ShaWanna Renee Rivon is an award-winning playwright and producer whose work celebrates Black culture, history, and resilience. A graduate of the University of Houston with a BFA in Playwriting and Dramaturgy, she creates period-piece comedies centered on the lives of Black women, forming the foundation of her ambitious 7-play cycle.

Her first play, Old Black and White Hollywood, about a 1950s Black woman comic chasing stardom, won the Edward Albee Playwriting Award and will receive a workshop production in Los Angeles in Spring 2025. The second, Power to the Queendom, inspired by 1970s Black Panthers in Houston, premiered at LA’s Loft Ensemble and won Best Writing from LA Theatre Bites. The third, You’re Cordially Invited to Sit-In, debuted at Stages Theatre in 2022 and centers on Houston’s 1960 sit-in movement.

ShaWanna is currently commissioned by The Alley Theatre and Stages Theatre, with EMANCIPATION premiering at Performing Arts Houston in 2024 and heading to The Hobby Center in Spring 2025.

Also a cultural organizer, her initiatives include August in the Park, the Historical Third Ward Tour, and the Black Power Arts Celebration. She was named Houston’s Arts Leader of 2024.