J. J. Johnson (James J. Johnson) has been a professional actor in the DC area for over 20 years. He has written his first full-length play which is an exploration of “being” — wanting to be, trying to be, not being. It is a story of childhood friends growing up in a working-class town etching out their place in the world. Though their trajectories vary, friendships endure through adversity and loss. “Wannabe” explores race, sexuality and religion all through the lens of kids growing up in the ’80s and ’90s.

Directed by Paige Hernandez