Shelia Payton is an author and playwright living in Milwaukee, WI. Her first professionally produced play is Facing the Shadow, which was staged by The Black Rep in St. Louis as part of the Missouri History Museum’s 150th anniversary commemoration of the Civil War (2012). The play also had staged readings at the:

• August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh (2012)

• Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (2012)

• 5th POTPOURRI! World Women Works Series for New Plays by Emerging and Seasoned Playwrights in Brooklyn, NY (2014)

As a playwright Shelia’s penchant is to mine untold or little known stories from African American life, history and culture. The works are not history plays, but rather stories about people navigating the ebbs and flows of life in the context of the times in which they live.

Her other creative work includes:

• Writing the libretto for an African/African American-themed opera: Black Caesar. The score for the copyrighted work was written by the late Neal Tate, the first African American music director on Broadway.

• Lyrics