MANAKIN is a wedding story. But not just any wedding—this one brings together four generations for the union of Son and Daughter. Oh, this wedding is also a Satanic invocation. A raw, lyrical, darkly hilarious piece about intergenerational trauma, love in all its forms, ancient traditions and sacred rituals.
MANAKIN was awarded the 2024 Relentless Award by the American Playwriting Foundation (APF), which was founded in honor of Philip Seymour Hoffman's relentless support of truth in theater; MANAKIN was featured in APF's 2025 Relentless Reading Series.
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MANAKIN was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven CT. James Bundy, Artistic Director, Florie Seery, Managing Director with support from the Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation.
Supported in partnership with the American Playwriting Foundation (Artistic Director, David Bar Katz).
DAVE HARRIS is a poet and playwright from West Philly. Selected plays include TAMBO & BONES (LA Drama Critics Award "Best New Play", TimeOut London "Best Plays of 2023,"), EXCEPTION TO THE RULE (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2022), and INCENDIARY (Woolly Mammoth, 2023). His first feature film, SUMMERTIME premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released in 2021. Honors include: the 2024 Relentless Award, the 2023 Horton Foote Prize, the Ollie Award, The Lorraine Hansberry Award and Mark Twain Award from The Kennedy Center, The International Commendation for The Bruntwood Prize, the Venturous Fellowship, and a Cave Canem poetry fellowship amongst others. Dave has written feature and television projects for AMC (INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE), Netflix, Apple (WIDOW'S BAY), Amazon (THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE), and FX amongst others. His first full-length collection of poetry, PATRICIDE, was published by Button Poetry.