Monumental travesties

By Andrew W. Mellon
Playwright-in-Residence Psalmayene 24
Directed by Angelisa Gillyard

August 20, 2022 | DC Public library northeast neighborhood branch

Chance, a Black performance artist, has just beheaded the Emancipation Memorial—a problematic Washington, DC statue of Abraham Lincoln with a formerly enslaved man. Chance returns home to his wife, Brenda, and an absurdist chain of events involving their liberal neighbor, Adam, is unleashed. Using comedy as a tool to exhume segments of America’s painful history, Monumental Travesties examines race, memory, and the sometimes privileged act of forgetting.

Mosaic is honored to host award-winning multidisciplinary artist Psalmayene 24 as the Andrew W. Mellon Playwright-in-Residence. Through this national program, Psalmayene 24 is able to develop new work, participate in all aspects of Mosaic’s artistic life, and encourage institutional change. In summer 2022, Psalmayene 24 will share his latest new play in progress: Monumental Travesties.