Where the Suga Still Sweet by Brian Egland | April 8- May 21, 2023

By Brian Egland

Brian Egland is a Louisiana based Artist from the small town of Breaux Bridge.

He is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he was honored with the distinction of being the Outstanding Graduate of ULL’s Performing Arts Department.

His journey as a playwright began with a facebook message from a local actress and playwright, Nyetta Meaux, who ultimately inspired Brian to write his first play, The Birthday Dinner, for his collegiate senior project, as Meaux had done herself years prior. The Birthday Dinner went on to be honored by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for excellence in Original Playwrighting, and was the first predominantly African American production at UL Lafayette in over half a decade at the time.

Since the time of his senior project Brian, as a playwright, has had his works become Official Selections of the Atlanta & DC Black Theatre Festivals, produced as audio plays through No Dream Deferred’s Writer's Lounge and streamed through Cicada Radio, he’s received placement in the former Southern Rep Theatre’s 4D program, residency with the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production as one of their RPPL Artists, semi finalist and finalist candidacy in The National Black Theatre’s I AM Soul Playwriting residency respectfully in 2020 and 2022, and in 2021 Brian returned to UL Lafayette where he wrote and directed a piece titled Boxes In The Ground that streamed on Broadway On Demand and received Honorable Mention in their Stage/Screen shorts film festival.

Directed by Lauren Turner Hines

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Lauren (she/her) is a director/producer/performer and community facilitator. She is the founding Producing Artistic Director of No Dream Deferred NOLA, a community-anchored, multi-media theatre production company that is dedicated to the development of new works originating in the American south. Additionally, Lauren leads as the co-executive director of the Andre Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice. She is driven by her interest in equitable, place-based, culturally relevant theatre, especially as it pertains to the global south. Her work lives where storytelling, community building, and politics intersect.

Most recently she has directed the 2020 Big Easy Award-winning production of IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Loyola University's 2021 production of CADILLAC CREW by Tori Sampson, New Orlean Opera's JOSEPHINE: The Opera, music and lbretto by Thomas Cipullo, and the world premiere of TJ LOVES SALLY 4EVER by James Ijames at Theatre Horizon in Norristown, PA.

Lauren serves as the founder of Equity and Justice for Institutional Change (EJIC), an organizational development consulting firm. She is a Round 4 recipient in the Leadership U: One-on-One grant program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, designed to further develop prominent emerging leaders and change agents in the American Theatre.

Lauren received her Master of Fine Arts in Performance from The University of Southern Mississippi and her B.A. from North Carolina Central University. She lives joyfully in New Orleans with her husband Jason, and their 3 children, Austyn, Elijah, and Nia.