Genesis Future Directors Award winner Nancy Medina brings a Pulitzer Prize nominated play to the Young Vic Theatre

22 November 2017

On 22 November 2017 this year’s Genesis Future Directors Award winner Nancy Medina will premiere Yellowman at The Clare, Young Vic. The Pulitzer Prize nominated play by Dael Orlandersmith was described by Variety as a “celebration of young love and a harrowing study of smouldering domestic violence.”

Nancy won the Genesis Future Directors Award with fellow director Lucy J Skilbeck. The award, which was established in 2012, was created to support and nurture emerging directors by providing them with an opportunity to explore and develop their craft, as they create their first fully-resourced stage production at the Young Vic.

Yellowman follows Alma and Eugene, as they struggle to escape familiar definitions of blackness. Amidst the legacy of Southern black poverty, the impact of the shade of their skin unearths unexpectedly powerful racial tensions.

Discussing Yellowman in an interview on BBC Radio London, Nancy said:

“The play explores the idea that both sides of it [light/dark colourism] are suffering in this inherent interracial racism…So what the play looks at is how do we start unpicking our history? How did this come about that we still today are living in this world where we’re pitting against each other, if you’re darker, if you’re lighter?”

To listen to the full BBC Radio London interview [2:39 – 2:49], click here.

Tickets for Yellowman are now sold out but those wishing to see the show are welcome to join the returns queue at the Box Office from 7.00pm. More information here.

To read more about Nancy and past productions she has directed click here.

For more information about the Genesis Foundation Future Directors Award, click here.