UMOJA at Willie Agee Playhouse

The Willie Agee Playhouse in Association with The Black Creators Collective presents the West Coast Premiere of the Stage Play (UMOJA) (Inglewood, California) The Willie Agee Playhouse in association with The Black Creators Collective presents the West Coast Premiere of UMOJA, a culture-shifting play, written by emerging playwright LaDarrion Williams under the direction of Shelli Boone. The show runs from Friday, January 21st to Sunday, February 27th, 2022. Showtimes are Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 7 pm PST. After a successful 2020 workshop produced by The Blank Theatre in Hollywood, this new and revised production comments on the realities of young Black hopefuls who stand in rivaling intersections, struggling to discern worthy causes. The full-length production stars MTV alum ThurZday; Universal Studios feature Oracle lead Samuel Isaiah Hunter; BJ Minor from Hulu's "Iron Mike"; This Is Us alum Elijah R. Reed; and Amazon Prime Man Camp lead, Tammy Kaitz. The company also features the talents of Justeen Butler, Twon Marcel pope, Leah Epperson, Jasmine Ashanti, Kaelin Williams, and Mekaela Howard. UMOJA immerses the audience in a world of Black joy and excellence, as a group of young college students set out to create a haven for the neglected Black population on their predominately white Christian college campus of McMillan University. While forming their own inclusive co-ed fraternity their efforts are sidelined with racial tension, fragile friendship foundations, greek-life influence, microaggressions, and scandal, forcing these young friends to challenge their moral compasses. From the prayers and torches of ancestors to the joy of the descendants standing on their shoulders, UMOJA explores the question, When they sing my song, would I have laid my life down for the right cross? Its exciting to give people I share a likened path with, an uncensored voice byway of these dynamic characters under the guise of our rhythm, our blues, and our roots says Williams. Boone adds, "I think those that come to see the show will be amazed by what this young talent has to offer. It's a ride from beginning to end that will have you thinking and talking afterward - especially in today's climate. LaDarrion's story is timely, funny, poignant, and real." The Willie Agee Playhouse is proud to present this first full-length production of "UMOJA" ever. The Willie Agee Playhouse is located at 714 Warren Lane, Inglewood, CA 90302 inside Edward Vincent, Jr. Park. For information and tickets visit http://www.umojainc.org, www.umoja.brownpapertickets.com, or email theblackcreatorscollective@gmail.com. LaDarrion Williams (Playwright) - LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles-based playwright. His first play, Concrete Rose, won first place at the Alabama State Thespian Conference and was performed internationally in 2013. It was self-produced in December 2017 at the Moments Playhouse Theatre in Los Angeles. It was also produced at A Noise Within Theatre as a part of their Noise Now Reading Series. It is now an award-winning short film. His play, Broken Memories, has been performed several times nationwide, acquiring several awards and recognition. His adaptation of the best-selling memoir, Feeding A Monster, was directed by award-winning actor and director, Art Evans at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, CA. He was a guest writer for Center Theatre Group's August Wilson Monologue Competition and his play Black Creek Risin' was a part of the 2019 Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. LaDarrion was also awarded the 2019 MacDowell Colony Playwriting Fellowship where he will develop the second installment of his Black Creek Trilogy Plays. In September 2019, his play, Coco Queens, was a part of The Sundance Institute's Playwriting Intensive. He is also a current member of LA's Towne Street Theatre Company where his play Concrete Rose will be making a West Coast Premiere slated for October 2022. Shelli Boone (Director) has served as the Artistic Director of The Willie Agee Playhouse in Inglewood for the past five years. As an actor, she is currently recurring on CWs hit show All American and CBS second season of Why Women Kill. She has guest-starred on popular shows such as NCIS: LA, Dear White People, SWAT, and Greys Anatomy. She was also a series regular on FOXs primetime drama soap Saints and Sinners. She was nominated for an NAACP Best Actress Award for her stage portrayal of Dorothy Dandridge in Dorothy and Otto. She also embodied the vivacious Josephine Baker in When Divas Were Divas which toured both nationally and in Europe. She produced the stage production, Out West: Women of the Plains and The Cell Block Seven, which premiered in Washington, DC, and went on to earn another NAACP nomination for Best Ensemble. Most recently she produced and directed "Topdog/Underdog" and "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" at the Willie Agee Playhouse. The Black Creators Collective (Producer) was founded in 2019, in the home of Chair and Co-Founding member, Mildred Marie Langford, with the mission of bringing the highest standard of theatre and education to audiences in Los Angeles, especially underserved areas like South Los Angeles, while also serving as a conscientious community force. The goal of the B.C.C. is to educate while enhancing Black cultural identity and unity through storytelling, featuring authentic Black works written, directed, and produced by Black artists. The B.C.C. is continuously looking for ways to expand its network and build net worth for its members. They strive to share ideas, brainstorm new ventures, and be accountability partners for each other, putting forth what they want to create, not bound by the restrictions of the mainstream.