Rialto Chatter: Jeremy O. Harris' SLAVE PLAY To Play Broadway This Fall

BroadwayWorld has learned that Jeremy O. Harris' SLAVE PLAY will come to Broadway this fall. The production, directed by Robert O'Hara, begin previews on Sept. 10, 2019 and run through Jan. 20, 2020.

The production is produced by Greg Nobile, Jana Shea and Q&A Media.

In addition to SLAVE PLAY, Harris' show "DADDY" ran earlier this year as a co-production between The New Group and the Vineyard Theatre. This will mark the Broadway debut for both the show's playwright and director, O'Hara.

The play had an award-winning run at New York Theatre Workshop that began performances in November 2018 before being extended into January 2019. The Off-Broadway production starred Ato Blankson-Wood, James Cusati-Moyer, Sullivan Jones, Irene Sofia Lucio, Annie McNamara, Paul Alexander Nolan, Teyonah Parris, and Chalia La Tour. An Equity casting notice has been posted for the show, looking only for a performer to play the roles of Kaneisha and the Kaneisha/Tea understudy. Parris played Kaneisha at NYTW.

The show was nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards (Outstanding Play and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Blankson-Wood) and two Drama Desk Awards (Lighting Design and Fight Choreography, winning for the latter).

Check out reviews from SLAVE PLAY's at NYTW!

The old South lives on at the MacGregor Plantation-in the breeze, in the cotton fields...and in the crack of the whip. It's an antebellum fever-dream, where fear and desire entwine in the looming shadow of the Master's House. Jim trembles as Kaneisha handles melons in the cottage, Alana perspires in time with the plucking of Phillip's fiddle in the boudoir, while Dustin cowers at the heel of Gary's big, black boot in the barn. Nothing is as it seems, and yet everything is as it seems.

In this provocative and explosive new play, Jeremy O. Harris rips apart history to shed new light on the nexus of race, gender and sexuality in 21st century America. Obie Award winner Robert O'Hara directs. Slave Play is the recipient of the Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, The Lotos Foundation Prize in the Arts and Sciences and the 2018 Paula Vogel Award.

Slave Play was developed during a residency at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference in 2018. Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director.

Slave Play features scenic design by Clint Ramos (Torch Song), costume design by Dede Ayite (American Son), lighting design by Jiyoun Chang (Plot Points in Our Sexual Development), sound design by Lindsay Jones (Feeding the Dragon), and properties byNoah Mease (Light Shining in Buckinghamshire). Movement is by Byron Easley (Langston in Harlem), Claire Warden (Intimacy Directors International) serves as the Intimacy & Fight Director, Amauta Marston-Firmino (Managing Editor at Theater Magazine) as Dramaturg, and Dawn-Elin Fraser (Once on This Island) as Dialect Coach.