Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE, the oldest continually operating black theater in New York, will present the New York City Premiere of DEAD AND BREATHING by GLAAD Media Award winner Chisa Hutchinson (She Like Girls). Directed by Obie winner Jonathan McCrory, previews begin tonight, October 28 with press opening set for November 5. NOTE: this limited engagement is produced on an Off-Broadway contract.
In DEAD AND BREATHING, cranky old Carolyn Whitlock has been in hospice for far too long and just wants to die. When she tries to convince a loud, oversharing, and very Christian nurse to assist her suicide, she has to work harder than she ever has in her privileged life to end it. Through surprising humor and persistent questioning, DEAD AND BREATHING investigates morality, mortality and the intense tug-of-war between the right to die with dignity and the idea of life as a gift.
The production stars
Lizan Mitchell (
Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress) and
Nikki Walker with a production team that includes
Maruti Evans (scenic design),
Alan Edwards (lighting design),
Karen Perry (costume design), Justin Hicks (sound design),
Valerie Gladstone (Special Effects)
Halle Morse (stage management), Belynda Hardin (production manager),
Ngozi Anyanwu (production assistant).
Chisa Hutchinson was born in Queens, New York and raised in Newark, New Jersey. She earned a B.A. in Dramatic Arts from
Vassar College and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from NYU. Chisa's plays include She Like Girls, The Subject, Dirt Rich, Mama's Gonna Buy You, This is Not The Play, Alondra Was Here and Somebody's Daughter. Her plays have been produced by companies including Lark Play Development Center, City Parks' Summerstage, Working Man's Clothes, Partial Comfort,
Atlantic Theater Company, New Jersey Performing Arts Center,
New Dramatists, Rattlestick Theater, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Midtown Direct Rep, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Working Theater and FilmGym. She is the recipient of numerous awards including GLAAD Media Award,
Lanford Wilson Award, Helen Merrill Award, NY Innovative Theater Award, and the
John Golden Award for Playwriting. Chisa has written for and performed with the New York NeoFuturists and was a Staff Writer for Blue Man Group.
Jonathan McCrory is an Obie Award winning, Harlem-based artist. He is currently the Director of Theatre Arts Program at National Black Theatre. His directing credits include: HandsUp: 6 Playwrights 6 Testament, Last Laugh, Hope Speaks, Blacken The Bubble, Asking for More and Enter Your Sleep. A Washington, DC native, he attended
Duke Ellington School of the Arts, then New York University Tisch School of the Arts. In 2013 he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, NC and the Torch Bearer Award by
Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of Harlem9 (where he shared an Obie for 48 Hours in Harlem) and The Movement Theatre Company. For more info, visit
www.jonathanmccrory.com.
Founded by Dr.
Barbara Ann Teer in 1968, NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE (NBT) is a nationally recognized cultural and educational institution. Dr. Teer was a pioneer in brining black theatre where artists of African descent actually live and work. In 1983, Dr. Teer expanded the vision of NBT by purchasing a 64,000-square-foot building on 125th Street and Fifth Avenue (renamed "National Black Theatre Way" in 1994). This was the first revenue-generating black arts complex in the country, an innovative arrangement through which for-profit businesses who shared NBT's values rented retail space to subsidize the arts. Out of her vision, NBT now houses the largest collection of Nigerian new sacred art in the Western hemisphere. NBT is partially supported by grants from the City Council of New York, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, Ford Foundation, Andrew Mellon Foundation, Columbia University Service Society and private donations. Follow NBT on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre). For more information visit
www.nationalblacktheatre.org.
DEAD AND BREATHING runs tonight, October 28, through November 23. Performances are Monday, Thursday & Friday at 7:30pm; Saturday at 2pm & 7:30pm and Sunday at 4pm. NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE is located in the heart of Harlem at 2031-33 National Black Theatre Way (at the corner of 125th Street and Fifth Avenue -- accessible from the 2,3,4,5,6 trains at 125th Street). Tickets are $30, available at 866-811-4111 or
www.nationalblacktheatre.org.
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