Roger Q. Mason
Playwright, 2023 Independent Development Workshop, 2026 Conference Playwright
Roger Q. Mason (they/them) is an award-winning writer, performer, and thought leader whose work uses history as a lens to challenge systems of exclusion. Named "one of the most significant playwrights of the decade" by The Brooklyn Rail, Roger creates bold, genre-defying work blending the poetic and the political with unapologetic power.
Their artistic practice is grounded in the belief that when the myths of a society no longer serve its people, artists must write new ones. They embody Sankofa: a look back in order to reach forward — creating theatrical mythologies that center joy, resilience, and radical visibility for those whose stories have long been left untold.
Roger’s theatrical work has been seen on Broadway at The 24 Hour Plays; Off- and Off-Off-Broadway at New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, The Flea, Dixon Place, P73, Breaking the Binary, National Queer Theatre, and The Fire This Time Festival; and at regional and national venues including Philadelphia Theatre Company, Carnegie Hall, Center Theatre Group, McCarter Theatre, Victory Gardens, Skylight Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, and About Face Theatre.
Roger’s plays are theatrical mythologies for the marginalized, especially those who are Queer, Black, Filipinx, TGNC, plus-sized, and previously erased from the classical canon. They walk in the legacy of Suzan-Lori Parks, George C. Wolfe, and Taylor Mac, blending historical excavation with avant-garde theatrical form.
Roger’s plays include The Duat, Lavender Men, The Pride of Lions, Califas Trilogy (California Story, Hide & Hide, & Juana Maria), The Pink, Waiting for a Wake, and Night Cities: A Bayard Rustin Ritual. The award-winning cinematic adaptation of Lavender Men, directed by Lovell Holder, continues to resonate with audiences and is available to stream online on AppleTV+.
Roger is an alum of Page 73’s Interstate 73 Writers Group, Primary Stages Writing Cohort, the Fire This Time Festival, and Ma-Yi Theater Company’s Writers Lab. They are the recipient of honors including the Kilroys List, the Chuck Rowland Pioneer Award, the Fire This Time Alumni Spotlight, and the Hollywood Fringe Festival’s Encore Producers Award.
A fierce advocate for artist development and collective uplift, Roger mentors with the Marsha P. Johnson Institute’s Starship Fellowship, the New Visions Fellowship, and the Shay Foundation Fellowship.They currently serve as Special Faculty at CalArts and have taught Playwriting and Play/Screen/Writing courses for Lambda Literary.They are also the creator and co-host of the acclaimed podcast Sister Roger’s Gayborhood and former host of Queerly Yours: Portraits in Courage on This Way Out Radio.Roger holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College, and Northwestern University.