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Bio • Affiliations • Wampanoag Medicine Clown Tradition • UMass Dartmouth Spotlight on Mwalim


Bio
Considered by critics and peers alike to be one of the true modern masters of the oral tradition, Mwalim is a multifaceted performing artist, writer, filmmaker and educator. Born in Bronx New York and raised in both New York City and Mashpee, Massachusetts, Mwalim (aka Morgan James Peters) grew up immersed in the oral traditions of Bajan (Barbados) and Wampanoag culture. He is a keeper of both the New World Griot and Medicine Trickster traditions.

In theatre, he has distinguished himself as a playwright, director, actor and teacher. Receiving his formal training from New African Company in Boston, Mwalim's work has been presented throughout the United States and Canada, including his award-winning plays, "Look At My Shorts: An Evening of Short Plays"; "A Party at the Crossroads"; and "OM!: A Street Corner Griot's Comedy." His performance piece "Backwoods People" was presented at the 1999 National; Black Drama Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

As an educator, Mwalim is Assistant Professor in both the English department and African/African-American Studies program at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, where he specializes in video production, drama and oral traditions. As a teacher of theatre, he specializes in system/method techniques as well as classical theatre training. Many of his students have gone on to professional careers in theatre, film and television as well as advanced study in drama at Yale, NYU, UCLA, American Repertory Theatre and the Royal Academy of Drama.

An award-winning filmmaker, Mwalim received his MS in Film from Boston University. His chosen genres are experimental shorts, combining music and spoken-word with visual images, as well as his work with documentaries. He has won awards and accolades in film festivals throughout the world for such films as "Leroy Dubwise, P.I."; "4 Minutes &28 Seconds of Hunts Point"; "The Bridge Is Over" and "The Sax Lesson". He has also worked as an editor of film and video in Massachusetts and New York.

Mwalim is a published author of one book, A Mixed Medicine Bag: 7 Original Black Wampanoag Folk-tales, several poems and short stories appearing in numerous anthologies; a recipient of the MLK, Jr. Artists Grant, New England Broadcasting Association Fellowship, Longwood Cyber Arts Fellowship and a three-time recipient of the Ira Aldridge Fellowship. He has served as an Artist-In-Residence at Cape Cod Community College (1997 - 1999); The Frederick Douglass Unity House at U Mass Dartmouth (1998-1999); Harlem Theatre Company (1999 - 2001); and The Point CDC Theatre (2001 - 2003). He is also a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre's Director's Lab.

Mwalim is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Oversoul Theatre Collective, a professional Black and Native American arts and education organization formed in 1994, based in Mashpee, MA.