| Kia Corthron's FISH from Keen Company & Working Theater, March 19-April 20 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 12:31 pm EST 03/06/24 | |
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| KEEN COMPANY AND WORKING THEATER PRESENT WORLD PREMIERE OF KIA CORTHRON'S FISH, MARCH 19–APRIL 20 Adrienne D. Williams Directs Fearless New Play Centered on Everyday People Who Make Up America's Education System Cast Includes Torée Alexandre, Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew, Josiah Gaffney, Morgan Siobhan Green, Rachel Leslie, Margaret Odette, and Christopher B. Portley Keen Company, a Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Off-Broadway theater creating stories that celebrate the complexities of hope and the joys of connection, and Working Theater, a renowned New York City-based theater company dedicated to representing the voices and stories of working people, is proud to present the world premiere of Kia Corthron's Fish. Directed by Adrienne D. Williams, Fish is a frank, funny, and fearless new play about the everyday people who make up America's education system. Fish is scheduled to run March 19 – April 20, 2024, with an opening set for Tuesday, April 2, at Theatre Row in Theatre Four, located at 410 W 42nd St in Manhattan. Tickets, which are priced at a $0–$130 sliding scale, are currently on sale at www.keencompany.org . Between acting as guardian to her little brother and losing her best friend to the charter school on the upper floor, Tree is just trying her best to get through senior year at her underfunded public school. Ms. Harris, the new English teacher, has grown embittered over budget cuts and standardized testing – keeping every student afloat is proving easier said than done. When questions arise that no textbook can answer, both student and teacher will face their most challenging assignment to date. The cast for Fish includes Torée Alexandre (Fairview), Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew (King Richard w/ Will Smith), Josiah Gaffney (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical), Morgan Siobhan Green (Be More Chill, White Girl in Danger), Rachel Leslie (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Margaret Odette (Shakespeare in the Park's Much Ado About Nothing, Rattlestick's The Convent), and Christopher B. Portley (La Race). Playwright Kia Corthron remarked, "I'd already been thinking about addressing public education when I was invited to become a member of the 2018 Keen Playwrights Lab. Digging into the issues, I was looking at budget cuts and school choice and standardized testing and poverty—a thousand directions I could go—but the one thing I knew for sure is that I was interested in the struggles of both students and teachers: parallel journeys. I wrote the play over the course of my lab year, had a public reading that December, the Working Theater eventually joined in and here we are. The Working Theater is committed to working people on its stages and in its seats, and Keen Company is a theater of humanity and heart—and I would like to think all that pretty much sums up my writing. So Fish couldn't premiere at a more perfect place." Keen Company's Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein and Working Theater's Artistic Director Colm Summers said, "Keen Company and Working Theater are thrilled to announce the cast and creative teams for Fish. We cannot wait to see the magic they will create with Adrienne Williams at the helm. Fish is a perfect play for our companies to collaborate on. Its timely focus on the challenges of the educational system, together with the moving tale of the human toll the system exerts, beautifully speaks to both of our companies' missions. We look forward to sharing Kia's powerful play with our communities in New York City." The creative team for Fish includes Jason Simms (scenic design), Mika Eubanks (costume design), Nic Vincent (lighting design), Michael Keck (sound design), Yudelka Heyer (prop design), Stephanie Yankwitt, tbd casting (casting), and Shane Schnetzler (production stage management). Thirty-four performances of Fish will take place March 19 – April 20, 2024, at Theatre Row in Theatre Four, located at 410 W 42nd St in Manhattan. Critics are welcome as of Thursday, March 28 for an opening on Tuesday, March 2. The performance schedule is Tuesday–Saturday at 7pm and Saturday & Sunday at 2pm with an additional 2pm performance on Wednesday, April 17. The anticipated running time is 1 hour, 40 minutes, with no intermission. Tickets, which are priced at a $0–$130 sliding scale, are available at www.keencompany.org. Standard ticketing fees apply. Please visit https://www.keencompany.org/fish for more information on the production. About the Artists Kia Corthron (playwright) Corthron's Tempestuous Elements will premiere at Arena Stage in February. Other plays, including A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick, Breath, Boom, and Force Continuum, have been produced in New York by Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club; regionally by Eclipse Theatre, Yale Rep, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center Stage, Hartford Stage, Children's Theatre Company, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, New York Stage and Film; in London by the Royal Court Theatre and Donmar Warehouse; and elsewhere. Awards include the Windham Campbell Prize, Horton Foote Award, Flora Roberts Award, USA Jane Addams Fellowship, McKnight National Residency. Moon and the Mars, her second novel, was published in 2021. Her debut, The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter, won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice. Edgar and Writers Guild Outstanding Series awards for The Wire. She serves on the Dramatists Guild Council, is a New Dramatists alumnus, and is a member of the Authors Guild. Adrienne D. Williams (director) Credits include The Gospel Woman (National Black Theatre), A Limbo Large and Broad (The Playroom Theatre), She Kills Monsters (Yale Repertory Theatre), Crumbs From The Table Of Joy, Angela's Mixtape (Martha's Vineyard Playhouse), Nora (Juilliard Drama Theater), Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Zooman and the Sign (The Paul Walker Theatre), Luck of the Irish (Atlas Theatre NYU), Trouble in Mind, Paris (The Acting Company AADA). Other titles include Uncle Vanya, Antigone , Iphigeneia at Aulis, Dream of the Burning Boy, Picnic , Electra , Bus Stop, Pipeline , A Raisin in the Sun, The Colored Museum. Member: SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA, NYSTU, League of Professional Theatre Women. About the Cast Torée Alexandre is absolutely thrilled to be a part of Fish ! Since graduating from Point Park, Torée has had the honor of working with some incredible humans, most recently including those at Palm Beach Dramaworks, The Acting Company, and Barrington Stage. Torée is eternally grateful to teachers and the daily sacrifices they make. She also sends love and light to every child navigating their way through the education system right now. toreealexandre.com Mikayla LaShae Bartholomew is a Tony Award-winning advocate & NAACP Image Award winner. Coming off back-to-back world premieres – Grace (Sundance) and The Salvagers (Yale Rep) – Mikayla is grateful to bring this new story to life. She stars as the eldest Williams sister in the Academy Award-winning film King Richard. Two-time NAACP Image Award nominee Mikayla leads the NAACP Image Award-winning short Dear Mama (SXSW), is a 2020 Special Tony Award recipient for her work with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, and is an Artist Ambassador at the NYCLU. An upcoming project is in development with Jon Bernthal (Origin) and George Pelecanos ("The Wire") at HBO. Select credits: So You're Just Sitting with Her While She Bleeds, Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, "The Bottoms," The Niceties, "Pure" (HBO), A Doll's House: Part 2. Facilitator/Programs Producer: Theatre of Change, Broadway for Black Lives Matter… Again, What Now: Unplugged, the Arts in Action Festival. B.F.A., Theater, minors: pre-nursing, gender, sexuality, and women's studies from VCU. Josiah Gaffney is a humble 16 year old young man from Brooklyn, NY who is so excited to be joining the cast of Fish after his previous Broadway debut in Tina - The Tina Turner Musical. He is also known for his voiceover roles on "Bubble Guppies," "Get Rolling with Otis," "Laurie Berkner's Song and Story Kitchen," "Noggin Knows," and "Pinna's Alphabet Adventures''. His other credits include appearances on "Saturday Night Live," "The Daily Show," "Sesame Street," "The Black List," and a host of radio and television commercials that include PlayStation and Google Pixel. Josiah is represented by Stewart Talent Agency. He is a two-time nominee for The Young Entertainer Award, and he just recently became a member of Young Gifted and Broadway (YGB) which is a group of young Broadway actors that perform in cabarets together. Morgan Siobhan Green Broadway: Be More Chill. National Tours: Hadestown (Original Company, Eurydice). Regional and Off-Broadway: White Girl In Danger (Second Stage, Caroline), Moby Dick (American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge), Between The Lines (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Folk Wandering (ART NY) Avalanches (Because I'm Me) Dick Johnson Is Dead (Billie Holiday). TV: "The Bold Type"(Zuri). Rachel Leslie is excited to be working with Keen Company again (Conscientious Objector) and with Working Theater. Most recently, she was in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway) and has done numerous shows in New York City and regionally including work at The Public Theater, The Bushwick Starr, New Georges, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Her television appearances include "FBI: Most Wanted," "Billions," "Difficult People," "Unforgettable," "Alpha House," and "Law & Order." Rachel is a member of The Actor's Center and Quick Silver Theater Company. She also serves on the board of the Episcopal Actor's Guild (EAG), a 100 year old organization providing emergency financial assistance to performers in addition to providing grants, classes, and workshops. Margaret Odette Theatre: New York: Black Mother, Lost Daughter (National Black Theatre), Shakespeare in the Park's Much Ado About Nothing (The Public Theater, PBS, AUDELCO Nom), The Convent (Rattlestick Theater), Sehnsucht (Jack), Figaro (The Pearl Theatre), She Kills Monsters (Flea Theatre). Regional: Revenge Song (The Geffen Playhouse), Paradise Blue (Long Wharf Theatre), Skeleton Crew (Chester Theatre Company), A Raisin in The Sun (Clarence Brown Theatre), The Taming of The Shrew (Chautauqua Theatre Company), In The Next Room (Chautauqua Theatre Company). Film: "The Independent" (Peacock), "Boogie" (Focus Features), "Sleeping with Other People" (IFC Films). Television: "Sex/Life" (Netflix), "Step Up" (Starz), "Blindspot" (NBC), "How To Make Love To A Black Woman" (Showtime), "Instinct" (CBS), "Elementary" (CBS). Education: BA Brown University, MFA NYU Tisch. Margaret is a proud volunteer and Board member of The 52nd Street Project. Christopher B. Portley is a proud Texas native living in Harlem, New York. Christopher was most recently seen in the Keelay Gibson directed afro-surrealism play Demons (Bushwick Starr). Off-Broadway credits include: La Race directed by Taylor Reynolds (Page 73/Working Theater). Other theater credits include: SWEAT (Northern Stage), American Prophet: Fredrick Douglass In His Own Words (Arena Stage), ANTIGONE (Cleveland Play House). About Keen Company Keen Company creates theater that connects. In intimate productions of plays and musicals, Keen celebrates the complexities of hope and the joys of the human condition. Keen has brought such wholehearted productions to the Off-Broadway stage as Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage (First NY Revival), The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (First NY Revival), This Space Between Us by Peter Gil-Sheridan (World Premiere), Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (NY Premiere, AUDELCO and Antonyo Nomination), Surely Goodness and Mercy by Chisa Hutchinson (NY Premiere), Ordinary Days by Adam Gwon (Drama League Nomination), Tick, Tick...BOOM! by Jonathan Larson (Drama Desk Nomination), Boy by Anna Ziegler (World Premiere, Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award), and Marry Me a Little by Stephen Sondheim (Drama League Nomination). Through their one-of-its-kind education program, Keen Teens, Keen raises the quality of plays written for high school students and provides a free professional mentorship opportunity for teens. Through the Keen Playwrights Lab and other initiatives, Keen supports mid-career playwrights as they develop new work and facilitates that work's exposure to a greater audience. In everything they do, Keen Company thrives through their welcoming ethos and community commitments. You're invited to explore more at www.keencompany.org . About Working Theater Working Theater believes the transformative experience of live theater should not be a privilege or a luxury, but a staple. Now in its 39th season, Working Theater continues its mission to produce theater for, with, and about working people—the essential workers of any city or town—and to make play-going a regular part of our audiences' cultural lives. Through an active commissioning pipeline, our sliding scale ticketing initiative, a successful grassroots audience engagement program, and a pioneering arts-in-education program, our work remains relevant, accessible, and affordable to all, regardless of geography or socio-economic status. Working Theater has commissioned and produced over seventy culturally diverse world-premiere plays, with subjects and themes ranging from the struggles of women working in poultry plants (Lisa Ramirez's TO THE BONE) to the plight of the uninsured in America (Michael Milligan's Mercy Killers), to the shared journey of undocumented immigrants crossing the United States border, staged inside an actual 18-wheeler (Ed Cardona, Jr.'s La Ruta). The company has presented its work in 15 American cities, earned 2 Drama League Nominations, 6 Drama Desk Award nominations, a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble for Rob Ackerman's Tabletop, and 3 Audelco Awards. www.theworkingtheater.org |
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