Crowded Fire Theater to Present BLACKADEMICS, 4/9-5/2

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) presents the West Coast Premiere of Blackademics by Idris Goodwin, opening Monday April 13 (previews April 9-11) running through May 2 at the Thick House in San Francisco's Potrero Hill. Directed by CFT's new Artistic Director Mina Morita, Blackademics continues the company's long tradition of producing theater that is intellectually and emotionally challenging. In this funny and forthright production, playwright Idris Goodwin serves up a meal of searing wit, pop-culture humor, and psychological menace in an absurdist take on "post-racial America." "After years of appreciating the edgy and thought-provoking stories that Crowded Fire has brought to the stage, I am thrilled to be a part of the team! I can't think of a better way to start my journey at CFT, than tackling this fierce comedy about fighting for a seat at the cultural table..." remarks director Mina Morita.

In Blackademics two ravenous African-American scholars arrive for their coveted dinner reservation at a select café. But what starts as a celebration, quickly takes a raucous turn. Banter turns to debate, and debate into battle as the women figuratively and literally vie for a seat at the table. "Using the metaphor of having to fight for every item at the dinner table, from a glass of water, to a fork, to a chair, this play offers a scathing and sometimes hilarious journey of reckoning...." states outgoing Artistic Director Marissa Wolf. Chicago critics hailed the world premiere of Blackademics as "80 minutes of verbal and mental gymnastics...provocative...hilarious" and "timely." "Underneath the smart conversations that two lead characters share about race and politics inside of academia, Idris Goodwin offers a deeply complicated, haunting portrait of race and power in America."
CFT Blackademics -add one New play development programming in Crowded Fire's 2015 Season is funded by generous support from the San Francisco Foundation, and the San Francisco Arts Commission.. Crowded Fire gratefully acknowledges general operations funding from Grants for the Arts/SF Hotel Tax Fund and The Kenneth Rainin Foundation

Playwrights and Directors Idris Goodwin (playwright) is an award winning playwright, essayist, and spoken word artist. His How We Got On, developed at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2012 Humana Festival. Nominated for an ATCA Steinberg New Play Award and published by Playscripts, How We Got On continues to enjoy remounts across the country. Other plays include This Is Modern Art (co-written with Kevin Coval for Steppenwolf Theater) And In This Corner: Cassius Clay (StageOne Family Theater.) His upcoming Bars And Measures will world premiere at B Street Theater in Summer 2015. His play The Realness was featured in The Araca Group's New Play Reading Series with American Theatre Company and The Ruth Easton Series with Playwright's Center. He is the recipient of InterAct Theater's 20/20 Commission Award. Goodwin has been a writer in residence at Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Program, The Kennedy Center and New Harmony Project. Goodwin is a Core Writer with The Playwrights' Center. An accomplished poet and essayist, his book These Are The Breaks was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He's performed on HBO, Discovery and Sesame Street.

Mina Morita (director) is the outgoing Artistic Associate at Berkeley Rep and its center for creation and development of new work, The Ground Floor. During her time at Berkeley Rep, Mina has artistically coordinated the Fireworks Festival, directed Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again, and directed a staged reading of The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later. As assistant director there, she has worked with Tony Taccone and Les Waters. In 2012, Mina worked with Anna Deavere Smith as the artistic coordinator for her play, On Grace. As a freelance director, she has worked at Shotgun Players, Just Theatre,TheatreFIRST, Sleepwalkers Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company's Global Age Project, Playwrights' Foundation, Impact Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, and Bay Area Children's Theatre, among others. Christopher Chen's Aulis: An Act of Nihilism in One Long Act will be her inaugural project with UC Berkeley at the Zellerbach Playhouse. Mina also serves as the Board President for Shotgun Players, is one of the original founders of BACT, and recently joined Ferocious Lotus, a new Asian-American theatre company as one of its core company members. Mina holds a degree in directing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, was awarded the Bret C. Harte Fellowship at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, received the National Arts Strategies Future Leadership Fellowship, and participated as a member of the 2014 Lincoln Center Director's Lab.