CANFIELD DRIVE

Kristen is currently co-writing Canfield Drive, a play about Ferguson, Missouri under the commission of 651 Arts in Brooklyn and The St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre with Michael Thomas Walker.  Canfield Drive will have it's world premiere production at the St. Louis Black Rep in January 2019.  Details about the upcoming production HERE.  

A POCKET FULL OF DANDELIONS

A Pocket Full of Dandelions is an afro-futuristic take on abolition co-written by Kristen Adele Calhoun and slam poetry national champion, Theo E.J. Wilson.  While rebellion thrashes outside, in the library of Denver's downtown prison, two women struggle to decide if liberty and justice is indeed for all. Along the way, they find an unlikely accomplice in this powerful and poetic drama. It will be produced by the Denver Center Theatre Company during their upcoming festival of micro-plays this Fall.  More details available HERE.  

WITH THESE HANDS

Based on a true story that spans the years of 1871-1952, this riveting play tells the story of Dr. Justina Ford, the first African American female doctor in the state of Colorado. Ford was a remarkable
individual who despite her struggle to practice medicine due to barriers that blocked women and people of color, still delivered over 7000 babies in her lifetime, taught herself at least eight languages and served over 37 different nationalities during her 50 year career in Denver. WITH THESE HANDS is full of
the rich characters that made her service possible.

“The play portrays the tenacity, wiles and skills of Dr. Ford. It is a compelling story told in a compelling way. I recommend that people see the play and bring their children. The children, in particular, need to see and share in the kind of love and caring that brought many of their grandparents and great grandparents into the world in Colorado.”

 –Raymond Dean Jones, Urban Spectrum
                                                                  

This play was written under a commission from the Black American West Museum. 

Click HERE to read more about the play. 
8 w/9m
4 w/3 m with suggested doubling
Click below to listen to a radio interview from KUVO, Jazz 89, Denver, Colorado about 
With These Hands: The Dr. Justina Ford Story.

AIN'T GONNA LET NOBODY

6 w/ 12 m
3 w/3 m with suggested doubling


Mississippi, 1963. In this moving coming of age story, two young African American teenagers from Harlem visit their Southern relatives after the death of their mother. They are met with the music, traditions and soul of the South. Along the way, they are confronted with prejudice, injustice and assistance from surprising sources. Through humor, song and dance, this play celebrates the true stories of people in the Civil Rights Movement overcoming circumstances far greater than themselves.


This play was written under a commission from the Metuchen/Edison Area Branch of the NAACP. 
Watch an NJ News 12 Spotlight on a previous production of Aint Gonna Let Nobody: Songs and Stories of the Civil Rights Movement.