After commanding attention on screens big and small, DeWanda Wise is stepping back into the space where her artistic roots were first planted: the stage.
This spring, she stars in the West Coast premiere of “Furlough’s Paradise” at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles—a poignant new drama that explores grief, kinship, and the possibility of healing.
“It’s a welcome shift,” Wise says of returning to theater. “I trained at Atlantic and being back on stage feels like coming home.” Atlantic is a renowned acting conservatory in New York City, founded by playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy.
Written by Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winning playwright a.k. payne, “Furlough’s Paradise” follows Sade, a woman on a three-day prison furlough, as she reunites with her cousin Mina for a family funeral.
Related Stories
Jackie Jackson on The Jacksons’ Legacy, and Honoring Tito
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour Kicks Off in Inglewood with Four Sold-Out Nights
Over the course of their time together, the women navigate a web of shared history, unspoken trauma, and the limits—and possibilities—of freedom.
Wise, widely recognized for her breakout role as Nola Darling in Spike Lee’s series “She’s Gotta Have It,” and her turn in the blockbuster “Jurassic World Dominion,” says her connection to Sade was immediate. “I just knew,” she recalls. “I love this character. I enjoy her. She was like me, but she also wasn’t.”
What drew Wise in wasn’t just the story, but the emotional terrain it covered. “I feel like I’ve always had the capacity to subvert pain into something meaningful,” she explains. “This play is emblematic of that. It hits me on a soul level.”
While she’s spent recent years working in large-scale film and TV productions, Wise says the intimacy and immediacy of theater still hold a special place for her.
“There’s nothing like being in a theater,” said Wise. “The linoleum floors, the magnets on the dressing room doors… There’s just so much detail and thought, and you can feel that everyone involved is building something together.”
That collaborative spirit is central to her work onstage. Her co-star Kacie Rogers plays Mina, and the two share an emotional chemistry that animates the play’s central relationship. “Working with Kacie has been deeply satisfying,” Wise says. “She’s intuitive, present—it makes every scene feel alive.”
Despite the heavy subject matter, Wise sees the play as a celebration of resilience. “Joy is our birthright,” she says. “And I don’t mean that in some cliché way. I mean it in a soul-deep, cellular way. The way Black folks take scraps and turn them into a main course? That’s what this is.”
It’s a theme that runs throughout Wise’s work—roles that center complexity, transformation, and emotional truth. “I don’t know any other way to be,” she says. “If I don’t care, I can’t perform.”
That depth of commitment extends offstage as well. Wise is a longtime mentor to emerging actors, offering guidance not just on technique, but survival. “So much of what I share isn’t even artistic—it’s about how to pace yourself, how to take care of your spirit,” she says. “These industries haven’t always been safe for us.”
When asked what her younger self would think of her now—headlining a powerful new play at one of L.A.’s premier theaters—Wise doesn’t hesitate. “She’d be proud,” she says. “She’d say, ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’”
“Furlough’s Paradise” runs at the Geffen Playhouse through May 18. For tickets and more information, visit geffenplayhouse.org.
