Debra Ann Byrd is a force.
When you sit in a room with her, you can feel her presence before she even starts talking. Then, when she does start talking, brace yourself.
The Shakespearean actor and playwright has been breaking boundaries on the stage and in the classics throughout her career. She’s the founder of the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, the former artistic director for the Southwest Shakespeare Company, and just finished a run of her one-woman living memoir "Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey" at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Byrd’s show weaves her own story growing up in Harlem and on the stage with her acclaimed, gender-bending performance as Othello, a role she has taken on three times throughout her career. She’s set to begin performances of it at the Mesa Arts Center starting Nov. 3.
The Show sat down with her to talk about her life, her work and her one-woman show in a new installment of Deep Dive.
