EST to Present Petronia Paley’s On the Way to Timbuktu

Ensemble Studio Theater will present the world premiere of On the Way to Timbuktu, a new play written by and starring Petronia Paley, to run December 6-21. The production will be directed by Talvin Wilks.

Dr. Selene Slater-Bernaud, also known as Slim, teaches a class scrutinizing Shakespeare’s sonnets titled “The Poetics of Race…The Politics of Beauty.” After years in a caring interracial marriage, she finds herself in love with a female student. Grappling with personal demons that threaten to destroy her, Slim’s past and present collide as she confronts the poetry and politics of her heart.

The show’s creative team includes Min Xiao-Fen (music composition), Maruti Evans (sets and lighting), Suzanne Chesney (costumes), and Maya Ciarrocchi (projections). Wilks, who is also a playwright, has directed productions of UDU, The Shaneequa Chronicles, and Relativity.

Paley’s many acting credits include On Golden Pond, Electra, Hamlet, Relativity, The Revenger’s Tragedy, and The Cherry Orchard. She is well known to daytime television viewers for her roles as Vivian Grant on Guiding Light and Quinn Harding on Another World. She is also the author of a numerous plays and children’s book.