Each month on The Subtext, Brian speaks with a playwright about life, writing, and whatever itches we are scratching.

This time, he speaks with Rachel Lynett, a queer Afro-Latine playwright, producer, and teaching artist who won the Yale Drama Prize with a play she wrote in just one sitting. Lynett shares their journey from aspiring corporate defense attorney to playwright—a path lined with pivots, burnout, and unrelenting commitment to creativity. Says Lynett of prioritizing fulfillment, “I don’t want to be the kind of person where (you’re) always moving the milestone, because then you’re just never satisfied…  I’m trying to remove the idea of success and just think, ‘What is a good life? What is that like?’”

Lynett’s plays center “complicated, complex women of color” who, as she puts it, “are neither saints or villains; they’re eternally both.” Their plays have been featured or commissioned at Barrington Stage Company, Florida Studio Theatre, and Yale Rep, San Diego Rep, Magic Theatre, Theatre Prometheus, Teatro Espejo, the Kennedy Center Page to Stage festival, and TheatreSquared. In addition to earning the 2021 Yale Drama Prize for Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson), Lynett also earned the National Latinx Playwriting Award, and their play Black Mexican was the 2022 runner-up for the Miranda Family Voces Latinx Playwriting Competition. Missing Socks and a Line of Coke was also a 2024 Blue Ink Award finalist and 2024 O’Neill Playwright conference semi-finalist. 

This episode can also be found here, and on iTunes and Spotify.