Teacher Biography
A Chicago Dramatist Resident Playwright and former Tutterow Fellow, Derek Lee McPhatter is committed to new work that engages diverse communities, emphasizing narratives at the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality and technology.
Recent projects include Bring the Beat Back, a queer, black, sci-fi, music-theatre experience and Serious Adverse Effects, a drama at the intersection of medical ethics, blood memory and forgiveness, incubated at The National Black Theatre (Harlem, NYC). Derek is a 2020 Resident Playwright with Chicago Dramatists. His work has also been presented / supported by: The Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Drama League, and Hi-ARTS, among others.
He has been at the vanguard of several high-profile ventures aimed at diversifying 21st century arts and entertainment. He is a founding playwright with the Fire This Time Festival, and was featured in the first season of Harlem9’s 48 Hours in Harlem Festival -- two Obie-award winning platforms that champion black theatre-makers in New York City.
Upcoming projects include a new play for Prop Thtr and HIVE, a sci-fi anthology series he is co-creating with Stephanie Jeter and Tim Maupin for OTV | Open Television. Publications include Otherwise Oblivion in the 2016 afro-futurism volume of Obsidian - Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora.
Derek is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and currently the interim literary manager at Otherworld Theatre Company, Chicago’s premiere science fiction and fantasy theater. He is originally from Pickerington, Ohio and splits his time between Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.