Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour

Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour is a playwright, actor, and Emmy award winning screenwriter. She wrote and performed her eulogy “Progress” in We The Women’s Wake for 2019. We The Women commissioned Stacy, along with 6 other playwrights, to script a short play examining this moment in time through a singularly female lens for our upcoming anthology series “Keep This Far Apart.”

How did you get started in your work? Was there a moment when you realized writing was what you wanted to do?

When I was little, I was really obsessed with books. They would take me away from some of the things that I was going through and the pain of adolescence. By 13, I got so immersed in these different genres and authors that I was like, “Oh, I’m going to write a book.” That’s really, really hard to do when you're 13, but from there, I started writing poems. Then when I was around 17 or 18, I wrote my first play at New York University. It was around that time that I really realized not only do I want to act in my pieces, I want to be a playwright. And theatre is a medium that I really feel like I can lend my voice to.

I love what you shared on Instagram about how you became a writer for Watchmen. Can you share a little bit about that journey?

[Stacy’s caption: 2 years ago I met Damon Lindelof for a job many told me I wouldn’t get. Not only because I was black, female, a playwright, had only one TV writing credit under my belt, and was recovering from the flu, but because my agents said that 40 other people were vying

for the job and it was a world I didn’t know much about, a world many white men were confused I was even interviewing for, and that world was Watchmen. I can still remember my meeting with Damon. Him pitching me the most insane idea I had ever heard. A black superhero passing as white in order to fight crime. We talked about a lot in that interview from Hawaiian bbq to race in America to our favorite books...but one thing I remember clearly is me asking him to hire me. He was a little taken aback by my boldness and laughed a little, but I tried to make it clear that I meant it. I had read an article that morning on why women never get what they want...because they never ask for it.]

I already had my first job as a writer—and it was amazing—but my agents and everybody told me that the second job is the hardest to get as a TV writer. I'm not sure why that is. But I was definitely feeling that and it had been a couple of months since I heard about any opportunities; when I did, it was about Watchmen. I was extremely nervous and felt under qualified because not only was [Watchmen creator] Damon extremely successful, but I was a huge fan of his work.

I felt really afraid that he wouldn't choose me, but when I met with him, we had such an amazing meeting. I think it was like two hours and 30 minutes and I was like, “Oh my god, I can't have this incredible meeting with this person and not tell them my mind or what's in my heart.” And I think we're so often told to be indifferent or pretend the job doesn't mean that much to you because if you show how much you want it, you're not going to get it. And I just couldn't do that.

I knew the show was something I could lend my voice to. I knew that it was going to be amazing. So I just decided to tell him that I really wanted the job and he wanted to hire me. And he laughed. And that was about it.

Yes, the Cool Girl myth.

I just don't know how to be a cool girl. l I can't help but say what's on my mind. A lot of times, it's gotten me in trouble, so this is the first time where it hasn’t and it felt really good.

What have you been consuming, media wise, in quarantine?

I have been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of television. The books that I have loved are Three Women (by Lisa Taddeo) and Leave the World Behind (by Rumaan Alam). I've been watching a lot of old HBO shows. Started with Boardwalk Empire, then the Sopranos, and now on Six Feet Under. And just loving it. Also did The Wire. I'm just about to go out with my TV show to the world, so I wanted to go back to the classics of television to see they're so good and so successful.

It’s been a hard year for the world, as we know, with the entire entertainment industry having to pivot and restructure. How are you feeling about the state of theatre at the moment?

I'm feeling optimistic. There’s so many fun and unique ways to tell a story, so it’s been exciting to see places like Audible and Spotify do plays as podcasts and whatnot. It’s a beautiful way to expose theatre to people who don’t normally go to theatre. So I’m feeling hopeful. The virus really shook a lot of forms of entertainment, so I love that theatre is coming back and coming back with a vengeance.

What are four plays you think every American should familiarize themselves with?

An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cock by Mike Bartlett, Inheritance by Matthew López, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Edward Albee.

Sara LiJune 8, 2021