Remaining performances of How Blood Go are sold out. However, a select number of standby tickets may become available in person at the box office one hour before each performance.
About this show:
How Blood Go weaves the present and past together to explore the strained relationship between the healthcare system and African Americans in this country. Just when Quinntasia is ready to take her wellness program, Quinntessentials, to market, she learns that her healthy body is not the product of her hard work, but of a futuristic experimental device—activated without her consent—that makes her appear White to doctors and nurses. She must decide if she’s willing to give up her Blackness to make her dream come true. Meanwhile, Bean and his brother, Ace, experience unethical medical treatment in the American South (the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment 1930-1970).
Cast & Artists
Author: Lisa Langford
Director: Tiffany Fulson
CAST
Ace: Ronald L. Conner#*
Didi: Yolonda Ross*
Quinntasia: Jyreika Guest
White Quinn/Frank: Kayla Kennedy
White Didi/Anne/Norm: Caron Buinis
Tron/John Brown: Marcus D. Moore
Big Gal/Negress: Kristin E. Ellis*
Bean/Negro: David Dowd
White Quinn Understudy: Emily Woods
Quinntasia Understudy: Jazzlyn Luckett Aderele
Ace Understudy: Keith Rich Oliver
Bean/Tron/John Brown/Negro Understudy: William Burke
Didi/Big/Gal/Negress Understudy: Sharyon Culberson
White Didi/Anne/Norm Understudy: Elizabeth Ellis
PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Designer: Courtney O'Neill^
Technical Director: Evan Sposato
Projections Designer: Mike Tutaj^
Costumes Designer: Kotryna Hilko
Lighting Designer: Levi Wilkins
Properties Designer: Lonnae Hickman
Sound Designer: Willow James
Stage Manager: Lauren Lassus*
Assistant Stage Manager: Lili Bjorklund
Production Manager: Victor Hugo Jaimes
Dramaturg/Assistant Director: Sarah Grace Goldman
Movement Director: Breon Arzell
Master Electrician: Conchita Avitia
CONGO SQUARE STAFF
Executive Director: Charlique C. Rolle
Artistic Director: Ericka Ratcliff
# Member of the Congo Square Theatre Ensemble
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association
^ Member of United Scenic Artists, the union of designers, artists, and craftspeople
About Celebration of Healing
Congo Squre is pleased to partner with the We Will Chicago in presenting Celebration of Healing. The Celebration of Healing is an initiative that collaborates with Congo Square's annual productions to provide audiences with a curated space geared toward individual and community healing.
A full description of events can be found on this link.
About Talk Forwards
March 26: From Access to Equity
After the performance, join us in conversation with the artists and the cast of How Blood Go and community leaders discussing the importance of access and development as a component of health equity and the role the arts play in facilitating discourse and advocacy for our communities.
April 2: The Importance of Representation in Healthcare and the Arts
Facilitated by Dr. Melissa Simon, this conversation will happen immediately after the performance of How Blood Go with members of the cast and creative, including Yolonda Ross, and additional subject matter experts discussing themes in the production and how it moves into our daily lives–the power of representation in healthcare as a key for health equity.
April 9: Talk Forward
After the performance, stay for a brief, informal discussion featuring members of the cast and crew of How Blood Go.
About Congo Square Theatre Company
Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. We are a haven for artists of color to challenge and redefine the theatrical canon by amplifying and creating stories that reflect the reach and complexities of Black Culture. Congo Square is one of only two African American Actors’ Equity theater companies in Chicago. Founded in 1999, Congo Square aimed to provide a platform for Black artists to present works that exemplified the majesty, diversity and intersectionality of stories from the African Diaspora.
Congo Square has risen to become one of the most well-respected African American theaters in the nation. Previously mentored by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, Congo Square would go on to cultivate talents such as playwright Chadwick Boseman (Marvel Studio’s Black Panther), who penned the 2006 Jeff nominated play Deep Azure, and playwright Lydia Diamond, who penned the massively successful Stick Fly, a critically acclaimed play that explores race, class and familial friction. Stick Fly ultimately ran on Broadway and is currently being developed into a full length series for HBO with Alicia Keys serving as a producer. Congo Square also produced the widely praised Seven Guitars, which would eventually go on to win top honors for best ensemble, best direction and best production at the 2005 Joseph Jefferson Awards. This would earn the theater company the distinction of being the first African American theater company to receive such an honor.
Congo Square’s Community Engagement and Education programs bring the impact of theater to young audiences. Its outreach programs, CORE (Curriculum Objectives Residency Enrichment), and CAST (Congo After School Theater), present and teach theater arts by providing classroom and after-school residencies that provide Teaching Artists to build upon already established Chicago Public Schools literature and art curriculums. CORE and CAST impact students, schools and community organizations located on the South and West sides of Chicago.
For more information on Congo Square’s 2022-23 Season, visit www.congosquaretheatre.org.
Running Time
If you want to see a list of content advisories for How Blood Go, have specific questions about content, age-appropriateness or effects that might have a bearing on patron comfort, please contact Congo Square at: info@congosquaretheatre.org
Talk Forwards
A conversation will follow performances on 3/15, 3/26, 4/2 and 4/9 with members of the cast of How Blood Go, Congo Square staff and subject matter experts to learn more about the production and how we, in the community, can partner towards making health equity a reality. For more information see below.