Bleu Beckford-Burrell's La Race will receive its world premiere at WP Theater November 21-December 23. Page 73 and Working Theater present the Off-Broadway production which marks Beckford-Burrell's Off-Broadway debut.
Starring in the cast will be Auberth Bercy (She Persisted) as Uriel, Naomi Lorrain (Behind the Sheet, Entangled) as Maxine, Vince Nappo (The Merchant of Venice) as Grant, Christopher B. Portley (American Prophet: Frederick Douglass in His Own Words)as Trey, Stacey Sargeant (for colored girls...) as Dejani/Doctor, and Shaunette Renée Wilson (The Resident, Billions) as AJ in her New York stage debut.
La Race follows Maxine, a Black woman in her 30s dealing with personal and professional setbacks, and her best friend A.J., who wants Maxine to run for office in Far Rockaway's local government. Their unconventional grassroots campaign soon becomes vitally important as political action becomes necessary in a place navigating race, identity, and gentrification.
Beckford-Burrell said in a statement, “I wanted to center Black women in a way that we rarely are: to depict regular people trying to live life. The term ‘strong Black woman’ is so problematic in that it evokes this idea of ‘I must carry a thousand people, I must lift the car off of a struggling baby.’ Just because you're called to arms doesn't mean you necessarily want to be there and do it—sometimes you are just doing it because you have to. A lot of women can relate to the implicit and oftentime explicit expectation of being the shoulder to cry on, the nurturer."
Director Taylor Reynolds (Tambo & Bones, Man Cave) will helm the creative team which will feature Tony-nominated scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado (A Strange Loop), Tony-nominated costume designer Sarafina Bush (for colored girls...), lighting designers Stacey Derosier (Weightless) and Bailey Costa (Or, An Astronaut Play), sound designer Germán Martínez (Into The Woods), props designer Sean Sandford (peerless), and hair and wigs designer Cookie Jordan (The Piano Lesson). Brittany Coyne will be production manager and Ralph Stan Lee will be production stage manager.
For tickets and more information, visit TheWorkingTheater.org.
