Interview: Kelly Jenrette Doesn't Draw LINES IN THE DUST

Collaborative Artists Bloc & Support Black Theatre will West Coast premiere Nikkole Salter’s Lines in the Dust November 4, 2023 at the Matrix Theatre. Desean K. Terry directs the cast of Kelly Jenrette, Erica Tazel and Tony Pasqualini, with Kelly and Erica playing the dual roles of Beverly and Denitra.

Kelly was most gracious to make time out of her rehearsals to answer a few of my queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Kelly!

It’s a pleasure to connect with you, and with BroadwayWorld, Gil.

What first attracted you to this production of Lines in the Dust?

The script! I was approached last year to do the stage reading but because I was in production on the the TV series All American: Homecoming at the time, I was not able to work it out with my schedule. I asked the producers of the play to please let me know when they were getting ready to stage it because I would love to be a part of it. This year the timing worked out.

When were you informed that you and your co-star Erica Tazel would be playing both roles of Beverly and Denitra?

Director Desean K. Terry reached out to me to tell me that we would be playing both roles before I even knew who was doing the other role. But, once he told me it was Erica Tazel playing the other role I just said, "Sign me up." I don’t care what I have to do, I want to be wherever she is. I adore her and her talent is immense. She is such a giving and a compassionate human being so just to be in her space is an honor.

How would you compare and contrast Beverly and Denitra?

I would compare them as two women who are mothers wanting to make sure that their children have the best opportunity to be successful. That’s a very surface comparison of them. I think the contrast for the two comes from the opportunities that they themselves have been afforded. They are both from Newark, but Beverly was able to get out and Denitra was not. So the contrast is also in the way that it effected them differently.

Are there any characteristics of either women so dissimilar to yourself that you had to wrap your head around to portray authentically?

Hmmm … it’s dissimilar in the sense that I have not had to do something like that. I have no biological children, but for my nephew and my niece I know the lengths that I would go to in making sure that they were set up for success. So, although I think it may be challenging, I’ve learned to never say what I will and will not do in a situation I haven’t been in because life has shown me that you really don’t know what you would do until you’re in that situation. I can’t say that it’s so dissimilar to myself that I can’t wrap my head around it. I can absolutely understand why these women do what they need to, it’s just that I’ve not had to do that for myself.

Do you have different pre-show prep to get into the head of the woman you’re portraying?

Yeah, I think I’m going to have to. We got into the space last night and started thinking about how I want to set up my dressing room. I have images that I have for Beverly and different images that I have for Denitra, different music that I want to listen to for each of them. So, I gave myself a reminder to bring something to cover up whatever images I don’t want to see. So if I am playing Denitra tonight, I need to cover up images for Beverly, and when I’m playing Beverly, cover up the images for Denitra. It is just making sure that I honor these women as two completely different human beings, even though they have similarities. At the root of it they are fighting for the same things, but they don’t know that.

How would you describe the relationship between these two women?

I think that it is a relationship, at first glance, that is built on a lie. Neither woman is being completely honest, completely transparent, completely vulnerable, and so their relationship starts off based on an idea of who each woman thinks the other is through much of the play. We get to see what happens when a relationship is built on a lie, but then the story unfolds, and the relationship changes once the truth comes out. That’s when we see how much both women still want each other’s friendship, and how they sort of need each other.

Are you alternating roles every performance? Or every week?

Oh, no not every performance! But our schedule is Thursday - Sunday with matinees and evening performances on the weekends so within one performance week you would get to see us in both roles. Although closing weekend is every other performance.

What would your three-line pitch of Lines in the Dust be?

I would start by asking, ‘Have you ever judged a book by its cover and been proven wrong?’ If you come see Lines in the Dust, you’ll see that it rips off the mask that we all wear. You’ll get to see what happens when we are completely vulnerable and left with resources that we have to get from other people.

Are you familiar with any of Nikkole Salter’s other works?

I am not but I will be after this play!

Before this production, what did you know of Collaborative Artists Bloc & Support Black Theatre?

I was familiar with Support Black Theatre and their founder Sophina Brown. There are things that we’ve tried to partner on together with my company Black Rebirth Collective, but our schedules just haven’t lined up appropriately, and there was an event that SBC organized when I was out of town, so I missed it. But yes, I knew them. I was less familiar with Collaborative Artists Bloc.

You’re one of the founding members of Black Rebirth Collective. What accomplishment of BRC are you most proud of?

One of the many things that I’m most proud of about BRC is our very first gala. Just to see us all hit the ground running and pool all of our resources together and make it happen. Afterwards, I had an opportunity just to sit back and admire that it was a really spectacular evening. It's something that we all said we wanted to do, and we made it happen.

What do you remember of winning the Jury Award from the Independent Filmmakers Showcase IFS Film Festival this year for Honor Student?

I remember being in shock but filled with gratitude thinking that people watched it and of every performance they watched they thought it was one which deserved the award. My Mom got to come out from Georgia, my husband was there with me, as was the director Tamika Miller. I was giddy. That whole big experience was humbling and gratifying.

What else is in the near future for Kelly Jenrette?

Well, with BRC I am the playwright in residence. I am working on a piece about Betty Shabazz and Coretta Scott King which was inspired by a play called The Meeting by Jeff Stetson. That meeting was between Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. I was so enthralled and inspired by the piece that I wanted to do the wives’ version because Betty and Coretta were not just the wives of these men or the mothers of their children, they had dreams that they had to put aside. I wanted to see what that looks like so I’m in the process of writing that. It’s been an extremely frustrating journey but I’m not going to give up on it, and hopefully I’ll be able to have a world premiere next year!

Thank you again, Kelly!  I look forward to meeting your Beverly and Denitra.

And they both look forward to meeting you soon at a performance in the Matrix Theatre. Thank you!

For tickets to the live performances of Lines in the Dust through December 10, 2023; click on the button below:

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