CLYBOURNE PARK to Launch 'Raisin Cycle' at CENTERSTAGE, 4/10

CENTERSTAGE announces the Baltimore Premiere of Bruce Norris' highly acclaimed Clybourne Park, the first of two landmark plays slated to run in rotating repertory this spring as The Raisin Cycle. The Baltimore Premiere of Clybourne Park begins previews April 10, and the World Premiere of CENTERSTAGE Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah's Beneatha's Place begins May 8.

The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning drama taking America by storm, Clybourne Park picks up where Lorraine Hansberry left off in her landmark A Raisin in the Sun.

"Clybourne Park is an absolutely brilliant piece of theater. It's a testament to just how good it is that after seeing it for the first time, I was so filled with ideas that I simply had to pick up a pen and join Bruce in this conversation," says Kwei-Armah, referring to his play Beneatha's Place.

Inspired by Norris' reimagining of the character Karl Lindner from Raisin, Kwei-Armah expands the legacy of Hansberry's masterpiece as he builds a new story for another figure. In Beneatha's place, Beneatha Younger-the intellectual and restless young woman who, at the end of Raisin, contemplates a move to Nigeria with her suitor-is given a new life and path as she confronts the fundamental questions of community and legacy.

The two plays will be produced in rotating repertory as The Raisin Cycle, using a single ensemble of actors, and a shared design team, under the direction of Derrick Sanders (Joe Turner's Come and Gone). The Chicago-basEd Sanders was the founding Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre, where he directed Kwei-Armah's Elmina's Kitchen, as well as several award-winning productions of the works of August Wilson.

Among those in the cast making their CENTERSTAGE debuts are several familiar faces to the Baltimore/DC theater scene: Jessica Frances Dukes, a company member at Woolly Mammoth; Everyman Theatre resident company member, Beth Hylton; Kim James Bey, who serves as the Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at Howard University and has worked regionally and nationally as an actor and a dialect coach; and DC-based Jenna Sokolowski who has frequently appeared at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Metro Stage, Signature, Shakespeare Theatre, and Studio Theatre. A full cast list and bios are included at the end of this release.

Surrounding the repertory, CENTERSTAGE will produce Expanding the Cycle, an array of programming featuring pre- and post-show conversations, special events, and panel discussions. Highlights include a mini-festival of play readings that continue the conversations found in The Raisin Cycle, a playwrights convening on African American narratives, and a panel discussion and video series with local African American women in leadership positions. For a full schedule, visit www.centerstage.org/cycle.

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris begins previews this week, and celebrates its Opening Night on Wednesday, April 17. Beneatha's Place by Kwame Kwei-Armah, begins previews May 8, and celebrates Opening Night, Wednesday, May 15. Tickets can be purchased at 410.332.0033 or online at www.centerstage.org.

The Raisin Cycle:

Clybourne Park
By Bruce Norris
Directed by Derrick Sanders
Apr 10 - Jun 16

The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama taking America by storm. Picking up where Lorraine Hansberry left off in her landmark A Raisin in the Sun (2001-02 Season), The New York Times called Clybourne Park a "darkly humorous... dissection of race, gentrification and real estate."

Beneatha's Place
World Premiere
By Kwame Kwei-Armah
Directed by Derrick Sanders
May 8 - Jun 16

Follow the life of Beneatha Younger from A Raisin in the Sun as she journeys beyond that Chicago living room, from Nigeria to California and 1959 to today.

CAST Clybourne Park Beneatha's Place
Kim James Bey* (n/a) Aunty Fola
Jonathan Crombie* Russ/Dan Peter Nelson/Gary Jacobs
Jessica Frances Dukes* Francine/Lena Beneatha
Charlie Hudson, III* Albert/Kevin Joseph Asagai/Wale Oguns
Beth Hylton* Bev/Kathy Shirley Jones/Harriet Banks
Jacob H Knoll* Jim/Tom/Kenneth Jack L. Brownlee
James Ludwig* Karl/Steve Daniel Barnes/Mark Bond
Jenna Sokolowski* Betsy/Lindsey Mrs. Nelson/Female Student

Laura Smith* Stage Manager
Captain Kate Murphy* Assistant Stage Manager

ARTISTIC TEAM

Derrick Sanders Director
Jack Magaw Scenic Designer
Reggie Ray Costume Designer
Thom Weaver Lighting Designer
Elisheba Ittoop Sound Designer
Greg Bazemore Hair and Wig designer
Gavin Witt Production Dramaturg
Evamarii Johnson Dialect Consultant
Tara Rubin Casting Director

CENTERSTAGE, the State Theater of Maryland, celebrates its 50th Anniversary Season in 2012-13. The professional, nonprofit company serves as a local hub and national leader for provocative, entertaining theater and as a catalyst for conversation in the community. Each year, a broad range of productions in two intimate performance spaces attracts a highly diverse audience of more than 100,000 people-including more than 8,000 fiercely loyal members. Under the leadership of acclaimed playwright, actor, and director Kwame Kwei-Armah (Artistic Director) and national arts leader Stephen Richard (Managing Director), CENTERSTAGE enters its 50th year with a renewed dedication to the production of world-class theater in the heart of Baltimore.