Will the sisters sell their mothers quilts to settle her debts?
Will their family survive if they do?
I spoke with Hall on the opening day of her play at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
Photo: Getty Images
The below interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Vogue: How did the idea forThe Blood Quiltarise?
So that culture was of deep interest to me.
Susan Kelechi Watson (as Cassan), Crystal Dickinson (as Clementine), Lauren E. Banks (as Amber), and Adrienne C. Moore (as Gio) inThe Blood Quilt.
But what was most important to me was the process of quilting.
I grew up sleeping under my grandmothers quiltsBig Mamas quilts.
She could thread a needle with one handthats how good she was.
The cast ofThe Blood Quilt.
Kwemera means to withstand, to endure, to last.
The cast ofThe Blood Quilt.
Did you have any family rituals growing up?
Mirirai (as Zambia) and Adrienne C. Moore (as Gio) inThe Blood Quilt.
And do you participate in any pre-show theater rituals?
In terms of family rituals, the idea of circling up, of gathering, was really central.
You know, Black people love a family reunion!
The cast ofThe Blood Quilt.
It is the human experience to be in the room together, breathing the same air.
Mirirai (as Zambia) and Adrienne C. Moore (as Gio) inThe Blood Quilt.
Its interesting that you bring up the state of American theater post-COVID.
Crystal Dickinson (as Clementine) and Lauren E. Banks (as Amber) inThe Blood Quilt.
I think people had an awakening.
You cant live through what we saw during COVIDthe protests, George Floydand not be impacted.
Im very happy to see that playwrights of color continue to get produced in our post-pandemic world.
Were witnessing the rise of the extreme right before our very eyes.
What is it like working with director Lileana Blain-Cruz onBlood Quilt?
People had been telling me that we felt like kinfolk in terms of our aesthetics.
So we ended up having a coffee and we connected.
I had seen so much of her work and really loved what she was doing.
Shes just really dope as an artist and a great human being.
During the strikes last summer, I came up to Lincoln Center and we did a reading together.
I really loved her curiosity.
Shes an elevated artistvery precise, great with actorsand shes really the whole package.
She is such a grown-upshe can take the baby and not drop it.
The production is truly stunning.
Her blocking is brilliant.
She more than took care of the baby.
The baby is now in college.
I also dont want to undersell the fantastic acting.
It was perfect casting; everyone pulled their weight.
Im very proud of these amazing womentheyre all stellar performers.
The lyricism of your plays also reminds me of August Wilson.
Can you talk about some of the artistic influences for the play?
Its not a Southernness that were memorializing, its the Africanness on our tongues.
Youre the showrunner of the TV showP-Valley, which was adapted from your stage playPussy Valley.
Has your work on the TV show informed your work as a playwright?
How much time you got?
Its hard, because TV is a completely different medium.
However, whats beautiful about TV and theater is that theyre both writers mediums.
In both cases, the writer is king and queen.
In TV, theyre called the showrunner or the creator.
In TV, there are many mini intermissions, many episodes.
Do you have any interest in adaptingThe Blood Quiltfor TV or making it into a movie?
I think it could be a beautiful movie.
Its one of my favorite movies.
I watch it over and over again.
Crystal Dickinson (as Clementine) and Lauren E. Banks (as Amber) inThe Blood Quilt.
What do you hope audiences come away with after seeing the play?
That grief is a process, feeling is a process.
If you dont open up the wound and clean out the wound, it definitely festers.
Sometimes you got to lay everything out so that put yourself back together.
Without revealing too much, there is a surreal sequence in the play.
I know not everybody believes in ghosts or the other side, but I do.
There is an honoring of our ancestors and our spirit and theres nothing wrong with that.
It goes back to an African proverb that says, All stories are true.
Yeah, all stories are true.
The Blood Quiltis at Lincoln Center Theater through December 29.
