About the Play:

Blood at the Root has become a favourite of acting teachers for Female Monologues and Male Monologues.

Blood at the Root is a full-length drama by Dominique Morisseau. Inspired by the Jena Six case, a black student disrupts her high school's status quo by occupying space typically reserved for white students. As a result, her community erupts in hate speech, violence, and chaos. Moving, lyrical, and bold, Blood at the Root probes the complexities of race, individual freedoms, and what justice means when biases have been normalized.

Blood at the Root is inspired by the events surrounding the "Jena Six", six black teenagers convicted in the beating of a white student at Jena High School on December 4, 2006. The six black students were charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard fight after nooses were hung from a large tree in the center of the school courtyard. The tree was referred to by students as the "white tree,” so when a black student requested to sit under the tree, nooses were hung the following day. The conviction of the Jena Six was cited as an example of racial injustice in the United States, due to a belief that the defendants had been charged with too-serious offenses and had been treated unfairly. Blood at the Root examines the miscarriage of justice, racial double standards, and the impasse in gender relations of all classes and, as a result, the shattering state of black family life.

Blood at the Root premiered in 2014 at the Penn State School of Theater . Since then the play had regional premieres at professional theatres across the US and has been mounted by high schools, colleges, and community theatres.

Cast: 3 female, 3 male

What people say:

"Dominique Morisseau knows where the truth lies, and it is rarely on solid ground." — The New York Times

"Blood At the Root by Dominique Morisseau should be compulsory viewing for all students [...] fascinating storytelling from the tight, punchy script." — Glam Adelaide

"Morisseau has written an exquisite play [...] a powerful collaborative piece." — Edinburgh Spotlight

About the Playwright:

Dominique Morisseau is an African-American author, playwright, and screenwriter. She is perhaps best known as a writer for the comedy-drama Shameless on Showtime and as the author of The Detroit Project, a three-play cycle that includes Detroit '67, Paradise Blue, and Skeleton Crew.