Deaon Griffin Pressley: October 2015 Feature
Posted on October 5, 2015 by blackboardplays
THE TRAGEDY AT HOOD:14542 (Hoodsical)
Written by Deaon Griffin Pressley
Staged Reading Directed by Doug E. Doug
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Deaon Griffin-Pressley is a native of North Lauderdale, Florida. Playwrighting credits include: Valentines Night (Manhattan Repertory Theatre Spring Festival 2010), Satan VS God (Venus/Adonis Theater Festival 2014) Kings of Kulture & Kush (DC Black Theater Festival 2014) and The Tragedy At HOOD:14542 Hoodsical (Fringe Festival NYC 2014) False Brotherhood (New Federal Theatre 2015) He is currently a member of the Lark Emerging Black Playwrights Group 2015 with the Liberation Theatre Company instructed by Sandra Daley. Deaon has also written over 174 Sonnets.
ABOUT THE PLAY:
Vengeance and greed blind the citizens of Hood:14542, during a harsh awakening of the gentrification epidemic.
Yellow Man faces infamy as he returns to rehabilitate the hood. While his equally stubborn brother and other neighborhood dwellers are determined to save it.
Race, ego, lust, and blood rule this play in an impassioned debate of community and opportunity.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Doug E. Doug
In his twenty year career, Doug E. Doug has established himself as and writer, producer and actor with a flair for both comedy and drama. He started off as a stand-up comic in New York City. He was seen at the Apollo Theater by Russell Simmons. Impressed by Doug, Simmons asked him to write, and host a syndicated late-night program Simmons produced called The New Music Report.
Doug is well-known to movie viewers for his starring role as the spirited pushcart operator turned bobsled racer in the feature film Cool Runnings. He is also known for his roles as a ne’er do well in Hangin’ with the Homeboys for which he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actor, class comedian in Class Act, a soldier enlisted for an unusual duty in Operation Dumbo Drop, an ill-fated high school student in Dr. Giggles and the hilarious FBI agent in That Darn Cat. In the Warner Brothers science fiction comedy Eight Legged Freaks, he portrayed a paranoid small-town radio host with visions of an alien invasion. In the animated DreamWorks film, Shark Tale, his is the voice of Bernie the jellyfish. His entrée into film began when he spoke one line in Spike Lee’s film Mo’ Better Blues. He was seen in the independent film , “Detachment” with Oscar winners Adrian Brody and Marsha Gay Harden
On television, Doug starred in the ABC series Where I Live, a show developed around his life in which he served as co-producer. He co-hosted the VH-1 series Rock of Ages and spent four seasons starring as the character Griffin in the television series Cosby. On the Nickelodeon animated show, Little Bill, Doug’s is the voice of Percy the pet store owner. Doug has appeared on Sesame Street and has guest starred in Touched by An Angel, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Conviction, Blue Bloods and was seen recurring on the FX series Justified. His latest T.V. project is “The Douglife Show” it is available V.O.D on UHETV powered by Dish Network.
Doug made his debut as a director/producer with the film Citizen James, in which he also co-wrote and starred. Citizen James aired on Starz Movies.
In 2009 He served as co- writer of Slap the Donkey – a documentary chronicling Al Sharpton’s bumpy and brilliant 2004 presidential bid.
He served as production consultant on Children of fire- a documentary about South African children burned in kerosene fires and their quest to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It aired on the Documentary Channel.
His upcoming films are the Martin Scorsese produced, “The Wannabe”, a comedy ”Muddy Corman” ,and a thriller called The Projectionist, the first completed film available for digital download on Kickstarter. It was renamed, An Act of War. It is streaming now on Netflix.
