Janine Nabers
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Janine Nabers is an American playwright and television writer.


Early life

Nabers was born in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
to Janet and Cornelius Nabers. She attended
Alief Elsik High School Alief Elsik High School is a high school in the Alief region of Houston, Texas, United States. Elsik is divided into two campuses: the main campus (12601 High Star in Houston, zip code 77072), and the Alief Elsik Ninth Grade Center (located a ...
in Houston. Nabers has a BA in
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
from
Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca (town), New York, Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a Music school, conservatory of music. Ithaca College is known for its media-related programs and entertainment program ...
and an MFA in
playwriting A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwright" ...
from
The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
. She is also a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the
Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Career


Theater

Nabers was initially interested in becoming a stage actress but her frustration with the lack of black roles in plays encouraged her to try playwriting instead. In her time at Juilliard, her play ''Annie Bosh is Missing'' was chosen as a finalist for the 2012-2013 Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. ''Annie Bosh is Missing'' follows 22-year-old drug addict Annie Bosh who wanders the tumultuous streets of Houston after
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
. The play had its premiere at the
Steppenwolf Theatre Company Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry (American actor), Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chica ...
in 2013. Nabers' play, ''Serial Black Face'', about a single mother coping with the disappearance of her son during the
Atlanta child murders Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, won the 2014 Yale Drama Series prize. The award included publication by the
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
. ''Serial Black Face'' had its world premiere at the Actor's Express Theatre Company in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
in 2016. Nabers' other works include ''A Swell in the Ground'', which premiered at the Gift Theatre in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in 2017 and ''Welcome to Jesus'', which premiered at The American Theater Company in Chicago in 2017, ''Juniper; Jubilee'' and ''The Peterson Show''.


Television

Nabers' television writing credits include Bravo's first scripted series ''
Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce ''Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce'' (also known as ''Girlfriends' Guide to Freedom'' in season 3, ''Girlfriends' Guide to Bossing Up'' in season 4, and ''Girlfriends' Guide to Ever After'' in season 5) is an American comedy-drama television series ...
,'' Lifetime's ''
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'' and AMC's '' Dietland.'' She is credited as Supervising Producer on the first and second episodes of HBO's ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
'' and Co-Executive Producer on Netflix's ''
Away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...
.'' She was a writer on the third season of ''
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'', and in 2021 she signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios. In 2023, '' Swarm'', the series Nabers co-created with
Donald Glover Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...
, was released on Amazon’s Prime Video.


Honors and awards

In 2011, Nabers was the recipient of the Page 73 Playwriting Fellowship. In 2012, she was named a
New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theater noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it h ...
Playwriting Fellow. Nabers won the 2013
New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...
Playwriting fellowship and was the 2013-2014 AETNA Playwriting Fellow at Hartford Stage. She is an alumna of the
Ars Nova ''Ars nova'' ()Fallows, David. (2001). "Ars nova". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan. refers to a musical style which flourished in the Kingdom of ...
Play Group, the
Soho Rep The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep,The official website'now use "Soho", with a lowercase h, as do most articles from th''New York Times''/ref> is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for pro ...
Writer/Director Lab, the
Dramatists Guild The Dramatists Guild of America is a professional organization for playwrights, composers, and lyricists working in the U.S. theatre market. It was born in 1921 out of the Authors Guild, known then as Authors League of America, formed in 1912. ...
Playwriting Fellowship, the MacDowell Colony Fellowship, and the 2010 and 2011
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Theatre Labs. She is also a member of the MCC Playwrights Coalition and the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at
Primary Stages Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theaters. In 2014, the ...
. As a 2015-2016 participant in the LA Writers' Workshop at Center Theater Group, she won the Fadiman Playwriting Award in 2018 for her play ''The Peterson Show.'' She was a 2016-2017 member of the Echo Theater Playwright's Lab. As a supervising producer on HBO's ''Watchmen,'' Nabers was nominated for
Writers Guild of America Awards The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility The ...
for Best New Series and Best Drama Series and won the Best New Series award in 2020.


Works


Theatre

* ''Juniper; Jubilee'' * ''Annie Bosh is Missing'' * ''Serial Black Face'' * ''A Swell in the Ground'' * ''Welcome to Jesus'' * ''The Peterson Show''


Television


Selected works

* Nabers, Janine. "Juniper; Jubilee." ''Off Off Broadway Festival Plays, 33rd Series'', edited by Thomas C. Dunn. New York: Samuel French, 2008 *Nabers, Janine. ''Letters to Kurt'', Playscripts Incorporated, 2012 * Nabers, Janine. ''Decade: Twenty New Plays about 9/11 and Its Legacy,'' edited by Samual Adamson, London: Nick Hern Books, 2012 * Nabers, Janine. ''Serial Black Face.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015 * Nabers, Janine. "Serial Black Face''." The Kilroys List: 97 Monologues and Scenes by Female and Trans Playwrights. Volume One'', edited by Annah Feinberg for The Kilroys, New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2017


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nabers, Janine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American television writers American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers African-American screenwriters 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers