BIOGRAPHY

​ShaWanna Renee Rivon is an award-winning and nationally renowned playwright, producer, director and actor. She earned her BFA in Playwriting & Dramaturgy, and a MA in Arts Administration & Leadership, from the University of Houston. She started her professional writing career by authoring the hit urban plays CHEAPER TO KEEP HER and MARRIAGE MATERIAL, which both toured nationally and starred cultural icons such as Vivica A. Fox, Brian McKnight and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins.

Through her creative journey, ShaWanna discovered her niche, and artistic mission, of developing a seven play cycle of period-piece projects centered around the lives of Black women. The first of these projects is OLD BLACK & WHITE HOLLYWOOD, which is about a comedian who dreams of being the first Black female movie star in the 1950’s. This project was developed with the guidance of Dr. Matthieu Chapman, Suzan-Lori Parks and Theresa Rebeck at the University of Houston, and won the Edward Albee Playwriting Award. The second and third plays in this cycle, POWER TO THE QUEENDOM and YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO SIT IN, have both been produced professionally. ShaWanna is currently under commission with the famed Alley Theatre to write a play based on Houston legend, and jazz icon, Arnett Cobb.