Hillside High Alum Nilan Johnson Passes Away
The former theater student who went on to win accolades as a writer, director, actor, and educator died on Jan. 4, 2026.
Nilan Johnson, who performed in Hillside High School drama productions from 2003-2005, died on Jan. 4 due to complications from the flu.
At the time of his death, he was associate art director of The Drama League of New York. He had served in that post for about nine years.
"The sadness and shock, for all of us who called Nilan friend and hero, is beyond measure," Gabriel Stelian-Shanks - the league's artistic director - told Playbill. "I cannot find the words to accurately capture the immense scale of loss, to those of us who loved him, and to the American arts community. It is incalculable. The depth of Nilan's artistry, leadership, and wisdom has forever changed the lives of thousands of artists who worked with him, students who learned from him, and those of us lucky enough to have shared life with him. I will honor his memory every day by remembering his kindness, his generous laughter, and his drive for all of us to be rigorous in our pursuit of excellence.”
Wendell Tabb taught Johnson during his tenure as a drama instructor at Hillside, decades before he joined the Durham Public Schools Board of Education. In an Instagram post, Tabb reflected on the loss: "He was dynamic, expressive, and authentically himself, a student who committed to his craft fully and embraced life with laughter, conviction, and heart."
While at Hillside, Nilan Johnson performed in shows such as The Story: African Americans Who Made a Difference, Grease, Bubbling Brown Sugar, and The Captive Grace of Othello. He earned a bachelor's degree from California State University in San Bernardino and a fine arts master's degree in acting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In the years since, he wrote several plays, including Heaven, Hell, or Carolina, FOLKtales: Stories of the Black Diaspora, We Like to Party, and The Alphabets. In 2025, he joined the Life Jacket Theatre Company's Writer's Room, which provides acceleration for LGBTQ+ playwrights.
He's survived by his mother, Melle, and his sister, Malease. No service details have been released yet.
Got remembrances about Nilan? Feel free to share them via email at wes.platt@southpointaccess.news.
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