Thank you so much to our Compass volunteers Ali Cumber, Loren McKenzie, Benjamin Shtuhl, Sydney Levine, and Leanne Reisz who have been working through the pandemic on a sustainability plan to help us chart our path forward. Thanks also to the Compass Foundation for this outstanding opportunity!
COVID 19 ANNOUNCEMENT
For the safety of our patrons, staff and artists, and keeping in line with the mayor’s guidelines, the Anacostia Playhouse will shut down operations through mid-summer.
It is an incredibly difficult decision to close our doors, even for what we hope
is a short time, but the health and well-being of the entire Anacostia Playhouse
extended family is our highest priority.
With that, we know the following will be canceled or postponed:
Theater Alliance’s This Bitter Earth, the monthly Shakespeare for the Young Puppet Show, The Anacostia Playhouse New Play Festival Silenced Voices and the upcoming Young Playwrights’ Theater production Silence is Violence.
During the time we are closed we will be doing a deep cleaning and disinfecting of the building. Although we will generally not physically be in the office, please feel free to leave us a voicemail or send an email. As soon as we have any details on reopening or any cancellations, we will announce them here and on all of our social media platforms.
Meanwhile, please be careful and stay well. Adhere to the guidelines of hand washing, staying home if not feeling well, covering your cough or sneeze and avoiding crowds. Check in often with Mayor Bowser’s corona virus updates at
coronavirus.dc.gov.
We hope to see you in the theater as soon as possible.
PS: As you can imagine, closing the theater and canceling performances inflicts a severe financial hardship on small arts organizations such as the Playhouse. Please consider a gift to help us weather this storm and support the artists, technical personnel and staff who call us home.
Donate here http://www.anacostiaplayhouse.com/support/
This Bitter Earth
by Harrison David Rivers
February 22, 2020 – March 22, 2020
Directed by Otis Ramsey-Zöe
Jesse, an introspective black playwright, finds his lack of activism questioned by his white boyfriend, Neil, an impassioned member of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Tensions between them continue to grow with each headline announcing another extrajudicial killing. But the human heart can hold complex and often contradictory things, and the two men find themselves at a crossroads. This Bitter Earth explores the quiet revolutions of normalcy, reminding us of the intractable bind between the personal and political and the strength of love in today’s turbulent world.
For tickets click here.
Opening January 25, here is the trailer of RS/24, written by Clayton LeBouef. Running until February 9, 2020. Tickets: bit.ly/APRS24
Clayton LeBouef’s RS/24 makes a return visit to the Playhouse
Since its inception, the mission of the Anacostia Playhouse, nestled in the heart of the historic Anacostia community, has been to focus on producing quality and relevant works that appeal to every generation. Keeping with this tradition, we are proud to announce that kicking off 2020 will be the return of RS/24, the riveting original work of Clayton LeBouef. Recognized for his brilliant performances on TV, film, and stage, with roles in NBC’s Homicide Life on the Streets, HBO’s The Wire and Something the Lord Made, Mr. LeBouef’s ethereal drama explores how the lives of characters Hubie, a record shop owner and a distressed Street Worker, collide one night on a chance meeting. Each is unaware of how this encounter will play a significant role in carving out their destinies.
In reverence to the African Diaspora, RS/24 also draws upon ancestral wisdom, vintage music and the return of vinyl to show the connection of how African American music has shaped world culture. Opening on January 25, 2020, RS/24 runs for three weeks at the Anacostia Playhouse. It’s a must-see.
RS/24 at the Anacostia Playhouse runs for 18 performances:
Previews, Thursday, January 23 and Friday January 24 7:30 p.m.
Saturday January 25 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (Opening weekend)
Sunday, January 26 Matinee at 3:00 p.m.
Monday, January 27 (Industry Night) 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 1 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m..
Sunday, February 2 Matinee at 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, February 7 at 7:30 P p.m.
Saturday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 9 – Matinee at 3:00 p.m. (Closing)
Tickets found HERE.
$35 – General Admission
$30 – East of the River, Seniors and Students
$25 – Groups of 10 or more (Contact Anacostia Playhouse @ 202-290-2328)
Trailer for Black Nativity featuring director Stephawn Stephens and choreographer Rodni Williams.
Video by Natalie Graves Tucker
Editing by Jabari Jefferson
Tickets: bit.ly/APBlackNativity
Anacostia Playhouse presents Black Nativity by Langston Hughes
Directed by Stephawn Stephens
Music Direction by William Knowles
Tickets HERE
Black Nativity
Langston Hughes’ song-play is a retelling of the Christmas story from an Afrocentric perspective, infused with rich gospel, blues, funk, jazz music and dance, with griot-style storytelling from an ensemble cast. Using the sounds, energy and the enthusiasm of Gospel music to tell the Nativity story. The original title of the play was Wasn’t That a Mighty Day, but was changed to Black Nativity before the show’s opening. On December 11, 1961 the show was first performed Off-Broadway, and then performed at President Kennedy’s International Jazz Festival. Later the show had tours through Europe including in Spoleto, Italy, where it performed at the Festival of Two Worlds. The show then toured London, Oslo, Brussels, Copenhagen and Rotterdam before returning to America. Since the sixties, the show has been performed annually at several theaters around the holiday season, and was performed annually at the Kennedy Center before moving to perform with H Street Playhouse and Theater Alliance.
About Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes began his writing career in the 1920s and lived in Washington DC for a few years in that decade. In one of Hughes’ most famous works, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” he called for confident, uniquely black literature. He travelled through the American South to decry cases of racial injustice, and then later travelled to the Soviet Union, Haiti, and Japan and worked as a newspaper correspondent. His first play Mulatto premiered on Broadway in 1935, and he later founded theater companies in Harlem and Los Angeles. Hughes served as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.
In 1961 Black Nativity premiered Off-Broadway, and in 2013 the filmed version was produced. Hughes also wrote for newspaper columns including the Chicago Defender and the New York Post. He often wrote fiction vignettes of his renowned comic column character Jesse B. Semple, who became a symbol of the day to day troubles of a poor black man living in a racist society. Hughes won several awards and fellowships, among them the Guggenheim Fellowship, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and received honorary degrees from Lincoln University, Howard University, and Western Reserve University. In 2012 he was inducted into the Chicago Hall of Fame. Hughes died in 1967 from complications of prostate cancer.
About Stephawn Stephens
Stephawn P. Stephens has become a recognizable presence, as a local actor, singer, and director in the Metropolitan area theater scene. He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and received his formal training at the Karamu House, Cleveland State University, majoring in English and Music Education and Bowie State University completing his studies in Musical Theater/Acting.
Mr. Stephens has performed at several local and well-known venues such as Arena Stage, African Continuum Theater Company, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Ford’s Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Signature Theatre and Woolly Mammoth. He has been a member of Actors Equity Association since 2004. He most recently directed A Nite at the Dew Drop Inn at Anacostia Playhouse.
Throughout his career, Mr. Stephens has developed his craft, gained invaluable knowledge and experience in theater and education. He believes in cultivating an atmosphere where undiscovered talent is trained and perfected. While building partnerships within the community through volunteering and his faithfulness to his church, Mr. Stephens has been touted by his peers as a “game changer”. He strives to help build and motivate cross-functional teams that exceed worldly expectations and marries passion to purpose.
About William Knowles
William Knowles is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Howard University and the University of Massachusetts and now lives in Washington, DC. As a composer, arranger, music director and pianist, he has worked at regional theaters around the country, including Dallas Theater Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Northlight (Chicago), CenterStage (Baltimore), Indiana Repertory Theater, and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where he has performed in eight different productions. He has received five Helen Hayes nominations for Musical Direction, winning twice.
Offstage he has released seven jazz CDs with music partner Mark Saltman. Their latest release is titled Almost (SaltmanKnowles.com).
ON STAGE
Kendall Claxton
Marcel Miller
LaSharon Johnson
Tre’mon Mills
Michael Nesbitt-Gaines
Fashad Tyler
David Hammett
Catrina Brenae
Sherice Payne
Jacquelyn Hawkins
André McKamey
Shawna William
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Set Design: Leah Mazur
Lighting Design: Jonathan Alexander
Costume Design: Alison Johnson
Choreography: Rodni Williams
Properties: Andrew Reilly
Stage Manager: Jen Bryant
MEDIA
To engage with Anacostia Playhouse and follow Black Nativity please visit, follow and like:
Facebook: /AnacostiaPlayhouse
Twitter: /AnacostiaPHouse
Instagram: @anacostiaphouse
Performances:
Preview: December 12
Gala Fundraiser: December 13
Saturday, December 14, 2pm (PRESS)
Saturday December 14, 2019 7:30pm OPENING (PRESS)
Sunday, December 15, 2019 3pm (PRESS)
Continues
Wednesday-Saturday 7:30
Saturdays at 2pm
Sundays at 3pm
Extra performances
December 26, 11:00 AM
Through Sunday January 5, 2020
PLUS Industry Night, Monday, December 23 at 7:30pm
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets HERE
Group Tickets: $30 tickets for groups of 10 or more. For group tickets, please call 202-290-2328
Silenced Voices
EXTENDED DEADLINE: November 15
The Anacostia Playhouse is seeking new and non-produced 10-minute plays for its annual new works series. Selected playwrights will have the opportunity to work with a professional director and actors to prepare for the final staged reading or performance.
Play submissions should address the prompt: What happens when a city loses its soul?
We ask playwrights to ponder the themes of displacement and its effect on the residents of Anacostia and neighborhoods East of the River. As residents are displaced, what does a city lose? What voices are at a threat of being silenced today?
Shine a spotlight on the silenced voices. What has made this neighborhood? Maybe it’s Go-Go Music; maybe it’s the special cuisine that was once sold at a neighborhood cornerstone; and maybe it’s the people themselves who built an amazing culture and city. Or maybe it’s something else entirely.
The guidelines:
The play should be short: 10-15 minutes
The play should have no more than 4 characters
The play should focus on neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River
EXTENDED DEADLINE: November 15
Submit online at
JOB POSTING
Anacostia Playhouse Seeks Events Manager
The Events Manager will serve as the on call person for evening and weekend events at Anacostia Playhouse. They will serve as the coordinator between the executive director and renting companies, and will be present for events held at the Playhouse as necessary. In addition, they will provide box office assistance and support as needed to rental companies.
Essential Job Tasks
– Providing keys or entry to renters
– Presence at the playhouse for events and functions
– Providing support for renters throughout events
– Ensuring theater is properly locked up at the end of events
– Providing some box office help
Qualifications
– Some theater familiarity
– Evening and weekend availability
– Punctuality
– Some box office experience preferred, but not required
Pay: $15/hr
Will be called on evenings and weekends, depending on Playhouse schedule. As much advance notice as possible will be provided.
To apply, please send resume and cover letter to natasha.anacostiaplayhouse@gmail.com
