Alice Childress' WEDDING BAND Kicks Off Penumbra's 41st Season
By: BWW News Desk Sep. 20, 2017
Penumbra Theatre kicks off its 41st season "Crossing Lines" with Alice Childress' nearly forgotten masterpiece, Wedding Band. Upon the play's recent revival, audiences, scholars, and press began asking why the work of Alice Childress, a playwright from the Black Arts Movement, has never been fully acclimated into the American theater and literature canons. Her groundbreaking 1962 play has seldom been staged since a 1972 production starring actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee. In Penumbra's searing new production, director Lou Bellamy captures the heavy emotional burden shouldered by interracial couples in America and confronts the enduring challenges faced by people who love across lines of color. Wedding Band opens on October 19 and runs through November 12, 2017 at Penumbra Theatre in Saint Paul. Previews are October 17 and 18, 2017.
Wedding Band takes place in a small South Carolina town by the sea, where Julia keeps to herself. Her love, Herman, arrives after dark with a wedding cake-a symbol of their decade long commitment and secret vows to one another. Unable to legally marry, these star-crossed lovers-one black, one white-live in constant fear of arrest or worse. The rules that govern society don't govern the heart, and Julia and Herman risk safety and security for love. Will the price be more than they can bear? This passionate classic stirs the heart and proves searingly relevant as race takes center stage in American politics.
Featuring an all-star line-up of Penumbra Theatre company members and renowned actors new to Penumbra's stage, the cast for Wedding Band includes Jasmine Hughes as Julia; Peter Christian Hansen as Herman; Ivory Doublette as Mattie, George Keller as Fanny Johnson; Austene Van as Lula Green, and Laura Esping as Herman's Mother.
Performance Dates:
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 // 7:30PM (Preview)
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 // 7:30PM (Preview)
Thursday, October 19, 2017 // 7:30PM (Opening Night)
Friday, October 20, 2017 // 7:30PM
Saturday, October 21, 2017 // 2:00PM
Saturday, October 21, 2017 // 7:30PM
Sunday, October 22, 2017 // 2:00PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 // 10:00AM
Wednesday, October 25, 2017 // 7:30PM
Thursday, October 26, 2017 // 7:30PM (Post-Play Discussion*)
Friday, October 27, 2017 // 7:30PM
Saturday, October 28, 2017 // 2:00PM
Saturday, October 28, 2017 // 7:30PM
Sunday, October 29, 2017 // 2:00PM
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 // 10:00AM
Wednesday, November 1, 2017 // 7:30PM
Thursday, November 2, 2017 // 7:30PM (Post-Play Discussion*)
Friday, November 3, 2017 // 7:30PM
Saturday, November 4, 2017 // 2:00PM
Saturday, November 4, 2017 // 7:30PM
Sunday, November 5, 2017 // 2:00PM
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 // 10:00AM
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 // 7:30PM
Thursday, November 9, 2017 // 7:30PM (Post-Play Discussion*)
Friday, November 10, 2017 // 7:30PM
Saturday, November 11, 2017 // 2:00PM
Saturday, November 11, 2017 // 7:30PM (ASL Interpreted Performance)
Sunday, November 12, 2017 // 2:00PM
*Post-Play Discussions
October 26 & November 2 & 9, 2017
Location: Penumbra Theatre
270 North Kent Street
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Pricing: Adult $40; Senior 62+ with ID $35; Student with ID $15
Tickets: Tickets may be purchased online at www.penumbratheatre.org
Penumbra Box Office: 651.224.3180
Box Office hours: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
Access Performances
ASL Performance: Saturday, November 5 at 7:30pm
If you have specific program questions or need an accommodation, please contact Anita Baccus Robinson at 651-224-3180.
Penumbra Theatre offers $5 tickets for Wednesday Evening performances, and $5 tickets for ASL performances. For discounted tickets, please email Dahlia Stone at dahlia.stone@penumbratheatre.org.
ABOUT PENUMBRA THEATRE
Penumbra Theatre creates professional productions that are artistically excellent, thought provoking, and relevant and illuminates the human condition through the prism of the African American experience.
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