A secret cache of letters brings together a former Black Power leader, his estranged daughter and her drug-dealing boyfriend in a powerful story of family and activism. The West Coast premiere of Dominique Morisseau's explosive, uncensored Sunset Baby opens on April 25 at the Odyssey Theatre. Check out photos from the production below!
Nina is a fiercely independent hustler and her boyfriend, Damon, is a thug, but they both are dead set on breaking from this life and finding a way out. When Kenyatta, a former Black Liberation leader and Nina's estranged father, shows up on her doorstep hoping to reunite and reconcile the past, Nina's life plan is thrown askew.
"The play explores the gaps between generations, movements and the effect that absent fathers have on their young daughters," said Morisseau. "That dynamic is so rarely examined on the stage: we usually talk about the effect it has on young black boys, but what about our girls?"
"When Kenyatta reaches out to Nina shortly after her mother's passing, he has high hopes of burying the wounds of the past," she explained. "What he finds instead is a vengeful daughter who embodies everything contrary to the movement he fought in."
Legendary TV director
Jeffrey Hayden (
Cagney and Lacey,
In the Heat of the Night,
Route 66,
Andy Griffith, Donna Reed) returns to the Odyssey where he previously directed critically acclaimed productions of
August Wilson's
Fences and an all-black version of
Eugene O'Neill's
Desire Under the Elms.
Nadège August (Antaeus Company's
Wedding Band:
A Love Hate Story in Black and White,
Desire Under the Elms at the Odyssey, NAACP nomination for
Three Sisters After Chekhov at Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble) stars as Nina.
Chris Gardner (
A Good Soldier at the Odyssey,
The America Play at The Theatre @ Boston Court) is Damon, and
Vincent J. Isaac (
The Good Woman of Setzuan and
Edmond at the Odyssey, Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award-winner for
Distant Fires at International City Theatre) takes on the role of Kenyatta Shakur.
In his
New York Times review of the Labyrinth Theatre production,
Ben Brantley called
Sunset Baby "a smart and bracing new play about two generations of urban outlaws struggling to stay afloat in the lower depths... Without ever sounding merely expositional on the one hand or dialectical on the other, the conversation covers vast acres of social and political ground. Among the subjects: the parallels between criminal acts in the name of revolutionary change and plain old street crime? the changing and unchanging face of paternal absenteeism? and the toll on trust - and the possibility of love - taken by a culture of survival."
Dominique Morisseau is an award-winning writer and actress.
Sunset Baby premiered at the
Gate Theatre in London and had its U.S. premiere at Labyrinth Theater Company in New York City. Her play
Detroit '67, the first play in a three-play cycle about her hometown of Detroit, was the winner of the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. Morisseau is an alumnus of the Public Theater Emerging Writer's Group, the Women's Project Playwrights Lab and Lark Playwrights' Workshop. The Huffington Post calls Morisseau a "direct heir to the magical wordsmiths named
Lorraine Hansberry,
Tennessee Williams, and
August Wilson."
Set design for
Sunset Baby is by
Charles Erven; lighting design is by
Jeremy Pivnick; costume design is by
Mylette Nora; and props design is by
Vesna Hoceva. The assistant director is
Brenda Hearing, and
Ron Sossi and
Sally Essex-Lopresti produce for
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.
Performances of
Sunset Baby take place on
Fridays and Saturdays at
8 p.m. and
Sundays at
2 p.m.,
April 25 through
June 7, except
Sunday,
April 26 which will be at
5 p.m. with no 2 p.m. matinee. Additional weeknight performances are scheduled on
Wednesdays at
8 p.m. on
May 6 and
May 27; and on
Thursdays at
8 p.m. on
April 30,
May 14,
May 21 and
June 4. Tickets are
$30 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and
$34.99 on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be two
pay-what-you-can (minimum $10) performances on
Wednesday,
May 6; and
Wednesday,
May 27. The
third Friday of every month is
wine night at the Odyssey: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and mingle with the cast after the show. The
Odyssey Theatre is located at
2055 S.
Sepulveda Blvd.,
West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (
310)
477-2055 or go to
www.OdysseyTheatre.com.
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