Miranda Melhado Joins the Cast of NOT ABOUT EVE at Atlantic Theater Company

The staged reading production of the award winning Jamaican drama will be directed by Patrice Johnson Chevannes and also features Heather Alicia Simms (Broadway's Purlie Victorious) and Mitzi Pratt (Amazon Prime's Nanny).

Jamaican actor Miranda Melhado has joined the cast of Karl O'Brian Williams' award winning drama Not About Eve, which will be presented as a staged reading production by the Atlantic Theater Company as part of their Caribbean MixFest play festival. The festival runs from September 14 through 20 at The Atlantic Stage 2 Theater.

The presentation of Not About Eve will takes place on Wednesday September 18 at 7pm for one night only.

Melhado joins an all female cast of three that also includes fellow Jamaican actors Heather Alicia Simms (Broadway's Purlie Victorious) and Mitzie Pratt (Amazon Prime's Nanny).

Award winning Jamaican born filmmaker, actress, writer and director Patrice Johnson Chevannes -whose acting credits include Broadway's The Crucible with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, as well as the Shakespeare Theater of DC's Othello opposite Star Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart- will direct.

Set in modern day Jamaica, Not About Eve tells the story of three generations of women in the Shields family- 'Mama' Agatha Rochester (Pratt), her daughter Katherine (Simms) and her granddaughter Kimberly (Melhado), who all reside under one roof and yet are living strangely disconnected lives. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the anniversary of the death of Katherine's husband serves as a catalyst for a series of dramatic events in the household that will force all three women to face harsh truths about their relationships - and ultimately test the bonds that bind them together.

Not About Eve had its world premiere in Kingston Jamaica in 2006 and went on to win the 2007 International Theatre Institute (Jamaica) Actor Boy Award for Best New Jamaican Play for playwright Williams. It had its New York City premiere at the Arias Studio Theatre in 2012 and subsequently became an Official Mainstage selection of the 2013 National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem North Carolina - the largest black theatre festival in the world.

Melhado was last seen on the New York stage earlier this summer in the highly acclaimed American premiere production of Alwin Bully's McBee. She also appears in the horror feature Amityville Vampire, currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Her additional credits include the pilot of the new TV series From Yard- which will make its Canadian premiere this month at the Nollywood Film Festival in Toronto- as well as the staged reading production of David Heron's courtroom drama Against His Will at The Apollo and at Manhattan Theatre Club's City Center Stage (ii).

"I'm very excited to be part of such an amazing cast of fellow Jamaican actors and to be working under the direction of the multi talented Patrice Johnson Chevannes," she says. "In Not About Eve, Karl has created a family of three incredibly strong, complex female characters who are financially secure but emotionally challenged. Relationships between mothers and daughters can be difficult, and this is certainly the case in this intriguing play. So I'm looking forward to bringing Kimberly to life and offering audiences a memorable experience on September 18. We have so many exciting Jamaican and Caribbean stories to share and Caribbean MixFest is a real chance to do that."

Since being founded in 1985, the Off Broadway Atlantic Theater Company has produced over 200 plays, including the Tony Award winning Broadway productions of Spring Awakening, The Band's Visit and Kimberly Akimbo. MixFest is the company's annual free reading series, exploring and celebrating the abundance of culturally diverse stories in the theater. In addition to Williams' Not About Eve, this year's Caribbean MixFest will also present readings of full-length plays by Nelson Diaz-Marcano, Fedna Jacquet, Iraisa Ann Reilly and La Daniella.

The Atlantic Stage 2 Theater is located at 330 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011.

Admission to all reading productions is free, however reservations are required.

For reservations to see Not About Eve, go to AtlanticTheater.org.

Miranda Melhado is repped by Adunni Rose Talent and Sure Thing PR.

Photo credit: Yaw Asiedu

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