Marchant Davis, Fedna Jacquet, and More Lead The Public's AIN'T NO MO'

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere play AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb. After its initial run in Public Studio in 2018, AIN'T NO MO' will begin previews on Tuesday, March 12 with a Joseph Papp Free Preview performance in The Public's LuEsther Hall. This vital new American play runs through Sunday, April 21, with an official press opening on Wednesday, March 27.

The complete cast of AIN'T NO MO' features Jordan E. Cooper (Peaches), Marchánt Davis (Passenger 2),Fedna Jacquet (Passenger 1), Crystal Lucas-Perry (Passenger 5), Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Passenger 4), andSimone Recasner (Passenger 3), Hermon Whaley Jr. will be the standby for "Peaches" and will be performing on all Sunday matinees.

"Jordan Cooper is a meteor of a writer, young and brilliant and astonishingly imaginative," said Artistic DirectorOskar Eustis. "We are thrilled to give this astonishing artist to the world."

AIN'T NO MO' is a vibrant satirical odyssey portraying the great exodus of black Americans out of a country plagued with injustice. In a kaleidoscope of scenes of the moments before, during, and after this outrageous departure, Jordan E. Cooper's extraordinary new work explores the value of black lives in a country hurtling away from the promise of a black president.

The new play features scenic design by Kimie Nishikawa; costume design by Montana Levi Blanco; lighting design by Adam Honoré; sound design by Emily Auciello; and hair, wig and make-up design by Cookie Jordan.

JORDAN E. COOPER (Playwright, Peaches) is an award-winning playwright who resides in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Hurst, Texas. His short film, americanmother, won the Audience Choice award at Dallas Video Fest and can currently be viewed on Vimeo. He recently received his BFA from The New School for Performing Arts. His work has most recently been seen at 48Hours in...Harlem, The Fire This Time Festival, and New York Theatre Workshop's Summer Residency at Dartmouth.

Stevie Walker-Webb (Director) is a director, performing artist, cultural worker, a former 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, and recipient of the Princess Grace Award for Theatre. He has served as the Founding Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre in Waco, Texas. He has created art and theater in Madagascar, South Africa, Mexico, and across America. He has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC and is an Emerge-NYC alumnus.

MARCHÁNT DAVIS (Passenger 2). Regional and Off-Broadway credits include Black History Museum (HERE);The Fever (The Public's UTR Festival; US and International Tour); Mad Forest (Williamstown Theater Festival); Big River (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (The Barnstormers Theater). Film credits include Gas Gets In Your Eyes (short), Dominant Species (short), and the upcoming projects, The Day Shall Come and Tuscaloosa. In addition, Davis has written A Boy And His Mirror. He attended the BADA Midsummer in Oxford and holds a BFA in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee along with an MFA from NYU Tisch Graduate Acting.

Fedna Jacquet (Passenger 1) has appeared in Gloria: A Life (Daryl Roth Theatre), Black National Museum (Here), Homecoming Queen (NY Stage and Film), Proof (True Colors Theatre), The Tempest (CTH),Roots of Liberty (CST), The Overwhelming (Company One), and Etymology of Bird (Providence Black Rep). TV credits include "New Amsterdam," "Blacklist," "Elementary," and "Law & Order: SVU." Written work includes Pefeksyon (DVRF Finalist), Isaiah (ABFF/TvOne Finalist, Sundance Playwright Lab Finalist), and The BreakUp Series (currently in production with F.A.M. Creative).

Crystal Lucas-Perry (Passenger 5) appeared in the Public Studio production of Ain't No Mo'. Her Off-Broadway credits include Bull in a China Shop (LCT), Little Children Dream of God (Roundabout), Bastard Jones,and The Convent of Pleasure. Regional credits include Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); A Sign of the Times (Goodspeed/DTC); Such Things As Vampires (Peoples Light); andFar From Heaven and A Streetcar Named Desire (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Lucas-Perry's TV and film credits include "The Last O.G." (TBS), Mimesis Nosferatu, Frank and Azalee Austin (Craft Acting Award), andRoulette. She recived her MFA from NYU's Tisch Graduate Acting.

Ebony Marshall-Oliver (Passenger 4) appeared Off-Broadway in Seussical (Sour Kangaroo). Regional credits include Dreamgirls at Dallas Theater Center, Memphis (Felicia), The Color Purple (Celie), Raisin (Lena Younger), In Real Life, Ain't Misbehavin', Neat, and Pretty Fire.

SIMONE RECASNER (Passenger 3) is a resident of Astoria by way of Los Angeles. She appeared in the Public Studio production of Ain't No Mo'. Regional credits include Pride and Prejudice (Pittsburgh Public Theater). Recasner can be seen in the NYU Grad Acting Alumni produced series "Sink Sank Sunk" and "Tech Bae."

HERMON WHALEY JR. (Peaches Standby). His Off-Broadway credits include Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt). Regional credits include D.C.'s Shakespeare Theater Company The Tempest (Ensemble) and The Taming of the Shrew (Understudy). He has also appeared in Mud, River, and Stone (Joaquim).

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Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos