Raja Feather Kelly's THE FIRES Extended at Soho Rep

Soho Rep will present a two-week extension of The Fires, the world premiere play written and directed by Raja Feather Kelly that opened to acclaim last week. Featuring an illustrious cast of eight actors and original music composed by Emily Wells, the play marks Kelly’s Off-Broadway playwriting debut, and a momentous return to collaborating with Soho Rep. Performances now run through June 30.
 
In a Critic’s Pick review of The Fires for The New York Times. Brittani Samuel writes, “Rarely does a show live up so honestly to its title—wrecking and illuminating in equal measure.” Samuel praises the production’s “memorable performances” and “comedic moments [that] prove that queer Black life (and thus, queer Black love) can be tragic and hilarious.” Helen Shaw of The New Yorker describes The Fires as “hypnotic,” and Billy McEntee of The Brooklyn Rail writes “[Kelly] is keenly attuned to characters’ movement, and, as a writer, equally invested in their desire to be understood, and as such, loved.” Additional praise comes from TheaterMania’s review by Pete Hempstead, who calls The Fires “a stirring playwriting debut,” and from Theaterly, where Joey Sims describes the play as “breathtaking, tenderhearted, and richly poetic.” In Culture Sauce, Thom Geier writes that “The Fires blazes red hot, and describes the play as a “remarkable playwriting feat.”
 
The Fires’ cast, many of whom have collaborated with Kelly in previous projects, includes Beau Badu (Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth; Off-Broadway: What to Send Up When It Goes Down, Reply All) as Eli, Sheldon Best (Off-Broadway: The Hot Wing King, Sugar in Our Wounds, Romeo and Juliet) as Sam, Phillip James Brannon (Broadway: Macbeth, JUNK; Off-Broadway: We Are Proud…) as Jay, Janelle McDermoth (Broadway: A Bronx Tale; Off-Broadway: We’re Gonna Die, Soul Doctor) as Rowan, Ronald Peet (Off-Broadway: Daddy; TV & Film: “Bad Monkey” (upcoming), The Meyerowitz Stories) as George/Sean/Kayne, Jon-Michael Reese (Broadway: A Strange Loop; Off-Broadway: White Girl in Danger) as Maurice, Jason Veasey (Broadway: A Strange Loop, The Lion King; TV: “Only Murders in the Building”) as Billy/Reggie, and Tony Award-nominee Michelle Wilson (Broadway: Sweat; Off-Broadway: The House That Will Not Stand) as Leslie. The creative team features Emily Wells (Composer), Dominique Rider (Dramaturg), Raphael Mishler (Scenic Designer), Naoko Nagata (Costume Co-Designer), Enver Chakartash (Costume Co-Designer), Bryan Ealey (Lighting Designer), Salvador Zamora (Sound Designer), Karine Ivey (Hair & Makeup Designer), Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA/TBD Casting Co. (Casting), Teniece Divya Johnson (Intimacy Director), Ogemdi Ude (Associate Director), and Lauren Morrow and Ayanna Thompson (Creative Circle). Hope Villanueva is the Production Stage Manager.
 
The Fires is the latest bold evolution in Kelly’s career. When he first came to Soho Rep, as a member of its 2017 Writer Director Lab, he had garnered acclaim as a choreographer and dancer, and as a creator of works for his dance-theatre-media company the feath3r theory. Soon after, he choreographed Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fairview (2018) at Soho Rep (directed by Sarah Benson), and went on to choreograph Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-and Tony-winning musical A Strange Loop (2019), followed by Jackson's White Girl in Danger (2023) and Anna K. Jacobs’ and Jackson’s Teeth (2024, another collaboration with former Soho Rep Director Sarah Benson), and other works. He made his Off-Broadway directing debut with the Second Stage production of Young Jean Lee’s We’re Gonna Die (2020).
 

Performance Schedule and Ticketing

The world premiere production of The Fires  began previews on May 8, opened May 22, and now runs through June 30 at Soho Rep, located at 46 Walker Street in Manhattan.  
 
Tickets are $35 through June 16, $45 June 18-23, and $55 June 25-30, and can be purchased by visiting sohorep.org or calling 646-586-8982. $20 rush tickets are available at the box office 30 minutes prior to curtain for each performance.
 
$0.99 Sunday tickets will be offered on June 2 and 9. They are available first come, first served at the box office only. There are no advance sales for rush or $0.99 Sunday tickets.
 
Masks will be required for performances on June 4.
 

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