‘BURNBABYBURN!’ Onstage at Pittsburgh Playwrights (Thurs., 9/10/26)

BURNBABYBURN! the american dream by a.k.payne. Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre Company. Through September 13

a.k. payne received the 2026 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Playwright and is a four-time finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (the oldest and largest international playwriting prize honoring women+ writing for the English-speaking theatre,) winning the prestigious award in 2025. Now, Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre Company will present payne’s latest theatrical work in a world premiere coproduction with the August Wilson House, outdoors.

BURNBABYBURN! the american dream is a fluid history of four generations of women who preceded payne’s own life story growing up in Pittsburgh. Through photographs, story-telling, action and intrigue, payne weaves together the interconnecting lessons of a journey through motherhood, loss, love, and hope. Memories serve both to mold and mitigate the truth for a young woman, Sky II, who seeks to heal that which came before her. Payne’s play, too, is a progressive story now to be staged for the first time in the very neighborhood that helped shape it. Curated by Monteze Freeland and directed by Karla C. Payne. 8 p.m. August Wilson House, 1727 Bedford Avenue, Hill District. (C.P.O.)

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