Written by Sonhara Eastman Directed by LA Williams
Set in North Carolina at the start of the twentieth century when a young bi-racial woman realizes both her sex and race are against her as she tries to save the land left to her mother by the white father she’s never met.
Cast
Pearl Gabrielle Archer
Lucie Mae Stephanie McFarlane
Charles Chaundre Hall Bloomfield
Aunt Margaret LaVonda Elam
William Cecil Blutcher
Johnny Waters John Wiggins
Dottie Renika Williams
Stage Directions Gha’il Rhodes Benjamin
About the Artists
Sonhara Eastman is a playwright and screenwriter from New York. She received her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU Tisch, where she implemented the departments first-ever Black History Month Celebration through Art. Her plays are known for illuminating the black experience and include Pearl, The Club, and Black Girls Guide to Fertility. Sonhara’s plays have been workshopped at 7 Stages, The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Playwrights Playground, Working Title Playwrights Ethel Woolson Lab at the Alliance Theatre (Black Box) and The Goldberg Theatre at NYU. She was a finalist for the National Playwright’s Center Many Voices Fellowship and a semi-finalist for the Made in New York Writer’s Room Initiative. She has worked for numerous production companies such as E! Entertainment, MTV, ESPN, Lifetime, Lionsgate, and the Comcast Network. Sonhara is a member of the Writer’s Guild East and Dramatist Guild, and wants to build on the legacy of great playwrights.
About Experiments
As the title suggests, The 18th season of Experiments Play Reading Series is focused on playwrights whose work features a dynamic leading character worthy of the "best actress of her generation." Although we are sure Ms.Streep would masterfully bring to life any of these parts, our mission is to select work based on the themes Meryl has championed throughout her career; empathy, diversity and activism. Using these pillars as our guide, each month, La MaMa's Experiments 18 will showcase a play centered around a strong and inspiring lead character who can be of any ethnicity, religion, gender identity, national origin, disability and sexual orientation.
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