Be Steadwell
Be Steadwell (Composer) (They, She, He, Be) Folger Theatre: debut. Be Steadwell is a queer pop composer and storyteller from Washington DC. Be composes music on stage using looping, vocal layering and beat boxing. Be’s work is all about Black queer joy and love. Be’s goal as a musician is to make other black girlies, introverts and weirdos feel seen and loved.
Be earned a BA in Black Studies from Oberlin College and an MFA in film from Howard University in 2014. Be’s thesis film Vow of Silence screened in film festivals around the world, including Black Star, HBO’s OutFest, The Schomburg Center and Inside Out Toronto. In 2019, Be composed the music for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company’s production of “the gone.” Later that year, Be wrote and directed A Letter to My Ex: The Musical. A Letter to My Ex imagines a queer black woman’s experience of healing after a breakup. Be started teaching film at Howard University in 2024. In 2025, Be released their debut novel, Chocolate Chip City. This book centers the stories of Black women in DC, queerness, activism, and magic. BeSteadwell.com @besteadwell