About Us

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"Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place."

                                           -Zora Neale Hurston

The Wright Penn Company was established in December of 2010 based on a revelation God presented to the founder, Vanessa Wright Jackson.  Exodus 20: 12 which states, “Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land with the Lord thy God giveth thee.”  In honor of Kenneth Wright, Sr and Belvain Penn Wright, the parents of the founder, the company’s unique name was derived.  We honor the ancestors on whose shoulders we stand and pray that what we do will bring them honor and great peace.  

Since 2010 The Wright Penn Company has performed original stage plays on various stages throughout Virginia.  The plays performed are intended to enlighten, entertain, educate, explore, and evoke audiences.  The plays revolve around themes that are present within communities of color.  The Wright Penn Company examines problematic themes and allows the audience to join in the journey to completion or conclusion.  Our audiences find our journeys enjoyable.  Some laugh their way through the journey, while others find a sobering facet that ushers them along the way.  

The Wright Penn Company takes pleasure in working with various local organizations in developing an original work to meet the needs of their customers.  We have worked with church groups, women’s ministries, and local businesses to create a performance to meet their specific needs.  Our plays have addressed safety issues within the work place, the rights of women, the rights of children, and injustice in the criminal system.  

Our founder, Vanessa Wright Jackson, is a 2018 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with Master of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre Pedagogy focusing upon Dramatic Literature and Dramaturgy.  She is also a 2015 graduate of the School of Theology at Virginia Union University with a Master of Divinity Degree.  Ms. Jackson takes pride in telling the stories that impact and grow her community.  Her passion is to hear the audiences interact with her plays as this breathes life into the expression that God uniquely breathed into her soul.  God transcends race, gender, time and place and the presence of God transcends performance.  Performance is the true essence of giving back to God what God has given to humankind.