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Ira Jeffries
Wow Theater presented g riot a festival featuring work by
women of color and trans gendered people. Three short plays
written by Ira Jeffries were performed. Delilah Brown: revolutionary,
Martha Redding and the bag lady and ole Becky. Each short
play dealt with struggles that these women encountered in
their lives and the lessons that they have learned from
their experiences.
“My plays deal with issues of concern to the lesbian
and gay community as well as the community at large I do
not discriminate when I write” Ira Jeffries said.
Ms Jeffries is an accomplished playwright/producer and retired
journalist. She has been a member of the Wow Café
Theater since 1992,she has written over 17 plays. Ms Jeffries
is a graduate of the City College of Arts in Communications.
Her plays have been produced on and off-Broadway and in
Harlem based Community Theaters. She received the audience
theater award for excellence in play writing for her first
play “Odessa”.
Becoming a play Wright producer and director was not very
easy for Jeffries; “My “mom was always supportive
of me,” and says Jeffries I did not have a close relationship
with my father. Or many other family members”. Her
mother was whom she turned to when she felt discouraged.
When her mother fell ill, Jeffries made the decision to
leave school to help care for her mom. When her mom passed,
Jeffries returned to school.
“I returned to school at the age of 44 after my mom
past, and I had just received an internship with the Amsterdam
News, but I was never hired as a journalist.” Despite
this Jeffries didn’t allow it to stop her dreams of
becoming an accomplished writer. She left Amsterdam News
and went to pursue her goals.
In 1992 Jeffries founded Kaleidoscope her own theater production
company to deal with issues relevant to the gay and lesbian
community. “Being a playwright was not a choice but
a necessity for a space in which to have my plays performed”,
Ms Jeffries said. Her goal was to present quality theater
and she believes she has accomplished just that.
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