Theater News

Full Cast, Creative Team Set for Seattle Rep’s Gem of the Ocean

Phylicia Rashad
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Phylicia Rashad
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Full cast and creative team have been announced for Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, April 5-May 6. The production, which will open officially on April 11, will be directed by Tony Award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, who played Aunt Ester in the show’s Broadway production.

The first play chronologically in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Hill cycle, Gem takes place at the boarding house of 285-year-old Aunt Ester, where a young man named Citizen Barlow shows up seeking the chance to cleanse his soul.

The cast will feature Michele Shay (Aunt Ester), Crystal Fox (Black Mary), William Hall, Jr. (Solly Two Kings), Todd Jefferson Moore (Rutherford), Khalil Khan (Citizen Barlow), Stanley Wayne Mathis (Caesar), and Allie Woods (Eli). The creative team will feature John Jacovelli (sets), Susan Mickey (costumes), Allen Lee Hughes (lighting), Dan Moses Schreier (sound), and Kathryn Bostic (music composition).

For more information, visit www.seattlerep.org.