Prairie View A&M Alumnus Je’Caryous Johnson Continues Trailblazing In Black Theater & Storytelling

This Prairie View A&M graduate credits his time at the HBCU for shaping his creative vision and laying the foundation for what would become a groundbreaking career in the theater world

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Je’Caryous Johnson’s career as a playwright and theater mogul is a testament to the transformative power of HBCUs. The Prairie View A&M graduate credits his time at the university for shaping his creative vision and laying the foundation for what would become a groundbreaking career in the theater world.

Growing up in a single-parent household with limited financial resources, Johnson faced a tough decision about his future. His mother, earning a modest income, could not afford college tuition on her own. Johnson knew that if he were to pursue higher education, he would need a scholarship. That’s when fate intervened.

“I had a partial scholarship to Morehouse and a full scholarship to Prairie View. I decided to stay close to my mom, living in Houston, and attend Prairie View,” Johnson recalled. “It was the best decision I could have ever made.”

At Prairie View, Johnson found himself immersed in a world of creativity, unity, and a deep connection to Black culture. He was part of a tight-knit community on “The Hill” where he was not just a student, but a creator. Johnson’s experiences in the theater department, where he was tasked with writing and producing plays for retirement ceremonies and other events, would prove to be instrumental in shaping his path as a playwright.

“I gotta attribute my love of Black people to my HBCU experience,” he tells OffTheYard. I literally chose not to go take the path to go down the white theater marketplace and to specifically go into Black and to grow Black and to build Black, and to inspire Black and to love Black and to celebrate Black. And that was a very, very conscious decision. I mean, I could have gone to any white theater and been successful as well, but it wasn’t the audience that I saw in the HBCU experience. “

He continued,

“It wasn’t the community that I saw. It wasn’t the people that I know understand the nuances of how we speak, how we move the nonverbal and verbal communication, the vibe, the rhythm that we throw each other and catch just instinctively. So Prairie View gave me all of that, the ultimate black experience and the beauty and all of its colorfulness of as a culture, as a community. And it was just an incredible time.”

His time at Prairie View helped him learn the ropes of the entire theater process. “I learned how to write, direct, produce, and even design costumes. At Prairie View, we had to do everything,” Johnson explained. This hands-on experience led to the birth of his first company, I’m Ready Productions. “The professor would say, ‘If opportunity came tomorrow, none of y’all would be ready.’ I said, ‘I’m ready,’ and that’s how I started I’m Ready Productions,” Johnson recalled to OffTheYard.

As Johnson’s career began to soar, he noticed a gap in the theater world—a gap he was determined to bridge. While many of his peers from Prairie View chose the regional theater route, Johnson gravitated toward commercial theater. He recognized the power and potential of Black audiences and sought to elevate their stories.

“My mission is to tell our story, celebrate our legacy, and submit our legacy for the people who have come before us and have contributed to this culture, this global economy, and this world, and basically say, look, let me give you your flowers,” he tells OffTheYard. “I know you invented this. I know you did this. I know you redefined this. I know you were an innovator, but nobody’s telling that story because it’s being covered up by whatever white folks are trying to say that they did, which is really stealing from us.”

Johnson was a key player in the evolution of urban theater, moving it from the “chitlin circuit” to a respected cultural phenomenon now known as “urban theater.” He credits himself with rebranding the genre, helping it earn the recognition it deserves. “It was all about creating a market that celebrated Black culture. Urban theater may have started with improvisation and unscripted performances, but I saw an opportunity to refine it,” Johnson explained. “The goal was always to show that Black theater could compete at the highest levels, even alongside Broadway productions.”

But Johnson’s mission extends beyond his own success. He sees a major opportunity for HBCUs to play a central role in the future of Black theater. “HBCUs are the answers to innovation in Black culture. If we could collaborate with these institutions, we could build a pipeline for Black talent to enter the commercial theater world,” he proposed. “Imagine having the infrastructure and collaboration to not only develop talent but to guarantee employment after graduation. We could create a thriving ecosystem where Black actors, writers, directors, and designers are in demand across America.”

For Johnson, the connection between HBCUs and the arts is vital. “The unfortunate reality is that the arts are often the first thing to be cut, and people don’t believe you can make a living from them. But I’ve done a quarter of a billion dollars in business in the commercial theater space. It’s proof that you can succeed in the arts, and you can make it your career,” Johnson said.

Looking to the future, Johnson is determined to challenge the status quo and change the narrative of Black theater. His ambition is to create a “Black Way Across America”—a network of Black theater productions and professionals that rival Broadway in both quality and impact.

Johnson’s latest stage production, Games Women Play, exemplifies his commitment to telling compelling stories rooted in Black culture. The play, set to tour major cities including Houston, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, explores the complexities of love, ambition, and trust through the lens of an unexpected prenuptial agreement. Starring Claudia Jordan, Jill Marie Jones, Carl Payne and Flex Alexander, Johnson promises that attendees will have “the greatest time of their lives.” 

Games Women Play is obviously not just about the games that women play, but that everybody’s playing, and that’s why we’re missing each other,” he tells OffTheYard. “So the moral of the story is that we can’t go in relationships and say if you do it, I’ll do it because then nobody does it, and we never come together and we never connect. But most importantly, we’ve got to understand the value of friendship because it’s only in friendship that you can be your true self.”

“You’re going to laugh till your stomach starts hurting, and it’s high octane,” he adds. “So you’re going to be jumping out your seat cheering for either team women or team men, but you’re going to be cheering one way or the other. And this is a good time. And I’ve done so many adaptations of movies and life rights when you think about everything from Set It Off and New Jack City, and I’m doing obviously, Jason’s Lyric right now as well. I wanted to start going back and saying, ‘Look let me mix this up and go back to where I started, which is in relationships.’” 

For Je’Caryous Johnson, Prairie View A&M didn’t just give him an education—it gave him a platform to change the world. And as he continues to build Black theater into an unstoppable force, he remains focused on his mission: to tell our stories, celebrate our culture, and ensure that the next generation has the tools and opportunities to succeed.

And what it comes to that generation, Johnson offers this advice;

“Find your lane, find what you love and master it. Don’t be mediocre in it. Master it. You can’t be scared about the outcome. Be scared about the regret from never doing it. Don’t be scared about failure.”

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