Robert O'Hara facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert O'Hara
Robert O'Hara in September 2014
Born	c. 1970 (age 54–55) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Education	Tufts University (BA) Columbia University (MFA)
Occupation	Playwright director
Years active	1996–present

Robert O'Hara (born around 1970) is an American playwright and director. He writes and directs plays for the theater. Some of his well-known works include Insurrection: Holding History and Bootycandy. Insurrection is a play about time travel that looks at race and identity. Bootycandy is a funny play about a young Black gay man growing up. It won an award called the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Drama. O'Hara was also nominated for a Tony Award in 2020 for directing the play Slave Play.

Early Life and Education

Robert O'Hara was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up with his mother and his stepfather. When he was in third grade, he started attending Catholic school. He was one of the few African-American students there.

He went to Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. This school was known for its strong academics. Robert was very active in the school's theater program. After high school, he went to Tufts University in Boston. He graduated from Tufts in 1992.

At first, he planned to study political science and become a lawyer. But he quickly found that he loved theater much more. So, he changed his major to drama. At Tufts, he started the Tufts Black Theatre Company. He directed and wrote plays for this group.

After Tufts, he earned a master's degree in directing. He studied at Columbia University and finished in 1996. During his time there, he worked as an intern at two famous theaters: the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Joseph Papp Public Theater. He was mentored by George C. Wolfe, a famous African-American playwright.

Career in Theater and Film

Robert O'Hara is well-known in the theater world. He is famous for both writing and directing plays.

In 2011, he became a member of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. He was also a playwright in residence there from 2013 to 2015. This means he worked closely with the theater to create new plays.

In October 2020, O'Hara was nominated for a Tony Award. This was for his excellent direction of the play Slave Play.

Film Work

In the mid-1990s, Robert O'Hara wrote a movie script about the comedian Richard Pryor. The famous director Martin Scorsese was supposed to direct it. However, the movie was never made.

O'Hara also wrote a script for a movie called Micheaux. This film was about the life of Oscar Micheaux, an important African-American filmmaker. Spike Lee was set to direct this movie.

In 2011, O'Hara directed his first movie, a horror film called The Inheritance. He also wrote the script for this film. The movie is about cousins who meet to get their family's inheritance. But they discover a dangerous secret instead.

Notable Plays by Robert O'Hara

Insurrection: Holding History

Insurrection: Holding History tells the story of a young, gay African-American man named Ron. He travels back in time with his 189-year-old grandfather. They go to the time of Nat Turner's Rebellion.

O'Hara wrote Insurrection while he was an intern at the Public Theatre. His student production of the play got a lot of attention. It helped the New York theater community notice his work. In 1996, the play won the Newsday Oppenheimer Award for Best New American Play. The play officially opened at the Public Theatre in October 1996.

Brave Blood

Brave Blood takes place in a home where a murder happens. The investigation causes a lot of trouble in the house. This play explores how being used by others can affect who you are. O'Hara directed the first performance of this play in 2001.

-14: An American Maul

-14: An American Maul is set in a future America. A new type of cotton is created that needs people to pick it by hand. Because of this, the President cancels the Fourteenth Amendment. This effectively brings back slavery.

Antebellum

Antebellum explores themes of unfairness in society. It shows two different stories at the same time. One story is in Atlanta in 1939. The other is in Germany in 1936. The Atlanta story is about a young Jewish couple. They dress up for the premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. In Berlin, a Nazi officer is in love with a Black cabaret performer. But he still allows the performer to be tortured.

The play first opened at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., in 2009.

The Etiquette of Vigilance

The Etiquette of Vigilance is a modern version of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. It follows Travis, a character from the original play, and his daughter Lorraine. Lorraine is about to be the first in her family to go to college. She feels the pressure to achieve the "American Dream" for her family.

The play premiered in Chicago in 2010.

Bootycandy

Bootycandy is a series of connected short scenes. They are often funny and make fun of things. The play explores what it means to be a Black gay man in America. Robert O'Hara first wrote it as twelve separate short plays. Later, he put them together into one play. He made the character Sutter a main part of most scenes. O'Hara has said that the play is like his own life in many ways. The character Sutter is similar to his own experiences.

The play first opened at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 2011. It then moved to the Playwrights Horizons Theater Company in New York in 2014. There, it won a special Obie Award. This award was shared by O'Hara and the actors in the play.

Barbecue

Barbecue is a play about two families named O'Mallery. One family is white, and the other is Black. They appear in different, but similar, scenes. These scenes create a discussion about race and family issues.

The play first opened at the Public Theatre in New York in 2015.

Personal Life

Robert O'Hara is openly gay.

Awards and Recognition