Katori Hall

Katori Hall, born on May 10, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, is a distinguished American playwright and screenwriter. Her academic journey began at Columbia University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in African-American Studies and Creative Writing in 2003, graduating as the first Black valedictorian from Craigmont High School. She continued her education, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University in 2005. Further honing her craft, Hall graduated from the Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace playwriting program in 2009. Her early work includes ‘Hoodoo Love,’ which premiered off-Broadway at Cherry Lane Theatre after being selected by Lynn Nottage for the Cherry Lane Theatre Mentor Project in 2006. These formative years laid the groundwork for a career marked by critical acclaim and significant literary and theatrical contributions.

Hall’s career gained mainstream prominence with her play ‘The Mountaintop,’ which premiered in London in 2009. The play, depicting Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night, achieved critical success, selling out at Theatre503 before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End. This production earned Hall the 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, making her the first Black woman to receive this accolade. In 2011, ‘The Mountaintop’ opened on Broadway, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett. That same year, Hall was selected for the Pershing Square Signature Theatre’s Residency Five initiative, committing her to three world-premiere productions over five years. Subsequent plays like ‘Hurt Village’ (2012), ‘Our Lady of Kibeho’ (2014), and ‘Pussy Valley’ (2015) further solidified her reputation. In 2019, she wrote the book for ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,’ which premiered on Broadway and earned her a Tony Award nomination in 2020. Her play ‘The Hot Wing King’ was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2021. Hall also developed her play ‘Pussy Valley’ into the acclaimed Starz television series ‘P-Valley,’ where she serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer. In 2020, she signed an overall deal with Lionsgate Television.