SpeakEasy Stage's New England Premiere of BOOTYCANDY Begins Tonight

From tonight, March 12, to April 9, 2016, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England Premiere of BOOTYCANDY, a shockingly funny and saucy spin on race, sex, and sexuality, written by award-winning playwright and director Robert O'Hara.

Named one of the Top Ten Plays of 2014 by The New York Times, BOOTYCANDY is based on the author's own experiences growing up black and gay. The play unfolds in a series of loosely linked vignettes that take no prisoners when confronting racial, sexual, and cultural stereotypes. With outrageous humor and real heart, O'Hara tests how we talk about our bodies at home, in church, and in the theatre. (Please note that BOOTYCANDY contains strong language, adult content, and nudity).

Robert O'Hara has received the NAACP Best Director Award, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two OBIEs and the Oppenheimer Award. He directed the World Premieres of Nikkole Salter and Dania Guiria's In the Continuum, Tarell McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2), Colman Domingo's Wild with Happy as well as his own plays, Bootycandy and Insurrection: Holding History. His new plays, Zombie: The American and Barbecue, had their World Premieres this season at Woolly Mammoth Theatre and New York Shakespeare Festival, respectively.

Summer L. Williams will be making her SpeakEasy Stage directing debut with BOOTYCANDY. She is a Boston-based freelance theatre director and a co-founder of Boston's Company One Theatre. Her most recent directing credits with Company One include An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker; Shiv as a part of The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy by Aditi Brennen Kapil; Shelter of Last Resort by Miranda Craigwell as a part of XX PlayLab 2014; Jackie Sibblies Drury's We are Proud to Present ...; and Idris Goodwin's How We Got On.

The cast for this New England Premiere production is Johnny Lee Davenport, Jackie Davis, Tiffany Nichole Greene, John Kuntz, and Maurice Emmanuel Parent.

The design team is Jenna McFarland Lord (scenic); Amanda Mujica (costumes); Jen Rock (lighting) and David Wilson (sound).

BOOTYCANDY will run for five weeks, from March 12 through April 9, in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston's South End.

Ticket prices start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and persons age 25 and under. For tickets or more information, the public is invited to call the box office at 617.933.8600 or visit www.SpeakEasyStage.com.

BOOTYCANDY had its World Premiere at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC on June 7, 2011, with a production directed by playwright Robert O'Hara.

O'Hara also directed the 2013 Wilma Theater production in Philadelphia, as well as the show's New York debut at Playwrights Horizons on August 22, 2014. The New York production was nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as a 2015 Drama League Award for Best Play. The play was the winner of the 27th Annual Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Drama of 2014-2015, and was named "One of the Top Ten Plays of 2014" by Charles Isherwood of The New York Times. Most recently, the show has enjoyed acclaimed productions in Seattle and Los Angeles. BOOTYCANDY will premiere in both Cleveland and Fort Worth later this spring.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

ROBERT O'HARA (Playwright) has received the NAACP Best Director Award, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two OBIEs and the Oppenheimer Award. He directed the World Premieres of Nikkole Salter and Dania Guiria's In the Continuum, Tarell McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays (Part 2), Colman Domingo's Wild with Happy as well as his own plays, BootyCandy and Insurrection: Holding History. His new plays Zombie: The American and Barbecue, had their World Premieres this season at Woolly Mammoth Theater and New York Shakespeare Festival, respectively.

SUMMER L. WILLIAMS (Director) is a freelance theatre director and a co-founder of Boston's Company One Theatre. Her most recent directing credits with Company One include An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker; Shiv as a part of The Displaced Hindu Gods Trilogy by Aditi Brennen Kapil; Shelter of Last Resort by Miranda Craigwell as a part of XX PlayLab 2014; Jackie Sibblies Drury's We are Proud to Present ...; and Idris Goodwin's How We Got On. She also directed Lynn Nottage's plays Intimate Apparel and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston. Regional credits: The Brothers Size and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet as part of The Brother/Sister Plays (2012 Elliot Norton Award nomination for Outstanding Production and Winner of the 2012 IRNE Award for Best Play); Neighbors; Grimm; The Good Negro; Voyeurs de Venus (Winner of the 2009 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director); The Bluest Eye (IRNE and Elliot Norton Award nomination); The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Spell #7 (IRNE nomination); Jesus Hopped the A Train (2004 Elliot Norton Award for Best Fringe Production); and Twilight: Los Angeles,1992 (IRNE nomination). Ms. Williams has also directed for Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Clark University, Brandeis University, The Theater Offensive, and Huntington Theatre Company.

JOHNNY LEE DAVENPORT* (Rev. Benson, Writer 3, Step Father, Larry, Old Granny) is making his SpeakEasy debut. He has been named Boston Magazine's "Best of Boston - Best Actor," and has received an Elliot Norton "Best Actor" Award and two "Broadway World-Boston" Awards. In New England, Johnny has performed with Lyric Stage, Stoneham Theatre, Actors' Shakespeare Project, The Huntington Theatre, Company One, Commonwealth Shakespeare, New Repertory Theatre, and Trinity Rep. Selected regional credits include Orlando Shakespeare, Alabama Shakespeare, The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Court Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, ACT-Seattle, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Shakespeare, and Arizona Stage Company. johnnyleedavenport.com.

JACKIE DAVIS* (Eudarrie, Lucy, Writer 2, Middle Aged Mother, Genitalia) is an actor, director, and producer working in television, film, and theatre. Bootycandy marks her SpeakEasy acting debut only, as Jackie previously choreographed the company's award-winning production of Caroline, or Change. Most recently, she appeared as "Jackie" in the Lyric Stage Company's production of Saturday Night/ Sunday Morning. Other local credits include productions with The Huntington Theatre, Gloucester Stage, Wheelock Family Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, and Cape Cod Rep. Jackie is the Founding Artistic Director of New Urban Theatre Laboratory, a master teacher at Trinity Repertory Company's Youth Acting Summer Intensive (YASI) Program, and a member of both Actors' Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.

TIFFANY NICHOLE GREENE* (Young Black Mom, Adella, Big Shirley, Writer 1, Young Sibling, Intifada) is making her SpeakEasy debut. A Houston native, she earned her MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep and is now a New York City resident. Favorite roles include: Angela Davis in Angela's Justice (Theatre for the New City); Africa Jade in Rush at Everlasting (Perseverance Theatre); Ponce in Kumrads Won't (Fringe Festival NYC); Gary Coleman in Avenue Q (Cameo Theatre); Moliseng, etc. in Syringa Tree (Trinity Repertory Company); Mrs. Wire in Vieux Carré (Brown/Trinity); Leatta in Hair (Hangar Theatre); Mark Antony in Julius Caesar (Bridge Repertory Theater); and Beulah in Orpheus Descending (Intiman Theatre/The Williams Project).

JOHN KUNTZ* (Roy, Clint, Moderator, Officiant, White Man) is so excited to be back at SpeakEasy, where he was most recently seen as Charlie in The Whale and as Stephen/Theo in Necessary Monsters. John is a founding company member of Actors' Shakespeare Project where he most recently appeared as Iago in Othello and as GI Joe/The Flight Attendant in God's Ear. John is the author of over 15 full-length plays, including Necessary Monsters, The Hotel Nepenthe, and The Salt Girl. He is the recipient of four Elliot Norton Awards, two IRNE Awards, a New York International Fringe Festival Award, a 2015 MCC Fellowship Award in Dramatic Writing, and both the Michael Kanin & Paula Vogel National Playwriting Awards. He is on the theatre faculty of The Boston Conservatory.

MAURICE EMMANUEL PARENT* (Sutter) is ecstatic to return to SpeakEasy after appearing in Far from Heaven, The Color Purple (IRNE Award), and The Motherf**ker with the Hat. He is a Resident Company Member with Actors' Shakespeare Project, where he has performed in Measure for Measure, Romeo & Juliet, Troilus & Cressida, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coriolanus, and King John. Maurice has also appeared locally with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Wheelock Family Theatre, Underground Railway Theater, New Rep, Lyric Stage, and the Huntington Theatre. He was the winner of the 2008 Elliot Norton "Best Actor" Award for his work in Some Men (SpeakEasy), Angels in America (Boston Theatre Works) and The Wild Party (New Rep). Maurice is a Boston Public School teacher and a member of the adjunct faculty at both Northeastern and Boston University.

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