Melinda Lopez directs emotional, intimate play about fatherhood by award-winner Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale).
SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England premiere of playwright Samuel D.Hunter's newest play, the emotional and intimate two-hander drama, A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. The play runs January 26 through February 17, 2024 at the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Run time is 1:40 without intermission.
Named “Best Play of 2022” by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD tells the story of two young, single Idaho fathers, outsiders to the systems that control their fate, who bond over their desire to build better lives for their infant daughters. Ryan, white, blue collar, and divorced, seeks a loan to purchase back a plot of land his family once owned as a way to offer his baby girl stability. Keith, a Black, gay mortgage broker, wants to help Ryan, but is also dealing with challenges to his plans to adopt his foster child. With humor and compassion, playwright Hunter entwines these two lives for a universal yet intimate tale of resilience and hope. In a rave review of the play's 2022 Off Broadway premiere, The New York Times called it “a must-see…an experiment in empathy.”
Boston Conservatory graduate De'Lon Grant, who starred in SpeakEasy's production of The Scottsboro Boys and on Broadway in Come From Away, plays Keith, opposite popular Boston actor Jesse Hinson, who appeared most recently in SpeakEasy's production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning. - [Full bios on SpeakEasy's A Case for the Existence of God page.]
Renown Boston director, actor, and playwright Melinda Lopez helms the production. Lopez's SpeakEasy credits include directing Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter, and acting in The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Appropriate, Grand Concourse, and others. Her playwriting credits include Sonia Flew, Gary, Becoming Cuba, Mala, Mr. Parent, Young Nerds of Color, and Black Beans Project. Lopez is also a Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University, and works with MFA candidates at Boston University.
The SpeakEasy design team for this production is Cristina Todesco (scenic), KJ Gilmer (costumes), Elmer Martinez (lighting), Aubrey Dube (sound), and Emme Shaw (props). Deirdre Benson is Production Stage Manager and Jolie Frazer-Madge is the Assistant Stage Manager.
Tickets start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, veterans, and people under 35. Tickets and more information are available online at BostonTheatreScene.com, by phone at 617.933.8600, or in person at the Calderwood Pavilion box-office, 527 Tremont Street, Boston.
Estimated run time is 1 hour, 40 minutes with no intermission.
A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD premiered off-Broadway at Signature Theatre on April 12, 2022. David Cromer directed original cast members Kyle Beltran and Will Brill.
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