School Notes: David Geffen School of Drama
March/April 2017

Noted playwright to chair playwriting department

Award-winning playwright and director Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07MFA has been appointed chair of the Department of Playwriting at Yale School of Drama. McCraney, whose term officially starts on July 1, currently serves as professor of theater and civic engagement at the University of Miami. He joined Yale part-time in January in order to help admit the next class of playwriting students. McCraney’s plays have been produced all over the world, and he has received numerous honors, including the Whiting Award, the Windham-Campbell Prize, the London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, the New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award, and a 2013 MacArthur Fellowship. His In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed film Moonlight, which has earned screenwriting Oscar nominations for McCraney and Barry Jenkins. In addition to his role as chair of the department, McCraney will succeed Paula Vogel as playwright-in-residence at Yale Repertory Theatre.