Eisa Davis (born May 5, 1971) is an American playwright, actress and singer-songwriter.
She is most commonly known for her work as a playwright, writing shows such as ''Bulrusher'' and ''Angela's Mixtape'' as well as through her acting work, wherein she won an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance. She resides in Brooklyn.
Early life and education
Davis spent her childhood in
San Francisco, California. As a child, she spent her time attending dance classes and learning the piano. She is the niece of political activist
Angela Davis. After graduating from
Berkeley High School, she earned a bachelor's degree from
Harvard University and a Master of Fine Arts from the
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...
, where she double majored in playwriting and acting. Her dance skills are notable as well, with the dean of her program saying she could have been admitted to
Alvin Ailey.
Career
Davis stars as Addie Pickett, nurse and receptionist at Bluebell, Alabama's local medical practice in The CW's series ''
Hart of Dixie'', a fish-out-of-water story about a New York City doctor (Rachel Bilson) adjusting to life in a small Southern town after she inherits a local medical practice. In 2006 Davis was nominated for, and subsequently won, an
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
for her performance in ''
Passing Strange''. The show premiered at
Berkeley Rep, but then moved on to
Broadway and Davis went with the show, only later to have the whole production filmed by
Spike Lee. In 2009 she wrote and starred in ''Angela's Mixtapes''. The show was autobiographical and went on to make it into the New Yorkers list of best plays from that year.
Davis was previously a resident playwright at New Dramatists, during which time she won two playwriting awards, the Whitfield Cook and the Helen Merrill.
Recently she has worked at Williams College as an Arthur Levitt Fellow for the 2013/14 season.
Currently she is the