Peggy Pettitt

Peggy Pettitt (born February 8, 1950) is an African American actress, dancer, teacher, playwright and storyteller. She is a native of St. Louis, Missouri.

The centerpiece of Pettitt’s theater career is a unique style of solo performance rooted in African-American storytelling. She developed this form to portray a spectrum of characters. Related by blood and circumstance, these characters shed light on the multifaceted history of African American men and women. And they tell "stories addressing important issues of our time."

In collaboration with director, Remy Tissier, she has created over ten original full-length plays. These examine issues of domestic violence, sexual abuse, cross-generational differences, voting registration, the Civil Rights Movement, identity and the world HIV/Aids crisis. Titles include Women Preachers, Caught Between the Devil and The Deep Blue Sea, Tricksters: All Over You Like White On Rice, Wrapped Up, Tied Up and Tangled, Mollie Oil BETWIXT, Wild Steps and In The Spirit For Real.

One play was the product of her 2000-01 Fulbright Fellowship to Senegal: The Spirit Factor. An original play, it’s based on the living history and the art of storytelling in West Africa. Yet another play, Voyage, was presented at the Avignon Off Festival in 2010. It explores American history through both the blues and a spiritual heritage that lives along the Mississippi River but originated in West Africa. Ms. Pettitt has presented her work at the Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Les Rencontres du Bout des Mondes International Festival in 2011 (French Guiana).

In addition to the Fulbright Fellowship she has received numerous other grants and awards. These include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. “Pearls of Wisdom” is a storytelling ensemble of the Elders Share the Arts in N.Y. City. Ms Pettitt is its founding artistic director, and with the Pearls of Widsom she was inducted in 2007 into City Lore's "People's Hall of Fame.”

In 1972, during the era of Blaxploitation movies, Pettitt made her first feature film, Black Girl, in which she played an aspiring young dancer. Pettitt was nominated for Best Actress by the NAACP for her role in Black Girl, written by J.E. Franklin and directed by Ossie Davis. Another of her noteworthy roles was at Lincoln Center as Miss Lindsey in Mule Bone, Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes’ historical comedy.

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