Djola is an interdisciplinary artist/educator who combines movement, sound and light to create compelling portraits of American life for the stage. His original full-length and one-act dramas give voice to individuals historically absent from the theater, and explore a diverse range of human experience.
Co-founder of the award winning performance group Pomo Afro Homos, Djola toured nationally and internationally with their shows Fierce Love: Stories From Black Gay Life and Dark Fruit, performing in venues as varied as college cafeterias and the Lincoln Center. His work has been supported by Creative Capital, the Jerome, McKnight and Bush Foundations, and published in such anthologies as Colored Contradictions, Staging Gay Lives and Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Lesbian and Gay Black Writers.
Djola's professional life has been defined by a passion for scripting, staging and performing original drama, and that passion has defined his approach to teaching as well. His classrooms/studios are marked by a commitment to unearthing each student/artist's authentic voice through an integration of theatrical disciplines, and a challenge to examine the cultural context of his/her work. He has taught dance, acting and dramatic writing for more than twenty years in community and academic settings including City College of San Francisco, Stanford University, University of Minnesota, Macalester College and American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
A graduate of San Francisco State University where he earned an MA in Creative Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, and The New School for Drama where he earned an MFA in Theatre, Djola is currently Assistant Professor of Theatre at Hampshire College where he teaches a broad range of theatre courses.
He is a member of Actors Equity Association, and the Dramatists' Guild.
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"(Branner) displays the chameleonic skill of the most rigorously disciplined actors." |
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- Don Shirley, LA Times |
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SELECTED CREDITS |
• ACTING
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2009
2008
2007
2002
2001 &1999
2000
2000-02
1999
1998
1996-97
1994-97
1990-94
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... and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi
by Marcus Gardley, UMass, Amherst
sash & trim
New WORLD Theater, UMass, Amherst
Fools & Lovers
by Moonworks, Connelly, NYC
con flama
by Sharon Bridgforth, Penumbra, Saint Paul Black Nativity
by Langston Hughes, Penumbra, Saint Paul
Blues for an Alabama Sky
by Pearl Cleage, Penumbra, Saint Paul
Perestroika: Angels in America, Part II
by Tony Kushner, Pillsbury House, Minneapolis
Mighty Real: A Tribute to Sylvester
- Queer Performance Arts Festival, San Francisco
- National Black Theater Festival, Winston-Salem
- Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
- Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis
The Darker Face of the Earth
by Rita Dove, Guthrie, Minneapolis
blood pudding
by Sharon Bridgforth
Frontera @ Hyde Park, Austin
Forever Hold Your Piece (with Patrick Scully)
- Illusion Theater, Minneapolis
- Dance Theater Workshop, NYC
- Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis
Sweet Sadie
- Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis
- Black Arts Live, Leicester, England
- Out North Theater, Anchorage
- Dixon Place, New York, NYC
- National Black Theater Festival, Winston-Salem
- Josie's Cabaret, San Francisco
Dark Fruit
selected venues include:
- Lincoln Center, NYC
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
- Walker Arts, Minneapolis
- Drill Hall Arts, London
- Wexner Arts, Columbus
- Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
- ICA, London
- Dance Theatre Workshop, NYC
Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life
selected venues include:
- Lincoln Center, NYC
- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
- Walker Arts, Minneapolis
- Drill Hall Arts, London
- Wexner Arts, Columbus
- Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
- ICA, London
- Dance Theatre Workshop, NYC
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Pictured: Frankie Domond
& Djola Branner
Pictured: James Wolfe,
Djola Branner & Emily Shoolin
Pictured: Djola Branner, Eric Gupton
& Brian Freeman
 Pictured: Florinda Bryant, Zell Miller III,
Stacey Robinson, Renita Miller
& Djola Branner
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"As director of ( Journey/Sanctuary ) he managed, designed and coached the cast of 13 dancers so they could speak,18 choir members so they could move, 8 school children and a live four-piece band - enough to drive a director mad in a low-budget production." |
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- Mary M. Easter, Professor of Dance & Performing Arts Carleton College |
• DIRECTING/CHOREOGRAPHING |
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2005 |
oranges & honey
New School for Drama, NYC |
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2003 |
Making Lemonade
by Patrick Scully, Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis |
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2001 |
Journey/Sanctuary
by Cathy Young, Robert Robinson & Mary Easter
Southern, Minneapolis |
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2001-02 |
Queen Nanny, Queen Nanny
In the Heart of the Beast, Minneapolis |
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2000 |
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
by Ntozake Shange, Penumbra, Saint Paul |
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1999 |
Seven Guitars
by August Wilson, Penumbra, Saint Paul |
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1998 |
The Day the Bronx Died
by Michael Henry Brown, Penumbra, Saint Paul |
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1997 |
The Magic of Laughter
by Danielle Daniel, Fringe Festival, Minneapolis |
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1997 |
Esker
by Tim Herwig, Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis |
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Pictured: Djola Branner
 Pictured: Marie Francoise Theodore,
Djola Branner, James Craven,
Austene Van Williams-Clark & Lester Purry
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"As a writer, Branner clearly enjoys toying with structure and exploding clichés." |
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- Max Sparber, the Minneapolis City Pages |
• PLAYWRITING
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2008 |
sash & trim
New WORLD, Amherst |
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2006 |
Cover
Samuel French One-Act Festival, NYC |
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2005 |
oranges & honey
New School for Drama, NYC |
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2001-02 |
Queen Nanny, Queen Nanny
In the Heart of the Beast , Minneapolis |
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2000-02 |
Mighty Real: A Tribute to Sylvester
-Queer Performance Arts Festival, San Francisco
-National Black Theater Festival, Winston-Salem
-Boston Center for the Arts, Boston
-Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis |
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1998 |
Where I'm At
Southern, Minneapolis
Homos in the House
Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis |
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1996-97 |
Forever Hold Your Piece (with Patrick Scully)
-Illusion, Minneapolis
-Dance Theater Workshop, NYC
-Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis |
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1996 |
The House that Crack Built (with Aaron Barnell)
Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis |
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1994-97 |
Sweet Sadie
-Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis
-Black Arts Live, Leicester, England
-Out North, Anchorage
-Dixon Place, NYC
-National Black Theater Festival, Winston-Salem
-Josie's Cabaret, San Francisco |
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Pictured: Djola Branner & Brian Goranson
Pictured: Brian Freeman, Eric Gupton
&
Djola Branner
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oranges & honey: collected plays
due late 2010, RedBone Press
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Mighty Real: A Tribute to Sylvester
excerpted in Voices Rising
edited by G. Winston James & Other Countries, RedBone Press, 2007
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"Interview with Blackberry"
anthologized in In the Life
edited by Joseph Beam, RedBone Press, 2007
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"Silently Into the Night"
anthologized in Monologues for Actors of Color: Men
edited by Roberta Uno, Routledge, 2000
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Dark Fruit, a collaboration of Pomo Afro Homos
anthologized in Staging Gay Lives
edited by John M. Clum, Westview Press, 1996
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Fierce Love: Stories From Black Gay Life, a collaboration of
Pomo Afro Homos anthologized in Colored Contradictions,
edited by Harry J. Elam, Jr. and Robert Alexander, Plume, 1996
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lyrics of the last born: collected poems
Magpie Press, 1996 |
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Samuel French Theater Festival Finalist, NYC, 2007
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Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, Saint Paul, 2003
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Bush Foundation Fellowship, Performance Artist, Saint Paul, 2000
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Creative Capital Grant, NYC, 2000
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Philanthrofund Grant, Minneapolis, 2000
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Best Thespian, Lavender Magazine , Minneapolis, 2000
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Jerome Foundation Grants, Saint Paul, 2000 & 1998
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McKnight Foundation Fellowship, Interdisciplinary Artist, Minneapolis, 1999
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Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Grant, Saint Paul, 1998
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Austin Critics Circle Nominee, Best Actor in a Supporting Role
blood pudding , 1998
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Many Voices Multicultural Collaboration Grant, Minneapolis, 1998 & 1996
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NEA, Diverse Visions Grant, Minneapolis, 1996
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Many Voices Residency, Minneapolis, 1994 |
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Bessie Award, Outstanding Performance with Pomo Afro Homos, NYC, 1992 |
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