Synchronicity Theatre Produces HANDS OF COLOR, a New Play by Kimberly Monks

Atlanta's Synchronicity Theatre will produce Hands of Color, a new play by Kimberly Monks and directed by Thomas W. Jones II, June 7 - 30, 2019. For tickets and information, please visit synchrotheatre.com or call 404-484-8636.

The story of Hands of Color follows Thomas (Justin Walker), a white man, who after years of deep-rooted prejudice, an ill-fated phone call, and an unexpected encounter with Robert (Enoch King), lands in an African-American Family - and a new identity. Thomas slowly has his racist views stripped from him by people he encounters in the African-American community. This funny and thought-provoking new play examines what it's like when your world is turned upside down and you are forced to look at life through a different lens.

Hands of Color, the first play written by Kimberly Monks, had a series of public readings and workshops during Synchronicity Theatre's SheWrites New Play Festival in 2018. It has been developed into a full-length main stage production. Monks is an M.F.A. acting graduate from the University of California/San Diego. She has worked at the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN) and the La Jolla Playhouse (California), and is currently in the 2019 acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR).

Ms. Monks, who was raised in the projects of South Central, Los Angeles, wrote Hands of Color as a response to the undercurrent of racism in the rhetoric of the 2016 presidential election. The play is her way of "shedding light on the deep and dark complexities of racism" by having her white characters "literally walk in the shoes of black people and know what it means to be black in America." She hopes the play will "hold up a mirror" to those who are plagued with, and who have been victims of, racism and hatred, and that through the humor in the piece, and the honest character exploration, the "truth of the black experience today will not only be seen, but witnessed and experienced by every single audience member."

The cast includes Atlanta-based actors Wendy Fox Williams (How Black Mothers Say I love you (Horizon Theatre), Nina Simone: Four Women (True Colors Theatre)), Enoch King (Skeleton Crew (True Colors Theatre), Constellations (Horizon Theatre)), Justin Walker (Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Theatrical Outfit), The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Synchronicity Theatre)), Emily Kleypas and Therecia Lang.

Show times for Hands of Color are Wednesdays to Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 5:00pm. All performances will be at Synchronicity Theatre in Midtown Atlanta's Peachtree Pointe complex.

Single ticket prices range from $25-40, and are available online at synchrotheatre.com. Group tickets are also available. Please contact Maddie Mahood at maddie@synchrotheatre.com for more information.

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo Credit: Jerry Siegel