Zola Dee is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer whose works are deeply invested in exploring Black Americana, African diasporic religions, and imagining freer worlds for the Black collective body. Her most notable work GUNSHOT MEDLEY: Part 1 was Ovation Award recommended and published in Routledge’s Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.  Her other plays include Smile, Goddamnit, Smile; Rain, River, Ocean; and Father, Father. Her work has been seen and/or developed with Rogue Machine Theater, Collaborative Artists Bloc, The Playwright’s Center, Hi-Arts, CalArts Center for New Performance and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Zola was just recently granted the NEXT commission from Antaeus Theatre Company in Los Angeles. While most of her artistic career has been based in Los Angeles, she is currently  living in Minneapolis where she is a Jerome Fellow at the Playwright’s Center. She is a current member of East West Players Playwright’s Group. Other accomplishments include: member of Many Voices Fellow 2021-2022, CTG Writer’s Workshop 2019-2020 , 2017-2018 Core Apprentice at The Playwright's Center and the 2018 Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights Diversity Fellow. 

 

Collaboration and community building is foundational to Zola’s mission as an artist. She currently works in the performance wing at the Walker Arts Center and is a writing consultant for Meow Wolf. She has also worked for institutions such as The Guthrie Theater and Pasadena Playhouse, The State Theater of California where she worked as the Artistic Associate under Danny Feldman.  She is a graduate from California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Acting and a minor in Creative Writing. While at CalArts, she studied with Nataki Garrett, Aleshea Harris, Doug Kearney and Tisa Byrant. 

 

She is currently managed by Management 360 in Los Angeles.

 

For more information, follow on instagram @iamzoladee