APPROPRIATE Comes To Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. in May

Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. will conclude its 2023-24 main stage season of “nature vs. nurture” with the Houston premiere of Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Ron Jones, this riveting play explores family secrets, racial tensions, and cultural identity.

ABOUT THE PLAY

The estranged members of the Lafayette clan have returned to their crumbling Arkansas plantation home to settle the estate of their recently deceased patriarch. As they sort through a lifetime of their father's junk and hoarded mementos, a disturbing and horrifying discovery surfaces, confronting the family with more than what to do with a house full of stuff. Can a lifetime of clutter disguise the true nature of what lies beneath?

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is an award-winning playwright. In addition to Appropriate, his plays include Everybody, Gloria, The Comeuppance, Neighbors, An Octoroon, and War. He is a Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre and a Lila Acheson Wallace Fellow at the Juilliard School. Additionally, his work has been seen at New York's Vineyard Theatre, the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles, Company One in Boston, and the HighTide Festival in the United Kingdom. He has taught at New York University and Queens University of Charlotte, and his honors include the Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award, and a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He holds an MA in Performance Studies from NYU.  

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Ron Jones returns to the helm for his fourth production with Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. He previously directed White Guy on the Bus, as well as Clybourne Park and August: Osage County, for both of which he was a finalist for best director in the Houston Theater Awards. With more than 45 years in the industry, Jones has directed nearly 150 productions and acted in well over 100. He spent the bulk of his career teaching theatre for HISD and Lone Star College before retiring. Ron currently serves as Producing Artistic Director for On the Verge Theatre and is the former Artistic Director of New Heights Theatre and Celebration Theatre.

The cast of Appropriate includes Malinda L. Beckham, Jeff Featherston, Elizabeth Marshall Black, Christian Tannous, Skyler Sinclair, Brock Huerter, Carolyn Richards, and Michael Hellman.

Beckham also serves as the production's costume and properties designer. The remaining creative team includes Mark Lewis (scenic design), Jim Elliott (lighting design), Michael Mullins (sound design), Trevor B. Cone (production manager), Kyle Clark (fight director), Barbara Alicea-Aponte (production stage manager) and Valerie Lerma Puente (assistant stage manager).

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