queen of Broadway," six-time Tony Award Winner Audra McDonald, playing the lead.  Directed by another Tony winner Kenny Leon, the 75-minute piece immerses us in the fraught experiences of a Black girl at a predominantly white university in 1949. 

Although many of my aunt's plays are surreal, this work is semi-autobiographical exploring very real and poignant issues of race and gender in American society with parts that are unnerving as the title reveals.  As a family member, I was shocked by some of the twists and still don't know if the most agonizing scenes are true.  Audra McDonald, whom our Kennedy tribe of cousins and my mom met backstage, captured Aunt Adrienne's emotion, rhythm and voice in an uncanny way through the character Suzanne Alexander.  It was an incredibly powerful performance.  When asked why she thinks it took so long to get on Broadway, my aunt said: “It’s because I’m a Black woman.” 

Aunt Adrienne has influenced multiple generations of creatives from Anna Deavere Smith to Natalie Portman.  In 2018, she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and received the Gold Medal for Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2022, an event I was grateful to attend.  Here is the program. She is in the exclusive company of just a handful of other notables: Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller.  

Like my dear mentor Tao Porchon-Lynch who wowed people until 101, Aunt Adrienne is showing us that it's never too late to realize your dreams.  THAT'S Power Living!   Just. Do. The work.

Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy outside the James Earl Jones Theatre in New York, 12/09/22

Janie Sykes-Kennedy, Sheila Kennedy Bryant, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy and Maureen Kennedy at the Marriott Marquis in New York, 12/09/22

Doug Williams, Joedy Kennedy and Leon Isaac Kennedy at the Marriott Marquis in New York, 12/09/22

Thelma Golden, Adam Kennedy, Joedy Kennedy, Hilton Als, Anna Deavere Smith, Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, and Renee Kennedy at Academy of Arts & Letters in New York, 05/18/22

Contributed by Teresa Kay-Aba Kennedy, 12/19/22.