Tracey Scott Wilson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Tracey Scott Wilson is an American playwright, television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She graduated from
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
with a BA in English and from
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
with an MA in English Literature.


Early life

Born in
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, Wilson began writing fiction after graduating from Temple University. Finding herself unable to finish a novel, she decided to take a playwriting class. "I didn't see much theater as a kid, so I had no expectations....It just took me over." Wilson soon realized that she had found her métier and wrote a number of short plays. At the encouragement of her mentor, playwright Chiori Miyagawa, Wilson applied for and won a New York Theatre Workshop fellowship in 1998. It was also through this workshop that Wilson met Liesl Tommy, with whom she would develop a long-standing and ongoing creative relationship.


Theater career

Wilson's work has received readings at
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 ...
, Second Stage Theatre,
The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
, the
Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. ...
and Soho Theater Writers' Center in London. Awards and residencies include two Van Lier fellowships from the New York Theatre Workshop, a residency at the Sun dance Institute Playwright's Retreat at Cross and the Sun dance Institute Theater Lab, the 2001 Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award, the 2003 AT&T Onstage Award, a 2004
Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, ...
, the 2004 Kesselring Prize, the 2007 L. Arnold Weissmuller Award and the 2007 Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship. In 2009, she was the writer-in-residence at the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. On February 29, 2014, the Joyce Foundation announced that Wilson was one of the recipients of its 2014 Joyce Awards. With her prize, Wilson worked intimately with a community in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and wrote ''Prep'', which debuted at the Pillsbury House Theater during the theater's 2015 season. Wilson's productions include ''Order My Steps'' for Cornerstone Theater Company's Black Faith/AIDS project in Los Angeles; ''Exhibit #9'', which was produced in New York City by New Perspectives Theatre Company and Theatre Outrageous; ''Leader of the People'', produced at New Georges; ''Buzzer'' at Pillsbury House Theater and the Public Theater in New York City; two 10-minute plays produced at the
Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...
in Minneapolis, a 10-minute play produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville, and The Good Negro at the Public Theater in New York City. Wilson's first major Manhattan production was in 2003 with ''The Story'' at the Public Theater. ''The Good Negro'' was produced at The Public and then at the
Goodman Theater Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago's Chicago Loop, Loop. A major part of the Theater in Chicago, Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organizatio ...
in 2010. Wilson's ''Buzzer'' was produced as part of the Goodman's 2013–14 season and was added to the Public Theater's 2014–15 season in October 2014. ''The Story'' and ''The Good Negro'' have been published by Dramatists Play Service. She has taught and guest lectured at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
,
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
,
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
and
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
.


Television and film career

In more recently years, Wilson has left the theater to expand her career into television. Her episode of NBC's '' Do No Harm'' aired on August 18, 2013, and she was later staffed on the FX drama series ''
The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...
'', for which she was nominated for a
Writers Guild of America Award 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 Th ...
in 2015. Wilson also received an
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
nomination in 2018 for ''The Americans''. Her work on the Americans also earned her a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
. She was recently a co-executive producer on 8 episodes of FX's ''
Fosse/Verdon ''Fosse/Verdon'' is a 2019 American biographical drama miniseries, developed by Steven Levenson and Thomas Kail. Based on the biography ''Fosse'' by Sam Wasson, the series charts the troubled marriage and professional relationship of director ...
'', for which she was also nominated for an Emmy. In 2019, Wilson teamed up with playwright and television writer Bash Doran to write an episode of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
Traitors Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its di ...
''. However, Wilson chose to stay with her television home, and signed an overall deal with FX in 2018. In 2019, Wilson joined other WGA members in firing her agents as part of the Guild's stand against the ATA after the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a new "Code of Conduct" that addressed the practice of
packaging Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging can be described as a coo ...
. Wilson has penned the screenplay for ''
Respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...
'', the
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
biopic released in August 2021. Though the film generally received warm reviews, reviews for her screenplay were mixed.


Works

* ''Exhibit #9'', New Perspectives Theatre/Theatre Outrageous, New York (1999) * ''Leader of the People'', New Georges, New York (1999) * ''Order My Steps'', Cornerstone Theater, Los Angeles (2003) * ''The Story'',
The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
(2003) (Published as ) * ''Neon Mirage'', New York International Fringe Festival (2006) * ''The Good Negro'',
The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
(2009) (Published as ) * ''Buzzer'',
The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
(2015)


Anthologies

*


References


External links

*
Profile
at doollee.com
Profile at The Whiting Foundation
Mark Blankenship (''The New York Times'') article of Wilson writing ''The Good Negro'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Tracey Scott American women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Newark, New Jersey Temple University alumni Living people African-American dramatists and playwrights American dramatists and playwrights Rutgers University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women African-American women writers Writers Guild of America Award winners