Miami Playwright Among ‘Genius Grant' Winners

A Miami playwright is one of two dozen people receiving "genius grants" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
 
Tarell Alvin McCraney is currently in England directing rehearsals for his adaption of "Antony and Cleopatra" at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
 
McCraney sets William Shakespeare's play in Haiti in the late 1700s, on the eve of the Haitian revolution against the French. Haitian-American dancer Gelan Lambert, another Miami native, is the production's choreographer.
 
The production premieres in Miami Beach at The Colony Theater in January. It also will run at The Public Theater in New York City in February.
 
McCraney was born and raised in Miami. He's also an ensemble member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.
 
The annual grants now amount to $625,000 each and come with no strings attached.