Playwright Terence Anthony spoke with the DCPA when his play, Godspeed, was featured in the 2024 Colorado New Play Summit. Now, it comes to the stage in a fully produced world premiere running January 30-February 22, 2026 in the Kilstrom Theatre. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. View the original interview on YouTube. 

The Original Idea for Godspeed

Godspeed really came together once I read in an old newspaper archive from the 1850s where a slave master had posted saying, “I’m no longer going to pay the debts that were subscribed to me by my slave Flora. And right after I read that I thought, “Oh, I have my character.”  

The spark of it begins with a question, and my question was, “What was it like immediately after slavery was abolished? What was it like for Black folks to navigate this society where you had a kind of worth as a slave and then suddenly, you were deemed worthless. And what were the dangers? What were the new kinds of challenges presented to Black folks as they tried to navigate this new world?”  

The main character is a woman named Godspeed who was an enslaved person who escaped to Mexico 10 years earlier. Now that she’s a free person, she’s returned to Texas with a gun with one bullet and vengeance on her mind.  

Influence of The Westerns

I love Westerns. I grew up watching Westerns. They captured my imagination as a kid, and they’re a great vehicle to really explore what we’re going through today in a way that doesn’t come off as didactic. You could have an adventure and some action…cool folks with guns running around.  

Creating the Character

Godspeed is definitely a very challenging character with a lot of flaws and a lot of pain and a lot of humor. And to me, that’s the most fun kind of thing to write. It’s about creating characters that are authentic, that feel like real people, that are difficult and have flaws. And I bring as much of into myself and people I know into those characters and set them on their journey. It’s a great vehicle to step into different times or different eras or different worlds.  

Advice for Writing

I think as writers of color, we’re often pushed into a box or feel like we need to write something that’s going to make the audience comfortable. The best advice I had was to write something that you think is going to make folks uncomfortable.  

I come from a background of organizing and community activism, working with unions, working with folks who are incarcerated, and to me that’s what makes narratives so interesting. You can come along on the story with someone that you may not ever want to talk to in real life, but hopefully by coming along on that journey, it opens up something for you to make you think, “I have no experience with this type of person” or “I didn’t know about the background of this person, but I have a better understanding now and maybe I’ll be a little more open after I leave the theatre.”  

Colorado New Play Summit & New Play Development

I never had any formal theater training, so for me, these opportunities for development programs like the Colorado New Play Summit have been crucial to let me dig in and really work on my craft as a playwright. We get so few opportunities to come together and bounce off [the cast’s] talent to really help bring this play that’s been knocking around inside my head out into the real world.  

The Denver crowd is really enthusiastic about new plays. It’s a different kind of vibe than when you’re watching somebody on a flat screen. There’s nothing like it that you can replicate. The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is a beacon for all the playwrights and theatre folks I know, so I was really excited and honored to be able to participate. 

DETAILS
Godspeed
Jan 30-Feb 22, 2026 • Kilstrom Theatre
Tickets