Photos and a new promotional video have been released for Off-Broadway's The Refuge Plays, Nathan Alan Davis' three-and-a-half-hour long epic new play about a Black family over the course of 70 years.
The ensemble cast of the play includes Nicole Ari Parker (Max's And Just Like That and Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire), Jessica Frances Dukes (Netflix's Ozark!, Trouble in Mind on Broadway), and Daniel J. Watts (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical). See the cast of the play describe it in one word in the video above.
The Refuge Plays began previews September 14 and will officially open October 4 at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. Presented by Roundabout Theatre Company in association with New York Theatre Workshop, performances will continue through November 12. The production will mark the first time the two esteemed Off-Broadway theatres will join forces to produce a world premiere play together.
Patricia McGregor directs a cast that also includes Ngozi Jane Anyanwu as Joy, Jerome Preston Bates as Reginald, Jon Michael Hill as Walking Man, Mallori Taylor Johnson as Symphony, Lizan Mitchell as Clydette, Lance Coadie Williams as Dax, and JJ Wynder as Ha-Ha.
The Refuge Plays, set in the woods of southern Illinois, begins as a ghost tells Gail (played by Dukes) that she will die within the next 24 hours. It follows one Black family over 70 years.
The reimagining of an American "family play" also has sets by Arnulfo Maldonado, costumes by Emilio Sosa, lighting by Stacey Derosier, original music and sound by Marc Anthony Thompson, vocal soundscapes by composer Imani Uzuri, and movement coordination by Paloma McGregor.
Davis' plays also include Nat Turner in Jerusalem (NYTW), The High Ground (Arena Stage), Eternal Life Part 1 (Wilma Theater), Origin Story (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), The Wind and the Breeze (Cygnet Theatre), and Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea (NNPN Rolling World Premiere).
Visit RoundaboutTheatre.org.
Jerome Preston Bates, Daniel J. Watts, and Nicole Ari Parker
Lance Coadie Williams and Jon Michael Hill
Lance Coadie Williams, Lizan Mitchell, and Jerome Preston Bates
Jon Michael Hill and Daniel J. Watts
Jon Michael Hill and Nicole Ari Parker
Jon Michael Hill, Lance Coadie Williams, Patricia McGregor, Jessica Frances Dukes, and LA Williams
