Labor

By TyLie Shider

Performances

Sunday, march 8 at 5pm–theatresquared

Saturday, march 14 at 5pm–TheatreSquared

About the play

In this dark comedy, an ordinary workday in the life of an odd couple of freelance painters slips into a coup. This play explores the themes of work and the risks some people take to secure the American dream.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

TyLie Shider is an American writer, a 2026 HEART grantee for History, Education, and Arts Reaching Thousands, a Pedantic Arts' Writer in Residence, a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow, and the inaugural playwright in residence at ArtYard. A Core Writer and a McKnight Fellow in Playwriting at the Playwrights' Center (PWC), he is a recipient of Premiere Stages' Liberty Live commission, two consecutive Jerome Fellowships (PWC), and an I Am Soul playwright in residence at the National Black Theatre.

Recent projects include: Don't Miss Doris Hines, Labor, Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family at Premiere Stages, The Gospel Woman, Whittier, and his filmmaking debut Sign O' the Times. Screenwriting credits include: Truant. He holds a BA in Journalism from Delaware State University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU, and he is a recipient of the August Wilson Research Award. A proud member of the Dramatist Guild, he is currently a Professor of Playwriting at Augsburg and Pace University, and a staff writer for Minnesota Playlist, where he writes a regular column.