National Black Theatre Announces Cast For AMANI World Premiere Co-Production With Rattlestick Theater

National Black Theatre has announced the cast for the world premiere of AMANI - the first mainstage co-production of its 2022-2023 programmatic 55th season themed Love, A Ritual Of Repair. Presented in partnership with Rattlestick Theater, AMANI is written by rising playwright a.k. payne (FILLING BASINS, where the pathways meet) and directed by current NBT Soul Series Directing Resident Josiah Davis (Julius Caesar!, Wolves Eat Elk). Performances are set to run from February 6 through March 5, 2023 at Rattlestick Theater in Manhattan's Greenwich Village. Tickets on sale now.

"I am so excited to begin this journey of building AMANI! It is a tremendous gift to nurture this new work in a space as supportive, nourishing, intentional, collaborative and reminiscent of home-those seemingly ever-elusive spaces of rest for Black folks moving in this diaspora- as National Black Theatre." says, a.k. payne, Playwright. "Working with Josiah to imagine the community that will inhabit this universe- in which Black folks can: be free, genius, mourn and move, be children, grow, change, love, touch and breathe-it has all been such a dream. We are thrilled to invite more collaborators into what has already been such an abundant journey of imagining worlds in which we can fly."

"The process of discovering the collaborators to embody the world of Amani was delicate, sensitive, and led by intuition." says, Josiah Davis, Director & Soul Directing Resident. "This play proposes a future of possibility and a culture of abundance. So I was looking for more than just actors. I was looking for humans who would be able to contribute to that culture in a deep way and elevate our production process. I was looking for humans who lead with light. Who holds poetry in the body. Have souls made of music.Who know how to hold joy and grief at the same time. Are soft. Who push limits and interrogate boundaries. Humans who dream."

The cast for the world premiere of AMANI includes Omari K. Chancellor (Soft) playing Robert Richards / Davion / Lamar Davis / A Series of Men, Kai Heath (On Sugarland) playing Kofa, Denise Manning (What To Send Up When It Goes Down) in the titular role, Eden Marryshow (INK) playing Smith, Mars Rucker (A Strange Loop) playing Daisa.

AMANI takes us on a personal journey that shows the world through the eye of a daughter, Amani as she grows up building a rocket ship with her father. Her father, who vows to make it to outer space: where his child can breathe easy, where there are no gangs to take his first love's life, nor prisons to take Black boys' best years. As Amani moves into adulthood, she seeks her voice and her own dreams. Will Amani make it to the moon?

The creative team to help bring AMANI to life includes Maruti Evans (Set Design), Marika Kent (Lighting Designer), Kathy Ruvuna (Sound Designer & Composer), Nehemiah Luckett (Music Director/Pianist), Mika Eubanks (Costume Designer), Brittany Bland (Projection Design), Nissy Aya (Dramaturg), Ann C. James (Intimacy Coordinator), Daniel Brothers (Props Master), Allison Esonnason (Assistant Costume Designer), Tom Dyer (Master Electrician), Sightline Fabrication (Set Fabrication), Destiny Lilly (Casting Director), and Alex Cortinas (Casting Assistant). Additional members of the creative team will be announced soon.

"This production is a beautiful moment when NBT gets to partner with Rattlestick Theater to produce AMANI ," says Jonathan McCrory, NBT Executive Artistic Director. "It is a meaningful work that illuminates the values we both share; the power to invest in the brilliant new voices that will lead the American Theatre. That is what a.k. and Josiah embody, the soulful brilliance that we as a society need in this critical moment. With the commitment of this stunning cast and creative team, they will generate a production that can shine a light on the love housed in the ritual of repairing our own blueprint to self/collective liberation."

This production comes as a part of NBT's SOUL Directing Residency which is a rigorous yet creative playground for Black directors to gain exposure, New York City credentials and, most importantly, technical skills. Piloted in fellowship with the inaugural Directing Resident, Ebony Noelle Golden and the site-specific work, 125th & FREEdom. This program provides a home for one director for a minimum of 18 months and additional former recipients of this residency are Dominique Rider 2019/2021 with Beauty in the Abyss. The goal of this residency, like the other two (producing and playwriting) housed in the SOUL Series LAB, is to strengthen the artistic relationship between historically Black theatrical institutions and cutting-edge artists. It's meant to be a creative laboratory and home for Black artists and is dedicated to the acceleration and creation of innovative cultural productions, based on NBT's pedagogy forged in 1968. The goal of the program is to diversify the narratives, the points of access, and possibilities being developed and produced around Black lifestyle in American theatre.

AMANI officially opens on February 16, 2023 with preview beginning February 8, 2023 and with the initial run closing March 5, 2023. All performances will be at Rattlestick Theater located at 224 Waverly Pl, New York, NY. Performances for the run of AMANI are Pay-What-You-Can on Wednesdays and ticket prices start at $35, Thursdays through Mondays. General Admission tickets are available now at https://www.nationalblacktheatre.org/amani

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