The International Black Theatre Festival proudly announces the 2026 Larry Leon Hamlin Solo Performance Series productions, Running For My Life, by Chadota Idda, and In The Black, by Quaz Degraft, highlighting internationally recognized artists whose work amplifies global perspectives and centers bold, deeply personal storytelling.
Notably, both artists are recipients of the Mabel P. Robinson Emerging Artist Award, with Degraft recognized in 2024 and Idda set to receive the honor at the 2026 International Black Theatre Festival.
With an impressive run of international presentations spanning arts and culture festivals in Rwanda, Pakistan, and Scotland, this year’s featured artists have captivated audiences across continents, using solo theatre as a vehicle for cultural exchange, personal testimony, and global dialogue.
Chadota Idda presents Running for My Life, a powerful new play that confronts gender-based violence through the life and legacy of Agnes Tirop, the world-renowned Kenyan distance runner and Olympian whose life was tragically taken in 2021. Blending spoken word, satire, and live reenactment, the work traces Tirop’s journey from a promising young athlete in Kenya’s Rift Valley to an international champion, while illuminating her personal struggles with self-worth, love, and abuse within a patriarchal society.
The production will be directed by Melissa Joyner at the 2026 International Black Theatre Festival.
On the platform provided by the Larry Leon Hamlin Solo Performance Series, Idda reflects:
“The opportunity to place Kenyan stories within a global conversation on Black identity, resistance, and storytelling is one I am not taking for granted. I’m especially grateful to be using this platform to bring attention to an issue that deeply matters to me, while also expanding the reach and visibility of the kind of theatre we are creating back home. It feels like both representation and responsibility.”
Running for My Life has been featured on global stages, including the Ubumuntu Arts Festival in Kigali, Rwanda (2025), and the World Culture Festival in Karachi, Pakistan (2025), with additional performances presented in Nairobi, Kenya. The production received a 2025 Kenya Theatre Award nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Monologue.
Idda is a graduate of KCA University in Kenya, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts and Film Technology. Her work continues to push boundaries, using performance as a platform to confront urgent social issues and amplify underrepresented narratives.
Quaz Degraft presents In the Black, a semi-autobiographical dark comedy that uncovers the tension between ambition, identity, and the cost of success through the lens of Kofi, a street-smart, first-generation Ghanaian American who has charmed his way into the high-stakes world of Wall Street. As Kofi navigates the competing pressures of career advancement and familial expectation, the work unravels the psychological and cultural tensions of striving within systems not designed for him to succeed.
The production will be staged at the 2026 International Black Theatre Festival under the direction of Abigail Onwunali.
Blending sharp humor with incisive social commentary, In the Black offers a layered exploration of race, class, and the pursuit of belonging in corporate America.
On the honor of presenting in the Larry Leon Hamlin Solo Performance Series, Degraft shares:
“I first experienced the International Black Theatre Festival in 2024 as a student, where I was awarded the Emerging Artist Award. To return two years later with my own solo show is truly humbling and full circle. I’m especially excited for audiences to experience a story that challenges, entertains, and sparks reflection on ambition, identity, and the cost of the American Dream.”
The new work has been featured on various stages including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland (2025), the Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles (2025), the DNA New Work Series at the La Jolla Playhouse (2025), and was recognized with the Binge Fringe Black Performer Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Degraft is an early-career theatre artist and a graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting (Class of 2025). It was there that In the Black was first developed.
The Larry Leon Hamlin Solo Performance Series, presented as part of the International Black Theatre Festival, is a specialized showcase dedicated to intimate, character-driven works that center Black history, identity, and lived experience through solo performance. Named in honor of festival founder Larry Leon Hamlin, founder of the International Black Theatre Festival and the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, the series reflects his enduring vision to unite, uplift, and sustain Black theatre by amplifying powerful individual voices and stories across generations.
The International Black Theatre Festival returns to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, July 27-August 1,2026.
For more information and IBTF updates, visit ncblackrep.org/ibtf.