Regional Premiere of AIN'T NO MO' to Open at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in September

Fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for turbulence. In a co-production with Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will present the regional premiere of AIN'T NO MO', written by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Lili-Anne Brown from September 11-October 9, 2022.  

 

When news breaks that Black Americans are offered a one-way ticket to Africa, Peaches, the beautiful drag queen flight agent for African-American Airlines flight 1619, greets us as we prepare to take a bumpy flight.  

  

"Jordan E. Cooper traces a path from the election of the first Black President to an alternate reality where Black Americans are offered a ticket out of this country - and take it! The result is shockingly funny and provocative, speaking to the Black experience in a real, raw, and hilarious way," shares Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes.  "A co-production with the brilliant Stephanie Ybarra and Baltimore Center Stage, Ain't No Mo' will welcome Woolly Company actors Jon Hudson Odom (An Octoroon) as Peaches and Shannon Dorsey (Fairview) back to our stage for the first time since the pandemic." 

"There really is no better time to be watching this play - for better and for worse its themes remain incredibly timely," says Stephanie Ybarra, Watching the Woolly and BCS teams embrace this joint venture has been thrilling, and I couldn't be prouder of this partnership."

  

"Nothing less than a spiritual portrait of Black American life right now" (The New York Times), AIN'T NO MO' interweaves a series of socially-charged vignettes that dissect the state of the States from Obama's presidency to now. The show turns a keen eye to issues ranging from racism to abortion in raw and hilarious ways, such as spoofing the Real Housewives franchise.

 

The co-production of AIN'T NO MO' at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Baltimore Center Stage gives audiences in the greater D.C. and Baltimore metro areas an opportunity to see this show before a new production hits the Broadway stage on November 3.  At Baltimore Center Stage, the show will run from October 27-November 20.

  

Directed by Lili-Anne Brown and written by Jordan E. Cooper, AIN'T NO MO' features Jon Hudson Odom(Peaches)*, Shannon Dorsey (Passenger 1)*, Breon Arzell (Passenger 2), Shannon Matesky (Passenger 3), Brandi Porter (Passenger 4), and LaNisa Frederick (Passenger 5).

Designers and Creative Team include Arnel Sancianco (Scenic Designer), Colin K. Bills* (Lighting Designer), Yvonne Miranda (Costume Designer), Tosin Olufolabi (Sound Designer), Jyreika Guest (Fight and Intimacy Choreographer), Nailah Harper-Malveaux (Assistant Director/BOLD Rising Director), John Keith Hall (Stage Manager), Maddie Friedman (Assistant Stage Manager), Jazzy Davis (Production Assistant), Korie Booker (Wig Stylist), and Dana Hurd (Makeup & Special Effects Stylist).

 
* Denotes Woolly Mammoth Resident Company Member 

  

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE  

AIN'T NO MO' runs September 11 to October 9, 2022, with performances Wednesday through Friday at 8 pm, Saturday at 3 pm and 8 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm (except September 11) and 7 pm (except September 18). There are Pay-What-You-Will performances on Sunday, September 11 at 7 pm, and Monday, September 12, at 8 pm.  

Performances with additional accessibility features will be added to the play's website page as dates are finalized. These include:

Open Captioned performances, which feature permanently visible, on-screen text description that displays dialogue, identifies speakers, and describes other relevant sounds
ASL Interpreted performances, which feature interpreters placed inside the theatre who translate what the actors are saying and expressing to the audience.
Audio Described performances, which feature live narration interspersed with the actors' dialogue used to provide information surrounding key visual elements.  
Assistive listening devices are available for all performances. Transmitters and accompanying headsets and ear speakers are available at the Box Office.  

  

Post-performance talkbacks with the cast take place:

Sunday, September 25th (Matinee) 
Sunday, October 9th (Matinee) 

TICKETS  

Tickets to AIN'T NO MO' start at $29, and are available at woollymammoth.net, by phone at (202) 393-3939, and via email at tickets@woollymammoth.net.  

  

Preview Pay-What-You-Will performances on September 11 and will be available one week prior to the performances, through Woolly Mammoth and TodayTix. There are also 28 Pay-What-You-Will tickets available for every remaining performance by selecting the PWYW seats and adjusting the ticket price at woollymammoth.net. Patrons who are 30 years old and younger may, at any time, purchase Section C tickets for $20 to any performance. There are also discounts available for educators, first responders, and active U.S. military personnel, spouses, and veterans. More information is available at woollymammoth.net.  

  

WOOLLY MAMMOTH'S HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS 

Woolly Mammoth will no longer be requiring proof of vaccination for the 2022-23 season. Our staff and artists are required to be fully vaccinated, and the cast regularly tests for COVID-19. Masks are still required when not actively eating or drinking.  
 

We ask that if you feel sick, please stay home, even if you have tested negative for COVID-19. We are happy to waive exchange fees for anyone who is feeling unwell to best protect our audience and team from illness. More information at https://www.woollymammoth.net/about-us/safety/

 
ART EXHIBITION: ANIEKAN UDOFIA

A solo art exhibition titled Return of the Shaolin Pencil by Aniekan Udofia will be available in the Upper and Lower Lobbies at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company during the run of AIN'T NO MO'. The art opening with Udofia will be held on Sunday, September 18 after that day's matinee from 5:00-7:00 PM. An art talk with Udofia will take place on Thursday, September 22 from 5:30-7:00 PM before that evening's performance. These events are free, and registration will be available at woollymammoth.net in the coming weeks.

Known for his large-scale paintings and murals, including the Ben's Chili Bowl mural featuring notable Black Americans, Udofia will be presenting his first-ever showing of watercolors in this exhibition.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT 

Jordan E. Cooper is an OBIE Award winning playwright and performer who was most recently chosen to be one of OUT Magazine's "Entertainer Of The Year." In 2020, he starred in a sold out run of his play Ain't No Mo' which was a New York Times Critics Pick. Jordan created a pandemic-centered short film called "Mama Got A Cough" that's been featured in National Geographic and was named 'Best Of 2020' by The New York Times. He was also featured on the final season of FX's POSE as "MC Tyrone." He recently created and Executive Produced his first Television project "The Ms. Pat Show" which is an R-rated 'old school' sitcom that premiered to record breaking numbers on BET+. 

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR 

Lili-Anne Brown, a Chicago South Side native, works as a director, actor and educator, and has performed in, directed and produced many award-winning shows in Chicago and nationally. She is the former Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she focused programming on Chicago-premiere musicals and new play development with resident playwrights. Recent directing credits include School Girls, or The African Mean Girls Play and the world premieres of Ike Holter's I Hate It Here and Lottery Day (Goodman Theatre), The Color Purple (The Muny), Once on This Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Acoustic Rooster...(Kennedy Center), Spunk (Roundabout Theatre virtual), Wally World (Steppenwolf Theatre audio), Put Your House in Order (La Jolla Playhouse). She is a member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA, and represented by William Morris Endeavor. www.lilbrownchicago.com 

 

ABOUT WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY 

The Tony Award®-winning Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company creates badass theatre that highlights the stunning, challenging, and tremendous complexity of our world. For over 40 years, Woolly has maintained a high standard of artistic rigor while simultaneously daring to take risks, innovate, and push beyond perceived boundaries. One of the few remaining theatres in the country to maintain a company of artists, Woolly serves an essential research and development role within the American theatre. Plays premiered here have gone on to productions at hundreds of theatres all over the world and have had lasting impacts on the field. Currently co-led by Artistic Director Maria Manuela Goyanes and Interim Managing Director Ted DeLong, Woolly is located in Washington, DC, equidistant from the Capitol and the White House. This unique location influences Woolly's investment in actively working towards an equitable, participatory, and creative democracy.  

  

Woolly Mammoth stands upon occupied, unceded territory: the ancestral homeland of the Nacotchtank whose descendants belong to the Piscataway peoples. Furthermore, the foundation of this city, and most of the original buildings in Washington, DC, were funded by the sale of enslaved people of African descent and built by their hands. 

 

ABOUT BALTIMORE CENTER STAGE

Founded in 1963 and designated the State Theater of Maryland in 1978, Baltimore Center Stage provides the highest quality theater and programming for all members of our communities, including youth and families, under the leadership of Artistic Director Stephanie Ybarra. Baltimore Center Stage ignites conversations and imagination by producing an eclectic season of professional productions across two mainstages and an intimate 99-seat theater, through engaging community programs, and with inspiring education programs. Everything we do at Center Stage is led by our core values-chief among them being Access For All. The Baltimore Center Stage mission is heavily rooted in providing active and open accessibility for everyone, regardless of any and all barriers, to our Mainstage performances, education initiatives, and community programming.

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