Written by Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winner Erika Dickerson-Despenza and directed by Lilly Award winner Candis C. Jones, CULLUD WATTAH follows three generations of Black women living through the Flint Water Crisis.

The world premiere began preview performances in The Public’s Martinson Hall on Tuesday, November 2, and officially opens on Wednesday, November 17.

It’s been 936 days since Flint has had clean water. Marion, a third-generation General Motors employee, is consumed by layoffs at the engine plant. When her sister, Ainee, seeks justice and restitution for lead poisoning, her plan reveals the toxic entanglements between the city and its most powerful industry, forcing their family to confront the past-present-future cost of survival. As lead seeps into their home and their bodies, corrosive memories and secrets rise among them. Will this family ever be able to filter out the truth? CULLUD WATTAH blends form and bends time, diving deep into the poisonous choices of the outside world, the contamination within, and how we make the best choices for our families’ futures when there are no real, present options. 

The complete cast of CULLUD WATTAH features Crystal Dickinson (Marion), Jennean Farmer (Marion/Ainee Understudy), Lizan Mitchell (Big Ma), Ta’Neesha Murphy (Plum/Reesee Understudy), Andrea Patterson (Ainee), Alicia Pilgrim (Plum), Chavez Ravine (Big Ma Understudy), and Lauren F. Walker (Reesee). 

CULLUD WATTAH features scenic design by Adam Rigg; costume design by Kara Harmon; lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; sound design and composition by Sinan Refik Zafar; hair, wigs, and make-up design by Earon Chew Nealey; prop management by Corinne Gologursky; vocal arrangements by Justin Hicks; and movement direction by Adesola Osakalumi. Janelle Caso serves as the production stage manager.

Watch a new video released by The Public featuring playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza and director Candis C. Jones in conversation about their history of collaboration, the themes of the play, and how water justice affects Flint and beyond.

Additionally, to enhance the experience of seeing CULLUD WATTAH, a curated installation about the Flint Water Crisis has been installed on The Public’s Levin Mezzanine, along with a collection of books provided by The Free Black Women’s Library. Learn more about the installation by watching this video on The Public’s Instagram.

The post Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s CULLUD WATTAH Extended to Dec. 12th at The Public Theater appeared first on Broadway Black.

Some notable reviews are:

“Mesmerizing and unmissable.”– New York Magazine

“Scorching and powerful.” – The Guardian 

“A riveting, superbly acted production. Lupita Nyoug’o’s tremendously accomplished performance cuts to the bone. Under Liesl Tommy’s sensitive direction, Danai Gurira’s moving play flickers with light, humanity and hope.” – The New York Times

“Eclipsed pulls us into and holds us captive in a vivid world whose stark horrors are rendered with unflinching honesty and delicate poignancy….” – The Hollywood Reporter

And patrons have repeatedly chimed in:

Powerful, well-acted, and heartbreaking work. Every member of the cast and crew should be proud. #Eclipsed #EclipsedPlay

— hellresidentNY (@hellresidentNY) November 6, 2015

Congrats @aleostar on the successful opening of #Eclipsed !! You always bring out the legends!!Brava! pic.twitter.com/OuWvyGXno4

— Deborah Cox (@Deborah_Cox) October 15, 2015

I just saw the most gut-wrenchingly beautiful/painful/important play I've ever had the privilege to witness. #eclipsed @PublicTheaterNY

— Stephanie Beatriz (@iamstephbeatz) October 20, 2015

Watched #Eclipsed play and it's a must see. Great performances all around from #pascalearmand… https://t.co/oxvnvg1ga9

— Ama K Abebrese (@Ama_K_Abebrese) October 28, 2015

Gurira, Zimbabwean-American playwright and star of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” introduced the play at Yale Repertory Theatre in Fall 2009, during which Nyong’o had an understudy role and Liesl Tommy served as director. In a New York Times interview spotlighting the trio, Tommy stated: “I think with this play what we’re teaching folks is that there are plenty of interesting stories that happen on the vast continent of Africa, and that you can relate to them without seeing yourself, your race, or a version of yourself in it.”

With critics and audiences stunned, the production – written, directed and performed entirely by female artists – heads to Broadway early next year for a limited engagement at John Golden Theater.Nyong’o, who took home an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2013 film “12 Years A Slave,” will make her Broadway debut continuing her portrayal of the newest wife, simply known as “The Girl,” of an unseen rebel tyrant.

Gurira debuted on Broadway in 2009 for August Wilson‘s  Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. She followed it up with In the Continuum, which earned her Obie and Outer Critic Circles awards. Her work Familiar will open at Playwrights Horizons in the spring.

Eclipsed – the only new play by a woman on Broadway this season – will open March 6, with previews beginning Feb. 23. Set to run through June 19, it is produced by Stephen Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey of Front Row Productions.

Public Theater art director Oskar Eustis is quoted as saying: “Broadway will be better for having Eclipsed on it, and I hope it will break a barrier that will stay broken, if it proves that shows like this can make it on Broadway.”

Eclipsed has won an NAACP Award, the Helen Hayes Award (Best New Play) and Connecticut Critics Circle Award (Outstanding Production of a Play). The cast currently includes Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengbloh.

Tickets for the Broadway run are on sale HERE.

The post Eclipsed Enters Final Week At Public Theater, Broadway On Horizon appeared first on Broadway Black.

We previously talked about a run of Head of Passes at Berkeley Repertory Theatre to rave reviews back in May starring Cheryl Lynn Bruce. So, we’re so excited that Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad has signed on and that this new mounting is a co-production with Berkley Rep. Joining her in the cast of the nine person play includes Alana Arenas (Cookie), Francois Battiste (Aubrey), Kyle Beltran (Crier), and J. Bernard Calloway (Spencer). This is something you do not want to miss. The show is being billed as follows:

Tarell Alvin McCraney, MacArthur Award-winning playwright of the acclaimed Brother/Sister Plays, has written a poetic and contemporary parable inspired by the Book of Job. At the mouth of the Mississippi River, Shelah’s family and friends have come to celebrate her birthday and save her from a leaking roof, but unexpected events turn the reunion into the ultimate test of faith and love. As her world seems to collapse around her, Shelah must fight to survive the rising flood of life’s greatest challenges. 

PHYLICIA RASHAD (Shelah) was last seen at The Public in The Story by Tracey Scott Wilson in 2003, as well as in Helen in 2002, and Everybody’s Rudy in 1999. She is a versatile performer who became a household name when she portrayed “Claire Huxtable” on “The Cosby Show,” a character whose appeal has earned numerous honors and awards for over two decades. While television was a catalyst in the rise of Rashad’s career, she has also been a force on the stage, appearing both on and off-Broadway, often in projects that showcase her musical talent such as Jelly’s Last Jam, Into The Woods, Dreamgirls, and The Wiz. As a dramatic actress, Rashad has appeared on Broadway in August Osage County, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (also West End), Gem Of The Ocean (Tony nomination), A Raisin in the Sun (Drama Desk and Tony Awards) and Cymbeline. She appeared in Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds, and starred in Perry’s highly acclaimed film version of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. She made her directorial debut at the Seattle Repertory Theater with August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and has directed works at The Ebony Repertory, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Westport County Playhouse, Mark Taper, Longwharf Theatre, and the McCarter Theatre. Rashad has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees and awards for excellence both in theater and television.

The post Phylicia Rashad Will Star In Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Head Of Passes at The Public Theater appeared first on Broadway Black.

Written by Obie Award-winning playwright, Danai Guriria, ECLIPSED seeks to promote empowerment through telling the true story of African women in the midst of struggle— the Liberian civil war.

Along with Nyong’o, Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, and Saycon Sengbloh star in the brutally honest portrayal of displacement, rejection, and abuse. While we may not understand civil war from first hand experience, we all experience turbulence and turmoil on a daily basis. The message is in how we react. How we cope.

ECLIPSED communicates how these women embody resilience as they endure sexual abuse. How they reclaim their dignity as they are subjected to being held captivate by a rebel leader.

The humanization of a political reality.

The show’s direction is credited to the capable hands of Liesl Tommy, the woman behind the staging of the show’s world premiere in 2009. In a interview with the Public Theatre, Tommy remarks:

I feel deeply compelled to explore any story that attacks and banishes some of the western stereotypes that I feel like I’m often confronted with.

Experience the power of women exposed. Experience the joy within a struggle. Experience the reality that war is real and desperately needs to be stopped. Theatre, after all is an experience— a realization and understanding we reach, after the communal exchange of emotions between actors to audience members.

Previews started Tuesday, September 29. Although the production was originally slated to close Nov. 8, it will now have nine-week run, with a final performance on Nov.29. The show officially opens Wednesday, October 14.

For tickets visit HERE.

All Photos by Joan Marcus

The post First Look: Lupita Nyong’o Exposes the Power of Women in ECLIPSED appeared first on Broadway Black.

Part performance piece – as meditation on the artistic process – and part actual work session, Parks demonstrates why writer James Baldwin (her creative writing teacher) stated “she may become one of the most valuable artists of our time.” It’s probably safe to say that she has become one of the most important voices of our time.

Parks became the first Black woman to win a Pulitzer for her 2001 Topdog/Underdog; her first Pulitzer nod came in 2000 for In The Blood. Her latest work Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) – which ran at The Public (October-December 2014) and at Harvard University’s The American Repertory Theater (January-March) – received the 2015 Kennedy Prize for Drama and was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Parks talked with Arise 360 about her critically-acclaimed trilogy play which follows Hero, a slave, from West Texas to the Confederate battlefield.

A special “Watch Me Work” installment, during which she performed songs she wrote and composed for Father Comes Home, took place in January at The A.C.T. It was livestreamed by the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at HowlRound.TV.

The free “Watch Me Work” performances at The Public Theater – also to be livestreamed by HowlRound – begin at 5pm and last 75 minutes. Questions can be sent via Twitter at #watchmeworkslp or via email to watchmeworkslp(at)gmail.com. Remaining dates are:

• September 28
• October 5, 12, 26
• November 2, 16, 30
• December 7, 14

You can watch the first performance in its entirety below:

The post Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work Series Returns appeared first on Broadway Black.

Staged by renowned international theater director Leisl Tommy and written by Obie Award-winning playwright Danai Gurira, Eclipsed takes a raw look at the strength and compassion of the resilient women struggling to survive in war-torn Africa:

“Amid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community – until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of a new girl. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, Eclipsed reveals distinct women who must discover their own means of survival in this deeply felt portrait of women finding and testing their own strength in a hostile world of horrors not of their own making.”

Artistic Director Oskar Eustis praises, “Eclipsed is both heart-breaking and profoundly life-affirming. We are delighted to welcome the extraordinary Lupita Nyong’o to The Public in this vitally important play.”

The complete cast of Eclipsed features a stunning all-female, all-Black ensemble including Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah, and Saycon Sengbloh.

Clearly, New Yorkers are thrilled Nyong’o is bringing her star power to The Public stage and you can bet Broadway Black will be there to get all the details!

Free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, September 29 will be available via TodayTix mobile lottery.  Public Theater Member tickets can be accessed now as well as member single tickets, starting at $80. Tickets can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

The post Eclipsed, Starring Lupita Nyong’o, Announces Second Extension appeared first on Broadway Black.

As previously reported, the cast will also feature Becky Ann Baker, John Earl Jelks, Arden Myrin, Paul Niebanck, Tamberla Perry, Constance Shulman, Heather Alicia Simms, Samantha Soule, Benja Kay Thomas, and Kim Wayans.

Johnson most recently appeared in Lucky Guy alongside Tom Hanks. His additional theater credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Brother/Sister Plays, Measure for Measure, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Brothers Size and Mr. Fox: A Rumination. His film and TV credits include: It Runs in The Family, Grace & Glorie, Sweet and Lowdown, Army Wives, Rescue Me and The Sopranos.

The official Barbecue synopsis:

The O’Mallerys have gathered in their local park to share some barbecue and straight talk with their sister Barbara, whose spiral of drugs and recklessness has forced her siblings to stage an open-air intervention. But the event becomes raucous and unpredictable as familial stereotypes collide with hard realities, and racial politics slam up against the stories we tell—and maybe even believe—about who we were and who we become.

Robert O’Hara  (Playwright). His credits for The Public Theater include his play Insurrection: Holding History; as well as directing Wild With Happyand The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2). His recent Off-Broadway and regional credits include Bootycandy (Obie Award) at Playwrights Horizons,In the Continuum (Obie Award) at Primary Stages, Marie Antoinette at Steppenwolf Theater Company, Five Guys Named Moe and The Mountaintop at Arena Theater. He is currently the Mellon Playwright in Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theater.

Member tickets are available now, and single tickets, starting at $50, can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

We’re so excited for this show and we love the work that O’hara has done previously (especially with Bootycandy) that we’re doing a TICKET GIVEAWAY! Win tickets to a preview of Barbecue on Wednesday Sept 23rd at The Public Theater. This is a special insiders’ event for the world premiere of BARBECUE.

The evening will begin at 6:30 pm with a reception and meet and greet with the playwright and the director (Kent Gash). At 7:30 pm, the performance of BARBECUE begins, featuring Kim Wayans in her New York theatre debut. Afterward, there will be drinks with the cast.

1. Follow @BroadwayBlack on Twitter & Instagram.

2. Like our Facebook Fan Page.

3. Tell us who your favorite Broadway Black star is and what you think they would bring/contribute to a #BwayBlkBarbecue!

4. Make sure to use the hashtag #BwayBlkBarbecue! You can do this on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or comment below! Each platform equals (1) entry. However, you must be following us on all 3 platforms!

The winners will each receive (2) tickets to the Wednesday Sept 23rd performance. We will announce the winners via social media and in the comment section below on Wednesday, Sept 23rd, at 1pm EST.

The post Marc Damon Johnson Joins Kim Wayans In Barbecue – Win Tickets! appeared first on Broadway Black.

The complete cast of Barbecue features Becky Ann Baker, John Earl Jelks, Arden Myrin, Paul Niebanck, Tamberla Perry, Constance Shulman, Heather Alicia Simms, Samantha Soule, Benja Kay Thomas, and Kim Wayans.

The O’Mallerys have gathered in their local park to share some barbecue and straight talk with their sister Barbara, whose spiral of drugs and recklessness has forced her siblings to stage an open-air intervention. But the event becomes raucous and unpredictable as familial stereotypes collide with hard realities, and racial politics slam up against the stories we tell—and maybe even believe—about who we were and who we become. Kent Gash directs this new play that proves family can be a bigger vice than any other addiction.

Robert O’Hara  (Playwright). His credits for The Public Theater include his play Insurrection: Holding History; as well as directing Wild With Happy and The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2). His recent Off-Broadway and regional credits include Bootycandy (Obie Award) at Playwrights Horizons, In the Continuum (Obie Award) at Primary Stages, Marie Antoinette at Steppenwolf Theater Company, Five Guys Named Moe and The Mountaintop at Arena Theater. He is currently the Mellon Playwright in Residence at Woolly Mammoth Theater.

Kent Gash (Director). His credits include Langston in Harlem at Urban Stages, which earned the AUDELCO Award for Best Musical; Brokeology at Julliard; Miss Ever’s Boys and Home for the Melting Post Theatre; and Beggar’s Holiday at the York Theatre Company. He received his B.F.A. from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and his M.F.A. in Directing from UCLA. He is the Founding Director of NYU Tisch, New Studio on Broadway.

John Earl Jelks was recently seen in Lemon Andersen’s Toast at The Public Theater. His Broadway credits include Holla If Ya Hear Me; August Wilson’s Radio Golf, and August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. He has performed Off-Broadway in Fetch Clay, Make Man; Sunset Baby; The Break of Noon; Magnolia; and Two Trains Running.

Tamberla Perry  has appeared regionally in Race; In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play; Eclipsed; The North Plan; The Brothers/Sisters Plays; Fedra; The Overwhelming; Bus Stop; Icarus; The Piano Lesson; Black Diamond; among others.

Heather Alicia Simms  has appeared at The Public Theater in The Brothers/Sisters Plays, Part 1 and 2. Her Broadway credits include Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Gem of the Ocean, A Raisin in the Sun, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Her additional Off-Broadway credits include A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of Great Lakes and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Kenja Kay Thomas has appeared Off-Broadway in Robert O’Hara’s Bootycandy. Her additional theater credits include Insurrection: Holding History; Unspeakable; Pearl’s Gone Blue; Intimate Apparel; Steal Away; The Bow Wow Club; Brave Brood; American Menu; and God, The Crack House & The Devil. She has appeared in film in The Cycle, the Dying Truth, The Warrior Class, and A Gun for Jennifer.

Kim Wayans appeared on television in “In Living Color” from 1990 to 2001. Her numerous additional film and television credits include Pariah; Dance Flick; Talking about Sex; “Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood; A Low Down Dirty Shame; Juwanna Mann; “In the House;” “Waynehead;” “The Wayans Bros;” “Reckless;” “Hawaii Five-O;” and “The Soul Man;” among others.

Member tickets are available now, and single tickets, starting at $50, can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street. Free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, September 22 will be available via TodayTix mobile lottery, launching Tuesday, September 15. Winners will be notified by email and push notifications between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the day of the first preview. Winners must confirm their winning tickets in the TodayTix app within one hour of being notified.

The post Robert O’Hara’s Barbecue Set to Premiere at The Public Theater appeared first on Broadway Black.

Amid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community—until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of a new girl. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, Eclipsed reveals distinct women who must discover their own means of survival in this deeply felt portrait of women finding and testing their own strength in a hostile world of horrors not of their own making.

Sengbloh will play Helena. Her Broadway credits include Holler if Ya Hear Me, Motown the Musical, Fela!, Hair, The Color Purple, Wicked and Aida. Armand will play Bessie and has appeared on Broadway in The Trip to Bountiful as well as off-Broadway in An Octoroon. Busia will play Rita and made her Broadway debut in Mule Bone. Jah will take on the role of Maimi; her stage credits include In Darfur, Hamlet and Ruined.

The production features scenic and costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Jen Schriever, original music and sound design by Broken Chord and voice and dialect by Beth McGuire.

The limited engagement will run through November 8 and the performance schedule is Tuesdays through Fridays at 8:00 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00p.m. Public Theater Member tickets can be accessed now as well as member single tickets, starting at $80. Tickets can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.

Free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, September 29 will be available via TodayTix mobile lottery, launching Tuesday, September 22. Winners will be notified by email and push notifications between 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on the day of the first preview. Winners must confirm their winning tickets in the TodayTix app within one hour of being notified. A limited number of tickets will also be distributed, beginning at 12:00 p.m., via lottery in the lobby of The Public Theater at Astor Place at 425 Lafayette Street.

The post Saycon Sengbloh & More Will Join Lupita Nyong’o in Eclipsed appeared first on Broadway Black.

Amid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community – until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of a new girl. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, ECLIPSED reveals distinct women who must discover their own means of survival in this deeply felt portrait of women finding and testing their own strength in a hostile world of horrors not of their own making.

“A feminist reading of the Liberian Civil War, a war that was ended by women, Eclipsed is both heart-breaking and profoundly life-affirming. We are delighted to welcome the extraordinary Lupita Nyong’o to The Public in this vitally important play,” said artistic director Oskar Eustis. And we’re sure they’re just as thrilled to have Gurira as well, whose earlier works include In the Continuum and The Convert and Tommy who directed The Public’s The Good Negro.

Don’t think Nyong’o is leaving Hollywood though. She has two movies on the horizon that are sure to touch every part of the world. She has a role in Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens and will also lend her voice as a character in Disney’s The Jungle Book.

Previews for Eclipsed are set to begin performances Sept. 29, with an official opening night on Oct. 15. The show will run through Nov. 8. Make sure you check out The Public Theatre website for ticket information.

The post Lupita Nyong’o Will Star Off-Broadway In Eclipsed By Danai Gurira; Directed By Liesl Tommy appeared first on Broadway Black.