A Guilford student’s play will be performed next month at the Amplify Black Voices Theatre Festival in Greensboro.

J Wilson ’26, who uses the pronouns they and them, was on the phone with a high school friend late last year when the inspiration for the play, “Cam(eron),” slowly started to germinate. “It was weird how it started to come together over a phone call,” says J. “I hung and I opened my laptop and within three hours the first scene was written.”

“Cam(eron)” unteases the complicated relationship between a mother and son over 16 years starting in elementary school. J drew on their own relationship with their mother, though J stopped short of calling the play autobiographical.

“There are definitely parts that are based on my own life, but it is not like a one for one retelling of my life,” J says. “There are parts I pull on from my childhood and parts I’ve created on my own. I’m proud of how it blends together.”

J has known since 8th grade their future was in the theater. They played the lead last fall in Guilford’s production of “The Burial at Thebes.” This is J’s first serious foray into playwriting, which has always been an interest but not something they pursued.

“I'm super glad that the opportunity came up because I love it,” J says. “I see myself acting, directing and writing in theater – not specifically just an actor. This won't be the only play that I write.”

Beth Ritson-Lavender, Visiting Assistant Professor for Theatre Studies, says Guilford is the perfect place for Theatre Studies students to be exposed to all of those pursuits. “We’re such an intimate department that if somebody has a special gig, we just follow their interest in performance art. Jis a perfect example of that.”  

The play is one of five that will be performed next month as part of the Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium between Guilford, N.C. A&T State University, Bennett College, UNCG, High Point University, Elon University and Greensboro College, which was established in 2000.

The Amplify Black Voices Theatre Festival will be held April 26-27. Beth says the festival, which began in 2022, wants to hold its performances this year in the community rather than on a campus. A location or locations have not been determined yet.