Dark Fruit I.

The second of two full-length shows conceived, written, and performed by Pomo Afro Homos (Postmodern African-American Homosexuals), Dark Fruit premiered at the Public Theatre in December 1991 and went on to tour the US and England. Its searing critique of family and identity within African-American and mainstream cultures were emblematic of the group's work. Starting out with a satirical medical analysis of the black homosexual male, Dark Fruit weaves together a variety of sketches, excerpts from Pomo Afro Homos' previous performances, and original vignettes covering the complexities of black gay life. By engaging a range of topics, including school integration, interracial relationships, and generational conceptions of queerness, the members of Pomo Afro Homos each created a collaborative, broad-ranging vision of what it means to be a human living in a particular kind of body.

Djola Branner 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 broad range of human experiences. Co-founder of the award-winning performance group Pomo Afro Homos, Branner toured nationally and internationally with their shows Fierce Love: Stories from Black Gay Life and Dark Fruit. Both productions, scripted and performed by the Pomos, addressed the historical absence of three-dimensional black, gay characters in the theater and have proved seminal to the contemporary interrogation of African-American male identity. Branner's interdisciplinary work has been supported by Creative Capital, the Jerome, McKnight, and Bush Foundations, and published in such anthologies as Black Gay Genius, Colored Contradictions, Staging Gay Lives, and Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Lesbian and Gay Black Writers.

Branner'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 their work. He has taught dance, acting, and dramatic writing for more than thirty 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. He is 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. Branner is currently Professor of Theater at Hampshire College. He is a member of the Dramatists' Guild.