American Shakespeare Center Summer 2022 Season To Include Antoinette Nwandu's PASS OVER
Nwandu's theatrical idiom - the heartsick poetry of profanity applied to the raging anger of deep existential pain - is its own kind of beautiful.
By: A.A. Cristi Apr. 05, 2022
American Shakespeare Center continues its 2022 season with a summer slate of plays that explore the connections between Shakespeare classics and contemporary theatre. Added to the list of previously announced titles will be the Antoinette Nwandu's groundbreaking drama Pass Over, which thrilled audiences on Broadway in summer 2021.
Nwandu's theatrical idiom - the heartsick poetry of profanity applied to the raging anger of deep existential pain - is its own kind of beautiful. This playwright's voice can be a joy to hear, and her language is often blistering."
In Pass Over, Moses and Kitch hang out on the corner - talking trash, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land a stranger wanders into their space and derails their plans. Emotional and lyrical, Pass Over crafts everyday profanities into poetic and humorous riffs, exposing the unquestionable human spirit of young Black men looking for a way out.
"What is so beautiful about this play is how it is in conversation with ASC's mission and our love of language," said ASC Artistic Director Brandon Carter. "Pass Over's relationship with Samuel Beckett's existential drama Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story from the Bible places this contemporary masterwork among classic texts, while Nwandu's poetry and rich characters will give us a glimpse of the social and psychological effects of being Black in America." Carter will play the character of Kitch and returning ASC company members KP Powell portrays Moses and James Keegan plays the parts of Mister and Ossifer. Running August 11-28, the ASC production of Pass Over will be directed by Christopher Burris.
As previously announced, American Shakespeare Center's Summer 2022 season also includes:
Every Brilliant Thing
by Duncan MacMillan, with Jonny Donahoe
May 27-July 3
Thematically connected with ASC's spring production of Romeo and Juliet (onstage through May 14), this "heart-wrenching, hilarious play" (The Guardian, UK) explores depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love. You're drawn into the story as the audience is invited to contribute to the list of every brilliant thing that makes life worth living. Every Brilliant Thing marks the welcome return of ASC veteran director Stephanie Holladay Earl and longtime company member, actress Ginna Hoben as the Storyteller.
Twelfth Night
June 9-August 6
Sea-tossed siblings set out for adventure in this laugh-out-loud look at gender, love and longing. O ne of Shakespeare's most joyous rom-coms, Twelfth Night weaves a tangled web of love: Viola is in love with Orsino...who is in love with Olivia...who is in love with Cesario...who is secretly Viola disguised as a man. Jenny Bennett directs this summer frolic.
Thrive, Or What You Will, by L M Feldman, July 7-August 7
In this epic tale about the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, gender-nonconforming 18th-century herb woman Jeanne Baret sets out on an 11-year voyage across lands and seas. A funny, gripping, and inventive theatrical journey, Thrive sparks a cross-centuries conversation with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night about exploration, love, and identity. Performed in rep by the company of Twelfth Night and directed by Larissa Lury. Thrive was recently short-listed for the Lambda Literary Prize for LGBTQ Drama. Larissa Lury will direct the ASC production.
Thrive was selected as the 2020 winner of ASC's Shakespeare's New Contemporaries project, which seeks to discover, develop, and produce new works that are inspired by or in conversation with each of the plays in Shakespeare's canon.
Running in repertory, both Twelfth Night and Thrive, Or What You Will features the same cast of six actors, each taking multiple roles, in keeping with Shakespearean staging practices: Jasmine Eileen Coles, Annie Fang, Jihan Haddad, Marcel Mascaro, Meg Rodgers and Eli Lynn.
Tickets for Every Brilliant Thing, Twelfth Night, Thrive, Or What You Will, and Pass Over are on sale now to ASC Blackfriars Circle Members, with the public on-sale set for April 12, 2022. With ASC's Blackfriars Circle Memberships, patrons receive first option on tickets and discounts of 25%. Tickets and memberships can be purchased online at americanshakespearecenter.com or by calling 1.877.MUCH.ADO (1.877.682.4236).
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