2017 Season

Double Bill:

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART by Sean Abley and COMB YOUR HAIR (OR YOULL LOOK LIKE A SLAVE) by LeeLee Jackson

October 6 – October 29, 2017

Fridays & Saturdays @ 8pm

Sundays @ 2pm

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART by Sean Abley is a modern take on the Hans Christian Andersen fable The Red Shoes. In the original tale a ballet dancer is driven to her death by an uncontrollable urge to dance. In this adaptation, the aftermath of the story is told in monologues by twenty different characters affected by her death, near and far. The production is directed by Chrisanne Blankenship-Billings, and the cast includes: Catherine Davis Cox, Easton Schirra, Marie-Francoise Theodore, Maggie Manyan, Ian Stanley, Miss Barbie Q, Javier Melgar Santovena, Ian Salazar, Natalie Nicole Dressel, Sarah Lilly, Andrea Ma Gee, Thomas Colby, Francoise Tiadem, Carlyle Coash, Keith Wheeler, Sarah Marcum, Morry Schorr, Kasey Millar

COMB YOUR HAIR (OR YOU’LL LOOK LIKE A SLAVE) by LeeLee Jackson is a beautiful yet painful collection of testimonies from young Black women navigating American society. Through scenes and monologues, COMB YOUR HAIR (OR YOULL LOOK LIKE A SLAVE) explores how Black women, regardless of their curl pattern, hair length or texture, contend with the tension between ownership of the self and others’ sense of entitlement to their bodies.

Boasting a cast and production team made up almost entirely of Black women, the production is directed by Kumi James. The cast includes Skye Ellis, Mia Boykin, Miss Barbie Q, Alexa Crismon, Shereen Macklin and Carene Rose Mekertichyan.