Theater Alliance Produces the World Premiere of KLYTMNESTRA Beginning May 21st

Theater Alliance closes its Season 16 with Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem by two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee Dane Figueroa Edidi.

This dynamic one-woman slam poem is a saga of strong women, the men who seek to destroy them, and the dangerous extremes this kind of society can reach if left unchecked. Fusing Kabuki, African dance, and Greek myth, Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem is a dynamic retelling of the classic tale written to vindicate a mother slain by her own son's hand.

This production marks the first mainstage play both written and performed by a trans artist of color in the greater DC region.

Directed by Danielle A. Drakes, Klytmnestra features: Scenic and Costume Design by Debra Kim Sivigny, Lighting Design by Niomi Collard, and Sound Design by Kenny Neal.

All performances will be at the Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon PL SE from May 21 -- June 16, 2019: Thursdays, Fridays, at 8:00 PM | Saturdays at 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM | Sundays at 2:00 PM

www.theateralliance.com

PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR BIOS

Dane Figueroa Edidi (Playwright/Performer): Dubbed the Ancient Jazz Priestess of Mother Africa, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is a Nigerian, Cuban, Indigenous, American Performance Artist, Author, Teacher, Choreographer, Priestess, Speech Writer, Playwright, Writing Coach, Advocate, Healer, a Founding Member of Force Collision, and a 2x Helen Hayes Award Nominee (2016, 2018) and co-editor of the Black Trans Prayer Book. She is the founder of The Inanna D Initiatives, which curates, produces, and cultivates events and initiatives designed to center and celebrate the work of Trans and Gender Nonconforming Artists of Color. She is the first Trans woman of color to be nominated for a Helen Hayes Award (2016), and in DC to publish a work of fiction (Yemaya's Daughters, 2013). In 2015 she received an Emerging Leader Award for her work with the D.C. Trans Community. She is the GLBT History Project's 2018 receipt of the Mujeres en el Movimiento Arts Award, and received Trans Latinx DM's Community Artist Award. She co-stars as Patra in the new web series King Ester.

Danielle A. Drakes (Director): Danielle has worked in the DMV as an actor/director and educator/facilitator for over 15 years. Danielle recently directed Sophokles' Antigone at Catholic University and performed in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 at Rep Stage. She directed Red Velvet at York College of Pennsylvania; Breath, Boom, Miss Evers Boys, and Mixed Babies at Howard University; and The Trojan Women and A Song for Coretta at Bowie State University. As the founder and producing artistic director of theHegira for three seasons, she produced staged readings of new plays: Anna K by Jacqueline Lawton, Dirty by Carla Ching, Julius by Design by Kara Lee Corthron, and Lyme Park: An Austonian Romance of an Indian Nature by Nandita Shenoy. She also directed Helen Hayes Recommended productions of Lawton's Deep Belly Beautiful and Paige in Full written and performed by Paige Hernandez. In theHegira's last season, she produced and performed the role of Hester in Suzan-Lori Parks' In the Blood. Ms. Drakes led the development and production of Havana Hop, another Hernandez project, commissioned by Cleveland PlayhouseSquare in Ohio and both of Paige's solo shows continue to tour nationally. A two-time Theatre Communications Group Young Leaders of Color award recipient, she also performed the role of Elizabeth Keckley in Ford's Theatre's one-person living history projects History on Foot and Papa Day. She is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and received her BA from Goucher College and MFA from Catholic University.

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