Playwright Lynn Nottage has expanded the theatrical parameters of storytelling through her bold depictions of African diasporic experiences across time, geography, and circumstance. Nottage's plays reflect her passion and curiosity surrounding humanitarian, historical, and historiographic issues. From an African dwarf in the court of Louis XIV (Las Meninas), to female victims of war in the Congo (Ruined), to working class African Americans navigating the challenges of urban life (Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Intimate Apparel), among others, her body of work sheds light on lives, histories, and communities previously silenced and invisible on the stage.