Paul Michael Thomson is a Chicago-based theatre artist, producer, and interdisciplinary scholar. His plays include: brother sister cyborg space (Raven Theatre); What a Time to Be Alive (You Say That Every Time) (Definition Theatre, Great Plains Theatre Commons); Fremont Junior High Is NOT Doing Oklahoma! (Good Company Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop); The G.O.A.T., or Who Is Ximone? (Theatre L'Acadie); Same Sects! (Haven Theatre, North Central College, Other Theatre Company); Artemis Books & the Well-Meaning Man (Avalanche Theatre, Live Theatre Workshop); (and i feel fine) (The Impostors Theatre Co.), and Leave Me Alone! (The Story Theatre). As an actor, he has worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, and The Story Theatre, among others. Paul Michael is proud to be a founding Governing Ensemble member of The Story Theatre, an award-winning storefront company dedicated to developing and producing world-premiere plays. Currently pursuing his PhD in Afro-American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Paul Michael has been awarded research fellowships from the Black Metropolis Research Consortium and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center. He is currently the playwright-in-residence at Raven Theatre. paulmichaelthomson.com
Plays
It’s 2004, and a state senator named Barack Hussein Obama is running to represent Illinois in the United States Senate. On the South Side of Chicago, his field team includes: Dan, a hot, smart white guy (“politically incorrect”); Clark, a spritely base coverer; and Porsche, an environmentalist who loves humanity but is meh on humans. When newcomer Aisha joins the team, her candor, quick smile, and comfortability with voters rocket her to the top of the organizing food chain. But how will the other members of her team react to this fast ascent? Can white men cede power when they really, really think they deserve it? And, dear God, will Mr. Obama win his Senate race?!