Brown Sugar Dreams
Today is Brown Sugar’s birthday, and she has three things she must tackle off her to do list: “1. Try out a vibrator to see if I’m broken. 2. Squash all beef with anyone I’ve ever fallen out with. Ever. Including beef with bitches from pre-k, which means that 3. I guess I have to unblock my father.” Follow along her birthday journey as she breaks no contact with her ex-situationship, ex-best friend, and ex-father.
This play is based on real events. Hella loosely!
Names, timelines, conversations, and entire situations have been bent, blended, exaggerated, or completely invented in service of the story…not my dad’s name though. His government will be getting aired out! Enjoy.
TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of suicide/suicidal ideation, brief strobe lighting, loud music, and crude language. Apologies in advance if you already have daddy issues, too!
CAST
Brown Sugar……………...Kennedy Niyah Hill
Automated Voice………...……Nariya Douglas
Sean from Fed-Ex……………Shyhiem Parker
All other characters will be played by Kennedy Niyah Hill: Dr. Pharaoh, Dr. Jones, Dad, Jaden, and Niyah.
Kennedy Niyah Hill
Actor/Playwright
Kennedy Niyah Hill is an actor, writer, and multidisciplinary artist who’s in the pursuit of creating more funny, authentic, and necessary coming-of-age stories that center Black voices. Her work blends bold, colorful, and highly stylized worlds with characters that are complex, relatable, and deeply moving. Kennedy is a co-founder of Eight Ball Theatre, a non profit launched alongside her BFA class of ‘23 from the University of Southern California. Past roles at Eight Ball include playing Viola from Twelfth Night, Mom/Ensemble in Memory Lane is a Desert Road, and working as a playwright in the Eight Ball SRF lab to develop her play We Get to Go Back. She is 1/3 Creator of Fifth Floor Studios – a production company dedicated to telling Black stories for us, by us. Kennedy was able to write and produce her first web-series A Black College Show, through fifth floor, which garnered a fanbase on social media. @fifthfloorstudios.
For inquiries, please contact kennedy at kennedynhill6@gmail.com. To see more of her work, feel free to explore the above tabs on this website!
Director
Artrece Johnson
Artrece Johnson is an actor, producer, creative director, and multidisciplinary artist dedicated to crafting stories that inspire, challenge, and connect audiences. Her work spans television, film, theatre, and live experiences, with screen credits including Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist (2024), A Thousand and One (2023), and Abbott Elementary (2021). Whether in front of the camera or behind the scenes, Artrece approaches every project with a strong creative vision and a commitment to authentic, impactful storytelling. As a producer and creative director, she is passionate about developing original work, fostering meaningful collaborations, and creating experiences that resonate long after the final curtain or closing credits. This production marks her directorial theatre debut, representing the next chapter in an ever-evolving career devoted to storytelling across mediums. Artrece welcomes opportunities to collaborate on projects that champion bold storytelling and creative innovation. For inquiries, please contact her at helloartrece@gmail.com and follow her on ig: @artrecejohnson to keep up with her latest works!
Thank you Electric Lodge for having us today!
Special thanks Gabe Udofia, our wonderful technical director. Special thanks to Shyhiem Parker, Dara Adedara, Nariya Douglas, Skye Mauslby, Kaylani Gaudart, Sofía Rodríguez-Toymil, Audrey Forman and Malika Dinan for making this show run smooth!
From the playwright: Special thanks to my family for always supporting me. Thank you mom for flying all the way out here!
