Amani
by a.k. payne

"At the heart of Amani is the question: Can our dreams take us away from the reality we live in?... Audiences journey with the namesake character and those in her orbit to bear witness to Black people navigating a world that doesn’t want them to dream, let alone exist... Ultimately, Amani is an ode to the freedom to exist. The freedom to be Black, to be queer, to be outside of the confines of gender, and to simply be. While the play explores that notion, it also brings audiences in to question what freedom is, what it isn’t, and if it’s truly possible to achieve. Regardless of your answer to that question, Amani wants you to believe that you, too, can make it to the moon, whatever that looks like for you."

— Into

"Amani’s coming-of-age tale is told with humor and pathos, complete with a denouement set in outer space... [Payne’s] forte is capturing the poetry in the language people use to profess their love, whether it be two lovers, or a mother and daughter, or a father and daughter... Amani takes us on a young girl’s journey into adulthood. We watch her seek her own voice and her own dreams as she navigates finding a pure love, a love just like her parents shared. Bittersweet, as life often is, the journey can be as thorny as those prom night roses, but it is all a part of growing up and finding one’s own way."

— TheatreScene

"Fantastical... filled with allusions to Black poets, jazz artists and Afrofuturism, elaborate metaphors and ghostly visitations."

— Lighting & Sound America