“THE DAY WILL COME WHEN PEOPLE LIKE YOU WILL CURSE DUH DAY YOU EVAH LAID EYES ON PEOPLE LIKE US. AND WE GONE BE ALL DUH BETTER FO’ IT.”
ABOUT THIS SHOW
The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies alone in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and attended to by the enslaved people who will be free the moment she dies. This uproarious form-shifting fever dream takes us deep into the ramifications of one of America's original sins. Dizzying and fantastical, this Chicago premiere from Pulitzer winner James Ijames boldly remixes this country's dark history with a delicate balance of truth and humor.
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Cast & Artists
The Artists
- Author James Ijames
- Director Whitney White
- Scenic Designer Clint Ramos
- Costume Designer Izumi Inaba
- Associate Director Manna-Symone Middlebrooks
- Fight Choreographer Rachel Flesher
- Fight Choreographer Maya Vince Prentiss
- Magic Consultant Benjamin Barnes
- Wig Design Silver Fox Wigs
- Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker
- Design & Original Music Fan Zhang
- Company Voice, Text & Dialect Coach Gigi Buffington
- Director of Production Tom Pearl
- Casting Director JC Clementz
- Production Stage Manager Christine D. Freeburg
- Assistant Stage Manager Kathleen Barrett
- Understudy Shawna Franks
- Understudy Keith Illidge
- Understudy Arielle Leverett
- Understudy Gabrielle Lott-Rogers
- Understudy Jarred Webb
Featured Ensemble Members
Reviews
"In the fairy tale version of our country’s racial politics, we all learn about justice and skip happily toward the future. I, for one, am done with fairy tales as history—and patient explanations. Give me the harder truth of Ijames’s fantastical version any day." — The New York Times
“Remarkably gritty and humorous—a bitter history lesson that unfolds like a surreal painting come to life.” — Chicago Theatre Review
“The cast… is a constant source of joy and revelation, as they weave song and dance into their roles.” — New City
"Roars along in the most assured way, its highly presentational style of acting embraced with zest and aplomb, not to mention a bravura kind of theatricality." — Chicago Tribune
"Curious, outlandish, vicious and uproarious!" — Chicago Sun-Times
Sponsors
Accessibility Services sponsored by John Hart and Carol Prins
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