Dates & Times

GO DEEPER: FURLOUGH’S PARADISE by a.k. payne

Compiled by Christy Montour-Larson

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

To read Jada Suzanne Dixon’s Director’s Note, click HERE.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:  a.k. payne

These interviews and conversations offer direct insight into a.k. payne’s process, inspirations, and the ideas behind Furlough’s Paradise.

• Alliance Theatre – Conversation with a.k. payne (about Furlough’s Paradise)
  A rich, direct interview with the playwright about the origins of the play, the role of grief, and the relationship between the two cousins at its center.
  Read the interview
• Sanctity of Gathering – Interview with a.k. payne (video)
  payne discusses the inspiration behind Furlough’s Paradiseand the importance of creating spaces for connection, freedom, and shared experience.
   Watch the interview
• Artist Talk: a.k. payne on Furlough’s Paradise(video)
  An artist talk from the Alliance Theatre production, where payne reflects on the play’s development, themes, and theatrical approach.
   Watch the artist talk
• NPC Interview with a.k. payne (video)
  A broader conversation about payne’s writing process, including language, memory, and community-building—key elements that shape Furlough’s Paradise.
  Watch the interview

BLACK FAMILY, RETURN & RECOGNITION

What does it mean to come home—especially when you’ve changed, or when home has? Furlough’s Paradise centers the complexity of Black family, where love, absence, memory, and expectation all live at once. These pieces explore what it means to return, to be recognized (or not), and how family can hold both deep connection and deep rupture.

• “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration” — The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-black-family-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/403246/

In this landmark essay, Ta-Nehisi Coates examines how incarceration reshapes Black family life—especially the experience of absence and return. The piece explores what happens when someone reenters a family system that has continued without them, and how love, strain, and disconnection coexist.

• “Black Families and Mental Health” — University of Michigan School of Public Health(Podcast)

https://sph.umich.edu/podcast/season3/black-families-and-mental-health.html

This conversation looks at how Black families navigate mental health, stigma, and care. It highlights the tension between support and silence, and how recognition—of pain, of need, of one another—can be both difficult and transformative.

• “Getting Mental Health Support in Black Families” — The Jed Foundation

https://jedfoundation.org/resource/getting-mental-health-support-in-black-families/

This resource explores the challenges of seeking and receiving support within Black family systems. It considers how cultural expectations, protection, and misunderstanding can shape whether someone feels seen, heard, or truly known within their own home.

INCARCERATION, ABSENCE & THE SYSTEM

Furlough’s Paradise doesn’t show the system directly—it shows what it leaves behind. Incarceration shapes not only the person inside, but the families, relationships, and everyday rhythms around them. These pieces offer context on absence, reentry, and the long-lasting impact of incarceration on individuals and communities.

• “Incarceration’s Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America” — Vera Institute of Justice
  This report looks at how the U.S. relies on incarceration and the ways it disrupts families and communities. It highlights how even short periods of incarceration can have lasting effects on housing, employment, and relationships.
  https://www.vera.org/publications/incarcerations-front-door-the-misuse-of-jails-in-america
• “The Challenges of Reentry for Formerly Incarcerated People” — Brookings Institution
  A clear overview of what happens after release, including barriers to housing, employment, and stability. The article highlights how reentry is not a single moment, but an ongoing process that shapes how—and whether—someone can rebuild their life.
  https://www.brookings.edu/articles/formerly-incarcerated-americans/

AFROFUTURISM, AFROREALISM & IMAGINED WORLDS

Furlough’s Paradise moves between the real and the imagined—grounded in everyday life while opening space for memory, dream, and possibility. These artistic traditions help name that movement. Afrofuturism and Afrorealism offer ways of seeing the world that expand time, identity, and storytelling, creating space for Black life to exist beyond limitation and within imagination.

• “What Is Afrofuturism?” — National Museum of African American History & Culture
  https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/afrofuturism
  This overview defines Afrofuturism as a way of expressing Black identity, agency, and freedom through imagined futures. It offers a clear framework for understanding how artists envision liberation, possibility, and alternate realities.
• “Afrofuturism on Stage and Screen” — Searchable Museum
  https://www.searchablemuseum.com/afrofuturism-on-stage-and-screen/
  This article explores how Afrofuturism operates in performance, showing how theatre and visual storytelling use imagination, time-shifting, and speculative worlds to explore Black life, liberation, and possibility.

LANGUAGE, POETRY & THEATRICAL FORM

Furlough’s Paradise doesn’t rely on traditional realism. Instead, it builds meaning through rhythm, repetition, and image—where language becomes action and silence carries weight. These pieces explore how contemporary theatre uses poetic form to hold emotion, memory, and experience in ways that straightforward dialogue often cannot.

• “Dramaturgy of Form: Performing Verse in Contemporary Theatre” — Critical Stages
  https://www.critical-stages.org/25/dramaturgy-of-form-performing-verse-in-contemporary-theatre/
  This article explores how poetic language functions onstage—not just as text, but as sound, rhythm, and structure. It highlights how form itself can generate meaning in performance, allowing repetition, fragmentation, and musicality to shape emotional experience beyond literal storytelling.
• “Wrestling with Mode and Meaning: The Play of Poetry in Theatre” — Cordite Poetry Review
  https://cordite.org.au/essays/mode-and-meaning/2/
  This essay examines how poetic theatre moves beyond traditional narrative clarity, using image, ambiguity, and structure to create meaning that is felt as much as understood. It offers a useful lens for how language, gesture, and rhythm can work together to tell a story.
• “Singin’ a Black Girl’s Song: Ntozake Shange and for colored girls…” — HowlRound Theatre Commons
  https://howlround.com/singin-black-girls-song-ntozake-shange-and-colored-girls-who-have-considered-suicide-when-rainbow
  This article explores the origins and impact of for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, tracing how Shange’s choreopoem blends poetry, movement, and music into a theatrical form that centers Black women’s voices and lived experience. It highlights how performance, embodiment, and language work together to create meaning beyond traditional storytelling.

POP CULTURE QUICK HITS

Furlough’s Paradise is grounded in a shared cultural memory—music, television, and everyday touchstones that shape how we understand family, identity, and belonging. These references help locate Sade and Mina in a specific world, while also revealing their differences in taste, experience, and perspective.

TV & FILM

The Proud Family
Animated Disney Channel series (early 2000s) following Penny Proud and her family. A key cultural touchstone for Black millennial audiences, blending humor with everyday family life.

That’s So Raven
Disney Channel sitcom starring Raven-Symoné as a teen with psychic visions. Known for its comedy and moments of social awareness.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990s sitcom starring Will Smith as a teen from West Philadelphia sent to live with wealthy relatives in California. Blends humor with themes of race, class, and belonging.

The Cheetah Girls
Disney Channel film franchise about a girl group pursuing pop stardom. Hugely popular among early-2000s teens, especially girls of color.

The Little Mermaid
Disney animated film (1989). Often referenced as a marker of childhood and the desire to hold onto innocence.

MUSIC

Sade
British-Nigerian singer known for smooth, soulful music like “Smooth Operator.” Her sound evokes intimacy, memory, and emotional reflection.

John Coltrane
Legendary jazz saxophonist associated with spirituality, experimentation, and deep emotional expression.

Louis Armstrong
Foundational jazz musician and cultural icon representing an earlier generation of Black musical tradition and influence.

Jimi Hendrix
Groundbreaking guitarist who fused rock, blues, and psychedelia. Known for innovation and expressive performance.

Arctic Monkeys
British indie rock band, reflecting a wide and eclectic musical taste beyond traditional genre boundaries.

Nas
Influential hip-hop artist known for vivid storytelling about Black life, identity, and systemic inequality.

The Rolling Stones
Classic rock band whose music reflects a broad, cross-generational listening landscape.

Dolly Parton
Country music icon known for storytelling and a distinctive voice, representing cross-genre listening and cultural blending.

Aretha Franklin
The “Queen of Soul,” known for powerful vocals and songs centered on love, resilience, and self-respect.

Thelonious Monk / John Lennon
A shorthand for a wide musical spectrum—from Monk’s jazz innovation to Lennon’s global pop influence.

THEATRE & LITERARY

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf
A choreopoem by Ntozake Shange centering Black women’s voices through poetry, movement, and music. A key influence on contemporary poetic and nontraditional theatre forms.

OTHER CULTURAL REFERENCES

BET (Black Entertainment Television)
A television network that has historically centered Black audiences and culture, airing many of the shows referenced in the play.

Martin (via “Gina”)
1990s sitcom starring Martin Lawrence; Gina is one of the central characters. A cultural reference point for relationships, humor, and identity.

Cookie Crisp
Sugary breakfast cereal often used as shorthand for childhood comfort, nostalgia, and shared memory

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: ENGAGING WITH FURLOUGH’S PARADISE

1. What does “furlough” mean in the play? Does that meaning change as the story goes on? 
2. How would you describe Sade and Mina’s relationship? What connects them, and what creates tension?
3. How do the characters deal with grief? What do they say—and what do they avoid saying? 
4. What does “home” mean in this play? Is it a place, a person, or something else?
5. What does freedom look like for Sade? What does it look like for Mina?
6. How does Sade’s time in prison affect how she sees the world—and how others see her?
7. Some moments feel very real, and others feel more like dreams. How did those shifts affect your experience?
8. How do the characters use language? Were there moments where words helped—or moments where they didn’t feel like enough?
9. The characters imagine a better world, or a “utopia.” What would that look like for them? What would it look like for you?
10. What is one moment, image, or line that stayed with you after the play ended?

LIBRARY RESOURCES TO ENHANCE YOUR FURLOUGH’S PARADISE EXPERIENCE

Curated by the Denver Public Library

The Denver Public Library recommends these library resources to enhance your theatre experience of Furlough’s Paradise. 

READ  

Somebody’s Daughter: A Memoir by Ashley C. Ford
Ashley C. Ford shares her experience of growing up in what she describes as a “complex and isolating childhood.” Just as Sade and Mina talk through various stages of grief and family trauma, Ford opens up about her relationships with her incarcerated father, absentee mother, and tough love grandmother. With a sharp, yet non-judgmental, voice Ford weaves a story of identity made up of: who you are, familial ties, and what is found along the way.

 

WATCH   

Pariah, dir. Dee Rees (2011)

Alike is a 17-year-old Black girl, living in Brooklyn, discovering her sexuality, and learning how to cope with her family’s—and society’s—expectations of what her life should be. This coming-out/coming-of-age film earned multiple awards, including a Sundance Film Festival Cinematography Award, and it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”.

 

LISTEN 

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Like Furlough’s Paradise, Another Brooklyn explores Black identity, family, and grief. August, like Mina, is a high achiever who returns to her old neighborhood for a funeral–in this case her father’s–and reconnects with people she was close to growing up. Robin Miles narrates the audiobook in a rich, evocative performance that brings to life the story’s nostalgia and won audio awards.

DOWNLOAD  

Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color edited by Denne Michelle Norris

The authors of this collection’s seventeen essays examine how race and gender identity have shaped who they are today, and how their wisdom can shape a future of collective liberation.