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“There’s so few new play development opportunities available, and nothing that centers some of the specific cultural elements of African American storytelling and tradition,” Moon said. “We felt that especially being in Atlanta, we had a very unique niche.”

Last year, Hush Harbor partnered with Atlanta’s Théâtre du Rêve, a professional theater company focused on bringing French culture to the stage, to workshop the company’s 2019 play, “Code Noir: Les Aventures du premier Comte de Monte Cristo (Black Code: The Adventures of the first Count of Monte Cristo)” into a screenplay. The play is based on the life of Alex Dumas, the son of a French nobleman and an enslaved African woman in St. Domingue, known today as Haiti.

The workshop included a virtual reading and discussion of the story and laid the groundwork for a film of “Code Noir,” shooting this winter and set to premiere in March. The partnership was Hush Harbor’s first commissioned work.

Last year, Hush Harbor also unveiled a workshop performance of McIntyre’s one-woman show “Nina” about American singer-songwriter’s Nina Simone. Hush Harbor is also collaborating with Found Stages to present a production of Moon’s “Cassie’s Ballad” in March. The play centers on the Atlanta child murders.

Hush Harbor continues seeking more opportunities with other companies and finding ways to nurture Black artists to tell new stories.

“When Amina and I got together to form Hush Harbor, we both have been lucky enough to be involved in new play development processes,” Moon said. “But that’s not necessarily a common situation for writers of color in general to be engaged in.”

Most plays being produced about African Americans tend to be period pieces, about the Civil Rights movement or something that includes music, Moon said. Black artists writing outside of these parameters have a hard time getting investors interested in the development process.

“We wanted to provide a development process for Black storytellers to tell a diverse range of stories that a theater company or another development company might not support,” Moon said. For more, visit hushharborlab.com.