Part One and Two Conducted on April 24, 2024

Part Three Conducted on June 14, 2024

Clinton Turner Davis is a director, dramaturg, educator, production supervisor, consultant, playwright, and writer.  Early in his career he stage managed for The Negro Ensemble Company, The New Federal Theater, and The Henry Street Settlement on such shows as  WHAT THE WINESELLERS BUY (1972), LADIES IN WAITING (1972), THE GREAT McDADDY (1974), THE DIVINE COMEDY (1976), EDEN (1976), NEVIS MOUNTAIN DEW (1978), OLD PHANTOMS (1979), THE SIXTEENTH ROUND (1989), ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN (1980), HOME (1981), WEEP NOT FOR ME (1981) doing the original works of then unknown playwrights Steve Carter, Gus Edwards, Samm-Art Williams, Charles Fuller, Paul Carter Harrison, Ron Milner, and Michele Palermo.  Some of the theaters he directed for Off-Broadway include the Negro Ensemble Company, WPA Theatre, Amistad World Theatre, The New Theatre of Brooklyn, American Place Theatre, TheatreWorks, The Whole Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, New Repertory Theatre, Theater for the New City, Trinity Repertory Company, The Pearl Theatre, Young Playwrights Festival, Tisch School of the Arts, New Federal Theatre, Brandeis University, The Juilliard School, Fordham University, Town Hall, Genesius Theatre Guild, and The Cherry Pit.  Some of the plays he directed Off-Broadway include: PUPPETPLAY (1983), A SEASON TO UNRAVEL (1983), BRONTOSAURUS (1983), ABERCROMBIE APOCALYPSE (1983), AIR GUITAR (1985), TWO CAN PLAY (1985), WASTED (1986), HOUSE OF SHADOWS (1986), VISITOR TO THE VELDT (1987), CONVERSATIONS IN EXILE (1988), THAT SERIOUS HE-MAN BALL (1988), FRATERNITY (1989), MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (1989), MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA! (1990), FENCES (1991), TAKING CONTROL (1992), TRUE WEST (1992), OTHELLO (1992), THE GOOD TIMES ARE KILLING ME (1993), ELECTRA (1994), THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III (1994), BLACK NATIVITY (1996), A SOLDIER’S PLAY (1996), JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE (1996), ALREADY SEEN (1997), BOY X MAN (1998), THE DUMB WAITER/KONNVERGENCE (1998), STY OF THE BLIND PIG (1999), THE CONJURE MAN DIES (2001), CITY OF ANGELS (2001), THE PIANO LESSON(2001), BOX (2003), ARABIAN NIGHTS (2005), THE RIVER CROSSES RIVER (2009), STEP SISTAH (2010), ONE NIGHT… (2013), HARRIET’S RETURN (2018), and WIDOWS (2021).   Davis is a published author, his latest book in collaboration with Sandra McClain is Career Paths of African American Directors: Pushing Boundaries. Theater awards include: Lloyd Richards Directing Award: National Black Arts Festival, 2015; AUDELCO Award for Excellence in Black Theatre, 1996 (JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE) and 1994 (THE AFRICAN COMPANY PRESENTS RICHARD III); Dallas Theatre Critics Forum Award 1991 for MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!; Village Voice Obie Award 1987 for Outstanding Achievement – Theatre, 1^stNational Symposium On Non-Traditional Casting, Co-Producer; Distinguished Alumni Award Howard University, College of Fine Arts and Distinguished Howard Player Award, 1988; Los Angeles Drama-Logue Critics Award: AIR GUITAR (Outstanding Achievement, Co- Author, Composer), 1985; Bay Area Critics Award: AIR GUITAR (Best musical Score, Choreography, Costumes) 1985.   As the recipient of the Lloyd Richards Directing Award from the National Black Theatre Festival, he directed GEM OF THE OCEAN for the 20^thanniversary of the University of Louisville’s African American Theatre Program and SEVEN GUITARS for Theatreworks-UCCS.

Growing up in Washington, D.C., Davis was surrounded by history and culture and participated at an early age in theater and music.  His second home was The Smithsonian where the guards knew him well.  Starting out as an actor in college, he changed schools to be in New York City aided and abetted by his cousin Horacena J. Taylor who had an apartment and a couch in the city.  She also helped him get a job with The Negro Ensemble Company beginning his career in theater.  During this period Davis became involved in the politics of funding for African American companies and artists, becoming a consultant and fundraiser locally and nationally, co-founding the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts/Non-Traditional Casting Project.  Davis has also been on the Boards of the National Black Arts Festival (Advisory Board), Spencer Cherashore Fund, International Theatre Institute – UNESCO (Delegate and Board Member various committees), New Federal Theatre (Associate Producer and Board Member), Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC) (12 years Board Member), Stage Directors and  the Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) (8 years Board Member).  Davis was a Guest of Ministry of Culture of Vietnam, and worked with the Wu Nadou Theatre, Taipei, Taiwan creating two works, PREGINACAO and TAIPEI BY NIGHT.  These two shows were in collaboration with the designer Robin Ruizendaal.  PREGINACAO was cited as one of the Top Ten Productions in the country in 2010.  After several seasons with The Negro Ensemble Company he joined Lena Horne, as Production Stage Manager, on a tour, LENA HORNE: THE LADY AND HER MUSIC (1982).  On his return from the Lena Horne Tour, always asking himself, “what did I want to do and when was I happiest doing whatever it was?’ he realized ‘I was happiest involved in the arts.”  Davis launched his career as a director working on hundreds of plays commercially and as invited guest lecturer, director, and professor at universities across the country.  He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Drama, Colorado College, from 1997 to 2012, and in 2000 the Inaugural Lorraine Hansberry Chair Professor: Theater & Drama and African American Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison.  As a member of the National Black Theatre  Summit “On Golden Pond” convened by August Wilson at Dartmouth College, Davis directed JOE TURNER’S COME AND GONE for this historic event.  His Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of the play is documented in the textbook, The Creative Spirit.