Voices of BTM XV: Obehi Janice

Obehi Janice

I have a confession. I just started playwriting.

Everybody says this, but I too have wanted to be a writer since I was a kid. Writing has always come first to me, even though now it’s a second vocation. When I was in Kindergarten, I deemed myself an “author” and made makeshift novellas out of construction paper, yarn, and those thin pieces of big lined paper. My stories were often about white boys who lost their dogs and had terrible, horrible, no good very bad days. My writer’s voice developed in middle school when I discovered Sojourner Truth’s oratory, and then in high school when I created my own speeches. In college, it clicked: even if there are no acting roles for me, there are many if I write them. Solo performance, then, has been my medium of expression. When I’m not doing theater or commercial work, I’m usually touring my solo show FUFU & OREOS.

I have another confession.

I’ve never attended the Boston Theater Marathon.

I know, not the best way for me to share how much I’ve admired BTM from afar since I moved to Boston three years ago. Each year I’ve admired something different. The first year, I noticed its deep connection to service through raising of funds for the Theater Benevolent Fund. The second year, the name. A marathon. Not a sprint. Longevity and patience, instead, is evident in the purpose. This year, I’ve gotten to know Kate Snodgrass and the heart of my work is better for it.

I’m looking forward to catching Red Drink on Sunday. I get to work with Jeff Mosser, a director I really admire, and two amazing actors, Alexandria King and Nael Nacer. It’s been months since I submitted the play. Three drafts later, I feel really blessed that it will have its world premiere with the BTM.

This “traditional” playwright thing (where I’m not acting in my own work) makes my ultra hyphenate personality go a little crazier, but the cross-connection is how I like it.

--Obehi Janice


We hope you’ll join us on Sunday, May 12 for Boston Theater Marathon XV (and for The Warm-Up Laps May 11!). Click here for tickets and event details. See you there!