Williamstown Theatre Festival Kicks Off Season With 9 Solo Plays by Black Writers

Williamstown Theatre Festival kicked off its 2021 Live Season on July 6 with the first performance of the world premiere series Celebrating the Black Radical Imagination: Nine Solo Plays. The series of commissioned plays centers on and celebrates Black artists and their voices through theatrical storytelling.

Each show consists of three 30-minute world premieres, created by Black writers, written for actors of color, and brought to life by Black directors. The series will take place over the next three weeks:

Week One (Tuesday, July 6-Saturday, July 10): Border of Lights by Guadalís Del Carmen with Cindy De La Cruz; Ghosts of the Diaspora by France-Luce Benson with Brian D. Coats; Freaky Dee, Baby by NSangou Njikam with Ashley C. Turner. Colette Robert directs.

Week Two (Tuesday, July 13-Sunday, July 18): Black Moon Lilith by J. Nicole Brooks with Sharina Martin; A Ghost in Satin by Terry Guest with Antwayn Hopper; don't get got by Ike Holter with Portia. Wardell Julius Clark directs.

Week Three (Wednesday, July 21-Sunday, July 25): THE MASTER'S TOOLS by Zora Howard with Rosalyn Coleman; Mark It Down by Charly Evon Simpson with Naomi Lorrain; The Last……(A Work in Progress) by Ngozi Anyanwu with Ronald Peet. Candis C. Jones directs.

The project features actors from across the career development spectrum from early career to established, including Brian D. Coats, Rosalyn Coleman, Cindy De La Cruz, Antwayn Hopper, Naomi Lorrain, Sharina Martin, Ronald Peet, Portia, and Ashley C. Turner.

The series is guest-curated by Tony Award nominee Robert O'Hara.

The creative team for Celebrating the Black Radical Imagination includes Lorraine Glover and David Rockwell (venue and set design), David Rockwell/The Rockwell Group (production design support), April Hickman (costume design for Week One), Ari Fulton (costume design for Week Two and Week Three), Adam Honoré (lighting design), Shannon Clarke (associate lighting designer), and Twi McCallum (sound design) with casting by The Telsey Office: William Cantler, CSA, Karyn Casl, CSA, Destiny Lilly, CSA.

The WTF 2021 Live Season, which will take place outdoors, socially distanced, and with safety prioritized, will also include the world premiere musical Row (Tuesday, July 13-Sunday, August 15), performed at the Clark Art Institute, and ALIEN/NATION (Tuesday, July 20-Sunday, August 15), an immersive theatrical experience in two parts from the Forest of Arden, including newly announced creative members Jeff Kuperman (co-choreographer) and Peter Westervelt (video designer).

For tickets and more information, click here.