True Blood star Rutina Wesley is headed Off-Broadway this fall to star alongside Tony Award nominee Jonathan Groff in a new play by Jeff Talbott, titled The Submission.

The play centers on a white gay playwright Danny Larsen, who poses as a black female playwright and pens a drama about an African American family, under the name Shaleeha G’ntamobi, for which he earns lots of acclaim.

Things that make you go hmmm… read the full synopsis below:

“Shaleeha G’ntamobi’s stirring new play about an alcoholic black mother and her card sharp son trying to get out of the projects has just been accepted into the nation’s preeminent theater festival. Trouble is, Shaleeha G’ntamobi doesn’t exist, except in the imagination of wannabe-playwright Danny Larsen, who created her as a kind of affirmative-action nom-de-plume. But a nom-de-guerre may prove more useful as the lies pile up, shaky alliances are forged, and everyone dear to Danny must decide whether or not to run for cover as the whole thing threatens to blow up in his lily white face.“

Not sure what part Rutina will play here. But the story has potential; it just depends on what angle the writer takes.

It’s worth noting that she’s no stranger to the stage. In late 2006/early 2007, she co-starred alongside Julianne Moore in the Broadway presentation of The Vertical Hour.

The Submission will open on September 26 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

Don’t be surprised if Hollywood options the film rights 🙂