Horacena J. Taylor
Encyclopedia
Horacena J. Taylor is an American
director and stage manager. She is best known for staging the original off-Broadway
production of steve carter's
critically acclaimed play Nevis Mountain Dew
.
and is a graduate of Hampton Institute. She also attended Howard University
where she was a business manager for the Howard Players. Relocating to New York City, she gained the reputation as "one of best stage managers in New York."
Starting in the early 1970s
, Taylor has worked extensively as a stage manager on numerous productions for the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC)
including The Sty of the Blind Pig, The First Breeze of Summer and The Brownsville Raid.
In 1978, she made her off-Broadway
debut as a director with the play Nevis Mountain Dew
by steve carter
. The critically acclaimed production was selected by the Burns Mantle Yearbook as one of the ten best plays of the 1978-1979 season. For her work as a director, Taylor received a Drama Desk Award
nomination.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
director and stage manager. She is best known for staging the original off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production of steve carter's
Steve Carter (playwright)
Horace E. "Steve" Carter, Jr. is an American playwright, best known for his plays involving Caribbean immigrants living in the United States.-Biography:...
critically acclaimed play Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:...
.
Biography
Taylor was born in Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
and is a graduate of Hampton Institute. She also attended Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
where she was a business manager for the Howard Players. Relocating to New York City, she gained the reputation as "one of best stage managers in New York."
Starting in the early 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, Taylor has worked extensively as a stage manager on numerous productions for the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC)
Negro Ensemble Company
The Negro Ensemble Company is a New York City-based theater company. Established in 1967 by playwright Douglas Turner Ward, producer/actor Robert Hooks, and theater manager Gerald S...
including The Sty of the Blind Pig, The First Breeze of Summer and The Brownsville Raid.
In 1978, she made her off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
debut as a director with the play Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew
Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:...
by steve carter
Steve Carter (playwright)
Horace E. "Steve" Carter, Jr. is an American playwright, best known for his plays involving Caribbean immigrants living in the United States.-Biography:...
. The critically acclaimed production was selected by the Burns Mantle Yearbook as one of the ten best plays of the 1978-1979 season. For her work as a director, Taylor received a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination.
Theatre
| Year | Production | Theatre(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Home | Arena Stage Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics... |
|
| Colored People's Time | Cherry Lane Theatre | Did not play at Theatre Four due to the extended run of Charles Fuller's Charles Fuller Charles H. Fuller, Jr. is an American playwright, best known for his play, A Soldier's Play, for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.-Early years:... A Soldier's Play A Soldier's Play A Soldier's Play is a drama by Charles Fuller. The play uses a murder mystery to explore the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes.This play is loosely based... |
|
| 1980 | The Sixteenth Round | Theatre Four | |
| Big City Blues | St. Mark's Playhouse | ||
| 1979 | Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:... |
Arena Stage Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics... |
|
| Old Phantoms | St. Mark's Playhouse | ||
| 1978 | Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew Nevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:... |
St. Mark's Playhouse | Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play |
Awards and nominations
- 1979 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play for Nevis Mountain DewNevis Mountain DewNevis Mountain Dew is a 1978 play by American playwright steve carter . Set in the 1950s, it is the second of Carter's Caribbean trilogy. Nevis Mountain Dew explores the subject of euthanasia involving the patriarch of an affluent family who is confined to an iron lung.-Characters:Jared Philibert:...