[HOME] GOING
Public Presentation:
A RADIO PLAY
December 10, 2026 - December 13, 2026
Twelve-year-old Presence is on a quest to break a generational curse. For as long as she can remember, “the sadness” has plagued her family, culminating in her mother’s latest mental breakdown after the forced sale of their ancestral home on the Carolina Sea Islands. Believing the answers to “the sadness” lie in the past, Presence escapes into the dreamworld, a fluid realm where time and space dissolve. Through this dream-state, Presence journeys back to Reconstruction-era South Carolina to confront her forefather, Ernest, and untangle the history currently unraveling her mother.
This show is commissioned and developed through NBT’s I Am SOUL Playwright residency program.
Zola Dee
Playwright
Zola Dee is a playwright, screenwriter, actor and banjo player whose written works are deeply invested in exploring Black Americana, African diasporic religions, and imagining freer worlds for the Black collective body. Her plays include GUNSHOT MEDLEY, Smile, Goddamnit, and [Home]going. Other accomplishments include: 2025 Kesselring Prize for Playwriting, 2025 – 2028 Jerome Hill Fellow, 2023 I Am Soul National Black Theater Resident Playwright, Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellow 2022-2023, Playwrights’ Center Many Voices Fellow 2021-2022.
She resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while continuing to cultivate her deep-rooted connections to the Carolinas and Los Angeles. Zola holds a BFA in Acting and a minor in Creative Writing from the California Institute of the Arts. She is currently represented by Lizzy Weingold at WME and managed by Stefan Rich.
For more information, go to www.zoladee.com
Josiah Davis
Director
Josiah Davis (he/him) is a multi-disciplinary storyteller. A director, choreographer, designer, performer asking, how do we create space for maximum expression, possibility, and liberation in the face of oppressive systems? He is a graduate from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television and Brown MFA Directing. He is a Princess Grace Honoraria, NYTW 2050 fellow, National Black Theatre Soul Directing Resident, Susan Stroman Directing Award Recipient, Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, and Associate Artistic Director of On The Verge Theatre Festival in Santa Barbara. Selected credits: Mary Gets Hers (Playwrights Realm/MCC) Omar Offrendum’s Little Syria (BAM), Lessons in Survival (Vineyard Theatre), Amani (National Black Theatre/Rattlestick), Clyde’s (Alabama Shakespeare Festival/Arkansas Rep/St.Louis Rep), Importance of Being Earnest (Portland Center Stage), El Mentiroso (Arts On Site), Mr. Saturday Night (Broadway (Assoc.)). Josiahdavis.net
