MULTI-AWARD WINNING PIONEER PEACHANDA DUBOSE

Church Stars recently caught up with the phenomenal, visionary, playwright Ms. Peachanda Dubose.

Ms. Dubose, who is also the Founder/Creator of the Playwrights Ball &Symposium/Peach Theatre Awards Cruise , an annual event honoring under recognized playwrights, filmmakers and authors, was fresh off of this years cruise which sailed to Cozumel, Mexico. And, before cruising the waters of the Caribbean Sea, she was honored with a 2016 NAACP Image Award With all of the success that she 's had and continues to have, we wanted to know more about this intriguing woman and she willingly obliged.

CS: First, I want to congratulate you for being the recipient of the 2016 NAACP Image Award. How does that feel?

PD: Absolutely Amazing! I'm so honored.

CS: What helped you to not only pursue your passion but to stand firm in what you have been called to do?

PD: It's part of who am I. I persisted. God did what I needed him to do and I made a promise to Him. I wanted to honor that promise. And 2ndly if anyone has ever had a passion, they understand, it's like needing air. When I'm not actively working my gift, its very crippling to me.

CS: Starting out and over the course of your career, what has been your biggest fear in this industry and how have you conquered that?

PD: I'm just going to be frank. We (African Americans) are very harsh and critical of each other. And reputation and credibility are very important so I've always tried to be mindful of that. That's always been something that is important to me and I've been careful to maintain that; just doing everything to the best of my ability. Integrity is one way to maintain and conquer that fear because one wrong word or rumor can damage your reputation and unfortunately. people easily believe things that aren't true versus what is true, no matter how much good fruit you have to show for your work. So ultimately to conquer that fear I've worked hard to do everything with excellence.

CS: Do you feel that facing your fear has prepared you for even the biggest obstacles in your career?

PD: Absolutely. When you've overcome certain things it just gets to the point where nothing can defeat you and so there's no place to go but up.

CS: How do/did these fears color your writing?

PD: Any good writer will tell you that pain, suffering, or trials of any kind of make your writing better because it helps fuel you. You need something to channel that energy into so, for me personally it served as a motivation.

CS: How do you keep yourself and your career grounded and intact?

PD: By staying active, remaining consistent and doing so as excellent as possible.

CS: What is the best thing that has happened to you in your pursuit of self?

PD: Being delivered from people and not caring what they think about you. Knowing who I am and what's in me. A lot of what people think is not true anyway!

CS: When you look back over your life, what was your defining moment; the one moment where you spoke life into yourself and started walking/talking/thinking in the direction of your Victory and your Purpose?

PD: Honestly, I've always been that way. I've had some challenges but when people tell me I can't do something, that is just fuel to show you that I can. I've always had people who doubted me and my abilities. I, in turn, used that as motivation. I never doubted what God put in me.

CS: What is next for Peachanda Dubose?

PD: I'm working on an upcoming musical. It's a theatrical production called "Ferguson". I was inspired to write it as a result of all the wrongful deaths of Africans at the hands of law enforcement. It will take place in Los Angeles in Sept and I'm currently launching a fund raising campaign to fund the production. I've assembled an all male cast of veteran actors singers rappers spoken word artists to help tell this story of how black lives matter . Its a great story whether you care or you don't care about black lives as well as an education on why this movement of awareness should be important. We would appreciate it if everyone that can, support us by helping fund "Ferguson" by going to Gofundme.com/FergusonToLa.

In addition to the 2016 NAACP Image Award,

Ms Dubose's impressive resume also includes:

WINNER: 2015 "Best Black Female in The Arts" - Theatre Production/Black women in Jazz &The Arts Awards www.bwijawards.com

Founder/Creator of The Kingdom Social (Christian networking events)

Three-Time Winner of the Editor's Choice Award 2003-2006. WINNER: 2015 "Best Black Female in The Arts" -Theatre Production/Black women in Jazz &The Arts Awards www.bwijawards.com

NOMINATED: "2015 NAACP Image Award Hometown Champion" For The PEACH Theatre Awards Featured artist at the National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF), & DC Black Theatre Festival (DCBTF).

PLAYS: "Surrender" "Even a Wretch like Me" " Mr. Harold Behave" "The Devil Thought he Had Me" (Awarded Best Real Life Drama in 2012). "The List" (Awarded Best Theatre Production 2015). "Ferguson" (Her adaptation of 12 Angry Men) "No Weapon" MUSICALS: "The Greats" SCREENPLAYS/FILMS: "Diverse Temptations" "Fairytale" BOOKS/VOLUMES OF POETRY "Reflections of Me" "Unbreakable"

Ms. Peachanda Dubose's abilities for character development are uncanny, As I read her introductions of the core actors for "Ferguson" I felt myself being really drawn into their individual worlds; relating to some, wanting to know more about most of them and anticipating the moves of each of them.

Revolutionary is the one word that adequately describes the writing skill of Ms. Peachanda Dubose and we wish her continued success in all of her endeavors.