COMM professor Howard Craft has gotten to see significant amount of his hard work pay off at the end of this year – both within the UNC community and beyond.
Craft, an accomplished poet, essayist and playwright alongside teaching, has seen particular success with his theater work in the latter months of this year, with two of his plays being performed at UNC, and the film adaptation of another winning a national award.
Over the past two months, UNC has hosted two of Craft’s works. Back in early November, his play “Changing Same: The Cold-Blooded Murder of Booker T. Spicely” was put on as part of the COMM Department’s Process Series, held at the Black Box Theatre at Swain Hall. The production was put on by Duke University as well during the following week. This month, Craft’s holiday play “The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones,” co-written with Mike Wiley, is being performed by PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional theater company housed at UNC.
Additionally, Craft’s play “Freight: The Five Incarnations of Abel Green,” which was a New York Times Critic Pick back in March of 2015 and has more recently been adapted for the screen, was named Urbanworld’s 2024 Best Narrative Feature (U.S. Cinema) for the film adaptation. The film’s world premiere was held on November 16 in New York City.
Congratulations Professor Howard Craft on all of your outstanding accomplishments.