IN THE BLOOD
By: Suzan-Lori Parks
Director: Lavinia Hart
August 1 - 23
Kennikki Jones (Hester). Photo by Mikey Brown
IN THE BLOOD is the story of Hester LaNegrita, a homeless woman who lives under a city bridge with her five children from five different fathers. Illiterate and struggling with the survival of her family, Hester is a devoted mother. Her children return her love without complaint about their circumstances. Like her namesake in THE SCARLET LETTER, Hester daily confronts people from the outside world who view her plight as unredeemable.
Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks underscores the polarity between Hester's family and the outsiders by using a double-casting device. Each actor who represents one of her children also plays one of the adults who intrude on their world.
Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, the play is an archetypal portrayal of the will to love in a world of self-serving individualism.
"Parks tells her story in taut, forward hurtling prose, shot through with unexpected jolts of poetic feeling."
-Michael Feingold, The Village Voice.
"There's something about the economics of today that underscores the play's urgency. This is a now play."
-Bonnie Metzgar, Alien Baby, Public Access
"There's a lot of humor in the play. IN THE BLOOD is something that's raw and necessary and alive. The play is bursting with life."
-Suzan-Lori Parks
CAST
Kennikki Jones (Hester)
Renell White (Reverend D./Baby)
Andrew Huff* (Chilli/Jabber)
Sharon L. Brooks (The Welfare Lady/Bully)
Sarah Switanowski (Amiga Gringa/Beauty)
Henry Nelson (The Doctor/Trouble)
*member Actors' Equity Association
Left to right top row: Renell White(Baby), Kennikki Jones(Hester), Andrew Huff(Jabber). Left to right bottom row: Sharon L. Brooks (Bully), Sarah Switanowski(Beauty). Photo by Mikey Brown
Director, Lavinia Hart, Assistant Professor of Theatre and Head of the Acting MFA at Wayne State University, joined the WSU theatre department after teaching, acting and directing for three years in Minnesota. Ms. Hart was the Artistic Director of the Attic Theatre in Detroit for 19 years where she acted, directed and produced more than 100 plays. Her most recent WSU directing credits include The Lusty and Comical History of Tom Jones (Best Local Professional Comedy nominee for the 2008 Wilde Awards), Translations and Antony and Cleopatra for the Hilberry Theatre. She was co-director with Patricia Ansuini for the Hilberry's production of The Kentucky Cycle which won the Oakland Press Award for Best Direction. Recent Bonstelle Theatre credits include A Christmas Carol and Ten November. Lavinia's professional credits include direction of Murder on the Nile at The Meadowbrook Theatre and playing the title role in Kim Carney's world premiere comedy Maggie Rose at the Performance Network. In 2007 she earned a teaching certificate of completion in the foundation courses of the Michael Chekhov Technique from the international Michael Chekhov Association and also remains an active instructor of the techniques of Jacques Lecoq. This summer she was honored to be a member of the faculty of the Actors' Movement Studio in New York City. Hart is a winner of the Detroit Free Press Lee Hills Award and has been named Michiganian of the Year by the Detroit News Magazine.
FRIDAYS and SATURDAYS, AUGUST 1 through 23, 8pm
There will be ONE matinee performance, SUNDAY AUGUST 17, 2pm (free coffee and donuts)
$15 general admission
$10 for students & seniors (60+) with id. (Fridays or Sunday show only)
$5 off qualifying price for Hamtramck residents.(Fridays or Sunday show only)
No discounts available for Saturday performances.
Group rates are available. (call for pricing.)
PLEASE NOTE: no Thursday performances.
please call 313.365.4948 for reservations.
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Late Night Series
In It For The Long Haul
By: Mike Targus
Director: Chris Korte
FRIDAYS and SATURDAYS, August 8 - 23, 11:00pm, $5
Strangers meet in a dusty truck stop...stories shared....pie eaten...lives changed....
The cast: Dave Davies, Stephen Blackwell, Mike McGettigan, David Herbst, Jennifer Hirsch & Connie Cowper