Refracted Theatre Company Announces Cast and Crew For TAMBO & BONES

Refracted Theatre Company has announced the cast and production team for TAMBO & BONES, Dave Harris's genre-defying play that transcends time and usurps cliché, directed by Mikael Burke. TAMBO & BONES runs October 12 - November 11, 2023, with previews October 5 - 8 at the Bookspan Theatre at The Den (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.). Tickets ($25) go on sale August 15, 2023 at https://www.refractedco.com/tambo-bones.

Tambo and Bones find themselves in a tricky situation: they are trapped in a minstrel show. How do you get out of that? Might have to attack the playwright who put you there. Might need to become a famous rap legend. Might need to start something. Def need to let them know you're a real person. You're a real person. You're a real person? From the fearlessly defiant, fresh American voice of playwright Dave Harris, Tambo & Bones is a dark comedy (and a rap concert) that pulls back the curtain on every theater experience the audience has had before.

The cast features William Anthony Sebastian Rose II as “Tambo” and Patrick Newson Jr. as “Bones,” with Timothy Bernard Felton, Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden, and understudies Jordan David Wallace and Bryson Howard. 

“TAMBO & BONES is a rare theatrical tornado: you feel it in the air first, it gathers force, and then it picks you up without warning and drops you where you never expected to be,” said Refracted Co-Artistic Directors Graham Miller and Tova Wolff. “This is the power of theatre that we, the artistic directors, want people to think of when they think 'Refracted.' You walk in with a set of expectations and notions, and leave with those preconceived ideas totally upended, with a paradigm shift around something you thought you understood. Through a supreme combination of absurdity, comedy, and sheer force, TAMBO & BONES redefines how theatre works and feels in order to illuminate what keeps all of us trapped. We can't imagine a more perfect director than Mikael Burke to guide this production to the Chicago stage for the very first time in its history.”  

Mikael Burke, Director of TAMBO & BONES, expressed his views on the production, stating, “We all know America's got problems. She's got a race problem, she's got a greed problem, and too many of us are trapped. But how do we get out? How do we fix what's broken? How do we escape this oppression and get free? Well, Tambo and Bones have some ideas. When they discover they're trapped in a live minstrel show, hilarity and audacity ensues as they perform a daring escape for freedom that threatens to upend the world as we know it. A wildly theatrical mash-up of sketch comedy, hip-hop lyricism, and live performance, TAMBO & BONES is a time-traveling, genre-bending, modern-day-Vaudeville romp, putting the power and potential of Black art and activism on dazzling display as everything we've ever believed about solving America's problems is called into question.”

The production team includes Lorenzo Blackett (Production Manager), Joel Willison (Assistant Director), Kenya Ann Hall (Dramaturg), Sydney Lynne (Scenic Design); Ethan Korvne (Sound Designer/Composer); Eric Watkins (Lighting Designer); Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer); Michael Corrie (Props); Ashton Goren (Stage Manager); Carli Shapiro (Assistant Stage Manager); Becca Venable (Technical Director); Gregory Geffrard (Fight Choreographer), Kāti Quezada (Assistant Fight Choreographer) and Megan E. Pirtle (Hair & Makeup Consultant). 

TAMBO & BONES runs October 12 - November 11, 2023 with previews October 5 - 8, 2023 at the Bookspan Theatre at the Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. with performances Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets go on sale August 15, and are $25, with artist and senior discounts available.

ABOUT REFRACTED THEATRE COMPANY

Refracted's mission is to disrupt socially accepted narratives by telling the “other side of the story.” By upending audience expectations through innovation and adaptation, Refracted inspires meaningful discourse centered on empathy and humanity. Refracted is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that was founded in 2019 in New York City by Graham Miller and Tova Wolff. Refracted is proud to have been one of the only theaters in the country that produced two full seasons of live theatre during the pandemic, harnessing its powers of creativity and innovation. Now with roots firmly in Chicago, Refracted invites you to get involved as it redefines what theatre can be in order to build a world fueled by curiosity and compassion. Please visit www.refractedco.com for more information and follow Refracted on social media @refractedc

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