Seattle Rep Announces Casting For FAMILIAR By Danai Gurira

Seattle Repertory Theatre today announced complete casting for its production of Familiar by playwright and actor Danai Gurira, directed by Taibi Magar. A co-production with the Guthrie Theater, Familiar is set in the suburbs of Minneapolis and takes a fresh look at tradition, immigration, and assimilation as a Zimbabwean American family gathers together at their home before the rehearsal dinner for their elder daughter's wedding. It is set to run April 27 - May 27, 2018 (opening night is May 2, 2018) on the Bagley Wright stage, and tickets are on sale now through the Seattle Rep Box Office at 206.443.2222 and online at SeattleRep.org.

Danai Gurira is an insightful and critically acclaimed playwright, while also an in-demand, celebrity-level actor currently starring as Michonne in AMC's lauded original series "The Walking Dead" and in the recent box office smash from Marvel, Black Panther. Her Tony, Drama Desk, and Obie Award-winning play Eclipsed, starring Lupita Nyong'o, made history as the first play with an all-black female cast and creative team to premiere on Broadway. Familiar is her newer work that enjoyed a successful 2015 premiere at Playwrights Horizon, which Charles Isherwood of The New York Timesdescribed as "An engrossing, fiercely funny comedy-drama that probes with subtlety and smarts."

"Familiar is a piece of art that speaks to our time, our moment. And we have a ferociously talented cast of actors" director Taibi Magar told the company and staff on the first day of rehearsal. "Familiaris familiar because it is the story of American immigrants. Complicated and beautiful and... worth fighting for."

ABOUT THE CAST

The cast features Broadway actor Harvy Blanks debuting at Seattle Repertory Theatre as Donald Chinyaramwira. His stage credits include Broadway: Jitney; Off-Broadway: Tabletop (Drama Desk Award-winner for his performance), First Breeze of Summer, and Guest at Central Park West; with many regional credits including The Piano Lesson and Fences at the Denver Center. His television credits include "Black Rest," "Preacher," "Crime Story," "Married with Children," and "Saved by the Bell." Shá Cage also debuts at Seattle Rep as Tendi. Her regional stage credits include performances in Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Changelings, Henry IV, Two Gentlemen of Verona,Eclipsed, and many others. Her film credits include New Neighbors, Drop Dead Gorgeous, MidnightChronicles, and others. Quinn Franzen plays Chris in Familiar and Seattle audiences may remember him from his performances in Seattle Rep's The Hound of the Baskervilles, Intiman's productions of Angels In America (parts 1 and 2), The Satori Group's Returning to Albert Joseph,The Land Is Always Known, and reWilding, and Seattle Shakespeare's Othello and The Importance of Being Earnest. His other credits include Off-Broadway: Threesome, Diaspora; Television: "Billions," "The Blacklist," "Younger," and "Grimm." Perri Gaffney debuts at Seattle Rep as Dr. Marvelous Chinyamurindi. Her theatre credits include performances in The Resurrection of Alice(AAAAC Best Actress; BTAA Best Playwright Nomination; BTAA Best Play Nomination; Helen Hayes Award Best Actress Nomination); Polk County (Helen Hayes Award Best Supporting Actress Nomination); To Kill A Mockingbird, Fences, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Steel Magnolias; and many others. Cornish graduate Aishé Keita plays Nyasha. Seattle audiences will remember herfrom local productions including Intiman Theatre's Lysistrata, Wedding Band; Seattle Shakespeare Company's Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, Bring Down the House (Gregory Award: Best ensemble/best play), The Tempest; amongst other local roles. Austene Van makes her Seattle Rep debut as Prof. Margaret Munyewa. Her various regional theatre credits includeDisgraced, Trouble in Mind, Crowns, The Darker Face of the Earth, A Christmas Carol (Guthrie);Aida (title role); Ain't Misbehavin', Dinah Was, Blues for an Alabama Sky (Penumbra Company); and many more. Wandachristine debuts at Seattle Repas Anne Mwarimba. An Artistic Affiliate Member of American Blues Theater, she has regional performance credits in Fences, I Love You More Than Shoes, I'm A Woman and I'm Bad, The Vagina Monologues, and much more. Her film/television credits include Me and Mrs. Jones, The Engagement, The Mary Thomas Story; "Chicago PD," "Judging Amy," "ER," and more. Finally, Michael Wieser rounds out this cast as Brad. His regional theatre credits include Sense and Sensibility (Guthrie); The Cherry Orchard with Diane Wiest and John Turturro (The Classic Stage Company); Le Switch (The Jungle Theater);Hamlet (title role, Manhattan Arts Center:). His film/television credits include"Blue Bloods."

The creative team for Familiar includes Danai Gurira (Playwright), Taibi Magar (Director), Adam Rigg (Scenic Designer), Karen Perry (Costume Designer), Tom Mays (Lighting and Projection Designer), Scott W. Edwards (Sound Designer), Carla Steen (Dramaturg),and Lucinda Holshue(Vocal Coach).

Danai Gurira (Playwright)

Danai Gurira is an award-winning playwright and actor. She currently plays Michonne on AMC's critically-acclaimed original series "The Walking Dead" and stars in the recently released film Black Panther. As a playwright, her works include Broadway's Eclipsed (NAACP Award; Helen Hayes Award:Best New Play; Connecticut Critics Circle Award: Outstanding Production of a Play), In the Continuum(Obie Award, Outer Critics Award, Helen Hayes Award), and The Convert (six Ovation Awards, LosAngeles Outer Critics Award). Danai's newest play Familiar received its world premiere at Yale RepertoryTheatre (Yale Rep) in 2015 and premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in February 2016. Sheis a recipient of the Whiting Award, a Hodder Fellow, and has been commissioned by Yale Rep, CenterTheatre Group, Playwrights Horizons and the Royal Court.

Taibi Magar (Director)

Taibi Magar is an Egyptian-American director based in New York and a graduate of the Brown/Trinity MFA program. In New York, Taibi has directed and developed work for Ars Nova (Underground Railroad Game, NYT Critics Pick, TONY Critics Pick), The Foundry, TFANA, and the Women's Project Theatre. She is the recipient of a Stephen Sondheim Fellowship, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival Fellowship, a Public Theater Shakespeare Fellowship, the TFANA Actors and Director Project Fellowship and is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Regionally, she has directed and developed work at The Alley Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Company and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and has directed for many academic institutions including The Juilliard School, Fordham University and New York University.

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