Writer Ty Greenwood and Director Maurice Redwood Connect on Work Inspired by James Baldwin
By SHARON EBERSON
Few works on Pittsburgh stages have deeper roots within the city limits than Ty Greenwood’s Paradox of Education, directed by Maurice Redwood, and having its premiere this month at Pittsburgh Playwright Theatre Company.
The current season was curated by Monteze Freeland, whose influence on local theater at this very moment stretches from Mark Clayton Southers’ Hill District-based company, to the stage of Pittsburgh Public Theater, where he is starring in Primary Trust, to the leadership of Alumni Theatre Company in Homewood.
Freeland chose the play that was first workshopped at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. That opportunity for the Pittsburgh native arose through a recommendation from Tomė Cousin, a connection made while Greenwood was working on his MFA in Dramatic Writing at Carnegie Mellon University.
When Freeland read the play, he reached out to actor and filmmaker Maurice Redwood, a frequent onstage performer for PPTC, who will now make his full-play directing debut, having previously directed his own works on stage and screen.
Greenwood was inspired by a fellow Black queer writer, James Baldwin. Everything about the play feels contemporary, yet it is based on the 1963 Baldwin speech, “A Talk to Teachers” (originally titled “The Negro Child — His Self-Image”), which was published in The Saturday Review.
In terms that sound increasingly familiar today, when, for example, facts about America’s shameful history of slavery are being erased from public institutions, and “diversity, equity and inclusion” is under attack, Baldwin said that true education empowers students to examine and challenge society, yet society aims to use education to create obedient citizens.
In Greenwood’s Paradox of Education, Baldwin’s words are heard as a kind of transitional chorus, rendered by the resonant voice of Charles E. Timbers Jr.
“He’s my favorite writer of all time,” Greenwood said of Baldwin. “I think what I love so much about James and other writers in that era, the Toni Morrisons and the Audre Lordes, is how they were so ahead of their time, and wrote such timeless things. … What hits me every time I pick up an essay by Baldwin, or I have tons of his books, is that everything that he wrote about back then is still relevant today. And he was a Black queer writer, and I’m a Black queer writer, so we have that connection. But I think it’s just his voice was always so clear in the way he would word things. Hearing him speak, watching his interviews, watching his speeches, were really profound to me.”
The story is based partly on Greenwood’s own experience as an undergraduate at Washington & Jefferson College, in Washington County, PA. In this case, at an unnamed PWI (predominantly white institution), several students of color meet regularly to support each other and share their experiences. They may be bonded by their otherness on campus, yet gender, mixed-race parents, backgrounds, and cultural influences declare their individuality, too. The story is as much about identity as the unseen majority who would seem to lump them into singular unit.
The relevance emanates to anyone who has ever felt “other” within a community that espouses its understanding and support, along with the appearance of a safety net, to discuss shared experiences.
Pittsburgh native Greenwood has had a reading of another work at City Theatre’s Momentum Festival and was the inaugural recipient of a commission from the Kemp Powers Commission Fund for Black Playwrights in 2020.
Paradox of Education represents the first full production of one of his works.
“It’s such a full-circle moment that my first world premiere is happening in Pittsburgh, and that it’s Monteze making it happen,” Greenwood said. “I told him, ‘You’ve watched me over the span of 10-plus years now.” And he was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I didn’t even think about that, that I saw some of your first writings.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, you’ve been everywhere, making sure.’ I don’t know how he does it because he’s literally everywhere on stage, behind the scenes, curating seasons … everywhere.”
Freeland made the connection that brought Greenwood and Redwood together, with the latter noting how proud he was to be making his directing debut in the Carter Woodson Redwood Theatre, named for his acting brother.
“I’ve known Ty for a few years and I’ve known of his work, but it was Monteze reaching out because he thought it would be good for me, and that there would be an automatic interest,” Redwood said. “After talking to Ty and reading the script, I got a chance to watch the reading that they did in Florida as well, and it really resonated with me, especially because it’s about young people. I think, especially for playwrights, and this is no dig on the rest, but I think it’s good that there are some pieces that have a lot of youth and are speaking to the youth, and what’s going on in the world today.”
Among the cast, Pittsburgh-based actor Brenden Peifer originated the role of Emmerson Wilson in Florida — Greenwood wrote the role with him in mind — and “Cherish Morgan, who’s also from Pittsburgh, came down and it was her directorial debut, and she choreographed some things in it as well,” Greenwood noted.
The PPTC cast includes Krystal Waller, Tajionna Clinton, Amon Jamaal, Marissa Lily, and Manny Walker. Besides the voice of Timbers, Melissa Edmond, Stacey Rosleck, and Richard McBride have roles to play as well.
Redwood attributes the production to the mentorship of and trust instilled by Mark Clayton Southers, PPTC founder and Producing Artistic and Technical Director. Paradox of Education leads into a 2026 all-new-works season, mostly at Southers’ Madison Arts & Entertainment Center and including 10,000 Rides by Cynthia Dallas; BURNBABYBURN: an american dream by another writer who was nurtured by City Theatre, a.k. payne (the story is set in the Hill District and will be produced there, as an outdoor co-production with the August Wilson House); and Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2, by Freeland.
Not part of the subscription season, PPTC also will cohost, with the August Wilson House, the first Italian-language production of August Wilson’s Jitney, shown with projected English supertitles. The touring production from Sardegna Teatro and La Piccionaia will be performed May 8-10, 2026, by an African-Italian ensemble.
Paradox of Education has come a long way, to this moment, as pandemic-era commission. Greenwood was reminded of the constant COVID testing in 2021, for the workshop in Florida, even as restrictions began to loosen.
He hadn’t revisited the play until the end of 2025, and an inquiry with Asolo Rep allowed that their rights to the work had been released.
“I had to rethink it, because it was 90% done. But for that initial showing, I felt like it was in a good spot. It was a great audience [in Florida], and it was just a great opportunity. We did it towards the end of February, so it was exciting for Black History Month, and it was also about working with students who were a part of their MFA program. So I just enjoyed that whole process and collaboration, and working on it. But fast forward now, about five years later, getting a call from my good friend and mentor over the years, Monteze, who was like, iI’ve been thinking about your play …’ ”
That collaborative spirit at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre comes from the top down, said Redwood.
“I think Mark is a visionary, with what he’s been able to do over the years, and how he does things in somewhat of an unconventional way,” Redwood said. “So for me to be able to be directed by him [in past productions], and now to be on this side of it and to work with him, is another great first for me. He’s been great, just letting me do my thing and supporting the vision that I have for the show. It has been a collaborative effort from beginning up until now, and it will be all the way until closing night. I’m just grateful to be a part of it.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
The Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company premiere of Paradox of Education is in the Carter Woodson Redwood Theater, Madison Arts & Entertainment Center, April 4 – 20, 2026. Tickets: https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/paradox/.
Categories: Feature Stories, Our Posts, Show Previews
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