“I plan to take it to a larger venue, like DuSable or Harold Washington [Theater] because I’ve gotten so much positive feedback from the play that I want more people to see it,” says Lewis.
This prolific playwright has completed and produced four other original works, including: Baby Sister, Baby Sister and the Beat, Jewels and Only Sixteen.
And her inspiration? “I carry the material in my head for so long until I write it down and it spills out.” Lewis advises writers to “write about what you know.”
Lewis’ first play, Only Sixteen, was inspired by her own life — marriage at a young age and the pregnancy that followed. Jewels, which is in part an homage to her mother, is her personal favorite. The characters in the story were so strong that she continued the story in a book titled 3206 Sutton Avenue.
Lewis said she plans to expand her work to the big screen or television, perhaps reaching out to Tyler Perry. “My goal, when my book comes out, I am going to open my own theater, that way I can have a drama school, seminars [and] people can rent my space. I can open it up to … other playwrights and drama teachers,” she says.
–tony binns
