Experiments 17: Before Evening Comes
Written by Philana Omorotionmwan
Directed by Nehprii Amenii
With his 13th birthday around the corner, Totome is excited to meet “the butcher” and finally become a man. His mother, however, hopes to keep him whole for just a little while longer. Before Evening Comes is a poetic exploration of what becomes of black boys and men in a dystopian future rooted in the belief that the black male body is a threat to public safety.
Nehprii Amenii is an artist, writer, director, and educator. As a theatre artist, she has a passion for both puppetry and grand-scale spectacle. She creates experiences that dismantle the wall between players and audiences aiming to enchant the imagination and inspire new ways of seeing and thinking. She has created and worked with Penumbra Theatre Company, The Flea, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, The Bushwick Starr, La Mama Experimental Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and Cirque Du Soleil. After eight years of teaching and staging puppet performances for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation, she now serves their creative consultant. In 2013 she was honored with the Stanley and Evelyn Lipkin Prize for playwriting, for her play Food for the Gods. Most recently, she was invited as a U.S. delegate for the 2015 Women Playwrights International Conference in Cape Town South Africa. Nehprii Amenii has enjoyed over 17 years of teaching and curriculum development for all ages within the Department of Education, private institutions, as well as post-secondary education. Nehprii Amenii is founder and Artistic Director of Khunum Productions. She holds a BA in Creative Communications from the University of Minnesota and an MFA in Theatre Production from Sarah Lawrence College.
Experiments Play Reading Series
For the 23rd season of La MaMa Experiments we will focus on theatrical works in progress addressing mental health issues. No one is more familiar with the need to create greater access to mental healthcare than our New York audience, who come face to face with this crisis on a daily basis. After 3 years of a global pandemic, all of us are feeling the upsurge of anxiety and depression, but these trends have been on the rise long before Covid-19. The works this season shed light on important, personal stories and deal with this subject matter in many different and unique ways. From tongue in cheek comedies to absurdist tragedies, Experiments hopes to create a season that will destigmaify, enlighten and, yes, even entertain.