Petaluma playwright tackles timely topics of racism, implicit bias

Petaluma’s Dianna L. Grayer, poet, psychotherapist and writer of such plays as “Private Lives, Private Lies” and “When the Bud Blooms,” has premiered a new work titled “Unearthing the Silent Rumblings.” Created as four short plays about the Black experience in America, the show debuted last weekend, presented at Cotati’s Congregation Ner Shalom and produced by Grayer’s Our Lives Matter Theater Company.

The stories told in the production, which runs again on Friday, Satuday and Sunday, April 9 and 10, include a monologue discussing the use of the word “minority,” a mom and her son confronting the police, two friends debating implicit bias and another pair of friends talking about the disparity between the police response to the Black Lives Matter protests and the January 6 insurrection in Washington.

The performances include a facilitated discussion after the plays, hosted by Grayer. The author of several books, including “Journaling: A Workbook to Transform Your Self Esteem,” “I Am Somebody,” and “Wisdom From the Wild: What’s Really Behind the Growl,” Grayer founded her company to inspire conversation about difficult topics.

“How do we get people to be willing to open themselves and allow for a vulnerable conversation to happen?” Grayer asks on the Our Lives Matter Theater Company website. “Through the power of story, we bring to life many of the issues that communities struggle with. This allows for more open hearts and births empathy within ourselves. So let's have these conversations and let's talk! Join us as we strive to provide an effective and long lasting solution to help bridge together our communities.”