Complete Casting Announced for Cullud Wattah, New Play About Crisis in Flint, Michigan

Complete Casting has been announced for the world premiere of Erika Dickerson-Despenza's Cullud Wattah, which will begin performances at the Public Theater on November 2 ahead of an official opening on November 17. The play is slated to run through December 5.

Cullud Wattah is described as follows: "It's been 936 days since Flint has had clean water. Marion, a third-generation General Motors employee, is consumed by layoffs at the engine plant. When her sister, Ainee, seeks justice and restitution for lead poisoning, her plan reveals the toxic entanglements between the city and its most powerful industry, forcing their family to confront the past-present-future cost of survival. As lead seeps into their home and their bodies, corrosive memories and secrets rise among them. Will this family ever be able to filter out the truth?"

Dickerson-Despenza is the winner of the 2021 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for Cullud Wattah.

The cast features Crystal Dickinson as Marion, Jennean Farmer as Marion/Ainee Understudy, Lizan Mitchell as Big Ma, Ta'Neesha Murphy as Plum/Reesee Understudy, Andrea Patterson as Ainee, Alicia Pilgrim as Plum, Chavez Ravine as Big Ma Understudy, and Lauren F. Walker as Reesee. Candis C. Jones directs.

Cullud Wattah features scenic design by Adam Rigg; costume design by Kara Harmon; lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew; sound design by Sinan Refik Zafar; hair, wigs, and make-up design by Earon Chew Nealey; prop management by Corinne Golorgursky; original composition by Justin Hicks; and movement direction by Adesola Osakalumi.