“Tarell Makes Man”

Joyce Awards Honoree Tarell Alvin McCraney Reflects on Artistic Growth in Chicago

At the age of 43, Tarell Alvin McCraney has already ascended to the highest of artistic highs, from writing Tony-winning Broadway plays (“Choir Boy”), to small screen success (OWN TV’s Peabody Award-winning “David Makes Man”), and, of course, as an Academy Award-winner for the groundbreaking and hauntingly beautiful film “Moonlight.”

But the Miami native and graduate of DePaul University’s acclaimed Theatre School insists that none of it would have happened if not for his time in Chicago.

“Chicago was the place I actually became an adult. I came to Chicago when I was 18 years old and I met lifelong collaborators, and found artistic homes that I’m still engaging with today,” McCraney said during a recent interview from his Los Angeles Office at the Geffen Playhouse, where he is currently artistic director.

McCraney said Chicago initially left him feeling isolated, culturally disconnected and, literally, cold: “I got off the plane and it was snowing — in September. I was like ‘What is this?!”

Learning his craft as a young DePaul student while seeking community outside of the Lincoln Park campus — initially in winter, no less — was something he struggled with. But also something that ultimately led him to Steppenwolf Theatre and its late artistic director Martha Lavey, and subsequent connections with other Black performers who connected him to Chicago’s vibrant Black and Brown communities on the South and West Sides. Those connections led to creative breakthroughs that sparked ideas for some of McCraney’s earliest work — and also led him to apply for, and win, a 2010 Joyce Award.

“People don’t realize how much spirit work this takes. Imagining in front of people is hard. And I never would have fallen in love with the city if I hadn’t found a way to connect back to my spirit and to community. Going to shows at an eta Creative Arts Foundation on the South Side. To get off the train and go to a Malcolm X Community College and take a dance class with Muntu…to connect those rhythms right back to what I was doing onstage in my own work, it mattered,” he said. “I needed that spiritual nourishment and I needed those connections.”

McCraney’s award-winning Joyce project, staged at Steppenwolf, was unusual for its time because ensemble members generally didn’t write productions to be staged there. But, he said, Lavey believed in his vision and aligned with the desire to advance a project rooted in the richness of Black community traditions. McCraney said Chicago’s theater lovers are so plugged and supportive they still stop him when he’s in town to tell him how much his Joyce Awards-winning project, The Brother/Sister Plays, meant to them. The risk of Steppenwolf taking on Brother/Sister paid off in a breakthrough of three interconnected plays exploring Afro-Caribbean folklore, West African spirituality, family loyalty, and sexual identity that was a critical and commercial success.

“The Joyce Awards came around at a time when I was trying to figure out how to write something that was rooted in community. I really wanted to talk about the fact that there were so many of us in Chicago with deep southern roots and really get into what those roots looked like and how, in some ways, they were dissipating,” McCraney said.

“Martha, God rest her soul, was very clear that she wanted to create something at Steppenwolf that reflected the city and its roots. While the play doesn’t take place in Chicago it still deals with some of the issues Chicago has always been known to wrestle with.”

Said Lavey in a 2014 WTTW interview about McCraney and the show: “Tarell has a very unique voice as a playwright. It’s a lively mix of his life experience and his learning. I think the Brother/Sister Plays were an immense accomplishment. He tried something different, and dug into his spiritual upbringing as a child.”

The Joyce Awards celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2024, supporting new works by artists of color in collaboration with leading arts, cultural and community-based institutions in the Great Lakes region.

Collaboration among artists and organizations in a way that meaningfully develops community engagement and enrichment is central to the ethos of the Awards, and McCraney’s project — among his first on the MainStage at Steppenwolf — perfectly exemplifies those goals.

“When we did the Brother/Sister Plays the number of Black folks under 40 who came into (Steppenwolf) jumped 30 to 40 percent. The thinking was: how do we keep that audience engaged?’ Not that they can’t come to the other plays, because the thing we know about Black audiences particularly is that you don’t have to be doing a Black play for us to show up, but it would be nice if we can see something that reflects us. That’s when Steppenwolf really engaged this moment. Steppenwolf has been essential in making sure I remain connected to community, and the Joyce award was the starting point of making sure that I was able to sustain that connection.”

In just two decades, the Joyce Awards has earned a reputation as a catalyst to greater artistic exposure and opportunities. Since its inception, the competition has awarded more than $4.4 million to commission 82 new collaborations, and honorees have subsequently won Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, Pulitzer Prizes and MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” fellowships, among other national awards.

McCraney holds the distinction of being the only Joyce Awards honoree to win an Academy Award. He recalls that after winning the Joyce Award, other organizations began taking notice of his work, and other awards and funding support followed in quick succession, including a 2013 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” fellowship.

“Once you get an award like the Joyce award, it connects you to the rest of the world of philanthropic giving, all of a sudden your name gets onto lists where its never been before. You can be cynical about that; I am not. I think that’s important. One of the best things to happen is to be able to say ‘this production is underwritten by the Joyce Foundation,’ or ‘this artist was given the Joyce Award in connection to creating this work,’” McCraney said. “If (Joyce) believes you are an investment, a seed that is going to give back to the ground that you’re in, that you’re going to be a nourishing artist in the region, it means other people need to pay attention.”