Born and raised in Detroit, Kenndall Wallace's plays feature predominantly Black casts - challenging, celebrating, and uplifting the Black community. She was an inaugural member of the Black Playwrights' Gathering in Washington, D.C., a 2025 Torch Literary Arts Fellow, an LTA one-act playwriting award winner, a top 30 playwright for the 50th Concord Off-Off Broadway Festival, and was a recent member of Dramatic Question Theatre's Classics in Color Cohort.
LINKS + SOCIAL MEDIA
ABOUT THE MONOLOGUE
'Genius' came about after I'd read about and experienced the phenomenon of Black Fatigue in professional spaces. Through 'Genius', I wanted to shine a light on how important it is that we take time to honor Black women for who they are rather than what they can provide for society, while also celebrating Black love by imbuing the monologue with a sense of tenderness. 'Genius' balances social critique with emotional vulnerability, and I'm both incredibly proud of the work and honored that it's a semi-finalist for the BLACK WOMAN GENIUS project.
EXCERPT FROM GENIUS
~ Excerpt published by permission, all rights held by the playwright.
Let me melt into your arms like beeswax on hot gas stovesUntil parts of me start escaping into the pores of your body,And your skin shields me from the gazes of those who don’t deserve to even look at me.Let me be soft around you,Drop my guard around you,Let me be myself without expectation or social obligation when I’m all wrapped up in you.‘Cause sometimes, lover, smart girls don’t wanna be smarter.And hard-working girls don’t wanna work harder.Sometimes, they want rest, and ease, and a soft place to perch themselves on as they fly higher onward, A voice that says ‘I love you even when you’re not working’,Embraces that say ‘I support you in times of denouement’,Eyes that say ‘I see you when everyone else just sees what you do ’.So love me, and support me, and see me,And let me rest right here, just for the night,With you.