Philadelphia Premiere of Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet Begins October 17

From the theater that brought you 2012's hit production of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, comes the Philadelphia premiere from the African-American playwright touted as the "next August Wilson," and winner of the 2013 MacArthur "genius grant," Tarell Alvin McCraney. A provocative, poignant, fiercely humorous, and ultimately universal story of a "sweet" young man's journey to discover the "secret" of who he really is and where he really came froM. Days before Hurricane Katrina strikes the projects of Louisiana, the currents of his life converge, overflowing into his close-knit community and bringing three generations of characters, all named after African gods, together.

The stirring conclusion of McCraney's The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy will storm onto Plays & Players' mainstage October 17-November 3. Performances run Wednesday and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm (except Oct. 19), and Sundays at 3pm.

The production is sponsored by The Brothers Network in association with the Knight Arts Challenge funded Henry Box Brown Festival. As producers of the The Henry Box Brown Festival, The Brothers Network, a cultural organization of postmodern men of the African Diaspora, ful?lls its unique mission of blazing a new path for Black men in the Philadelphia region by exploring evolving masculine identities through dialogue, discourse, arts and culture.

Plays & Players begins the 2013-14 season with a new artistic mission, to strive to provide intelligent, inclusive, and diverse plays that engage and entertain Philadelphia audiences. Audiences should expect to see regional and world premieres from under-represented communities in the American stage, and Plays & Players will become a home for local minority theater artists. Through diverse voices will come diverse stories, and each season will pull at a theme that connects to us all. In fact, the San Francisco Chronicle raved of Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet, that it was "an extraordinary event... [it] is an engaging, gently provocative, universal tale. And yes, it's sweet."

The Philadelphia premiere will be directed by Plays & Players' Producing Artistic Director Daniel Student, whose critically acclaimed productions in recent seasons include Joe Turner's Come and Gone, A New Brain, and Take Me Out. The performance stars 2012 University of the Arts graduate Erin Fleming as Marcus. He has previously collaborated with the creators of Passing Strange, Tony nominee Forest McClendon and the legendary Ben Vereen. The performance also sees a return to the Plays & Players' stage of James Tolbert, who played Seth Holly in Joe Turner's Come and Gone. Rounding out the cast is Temple University student Janan Ashton, Andre Brown, Taysha Canales from Flashpoint Theater Company's hit show Slip/Shot, Jaylene Clark Owens an AUDELCO-award winning actress and acclaimed spoken word poet (former first place winner at the acclaimed Apollo Theater Amateur Night), Brett Roman Williams, and Zuhairah McGill, founder/executive artistic director of First World Theatre Ensemble in West Philadelphia.

Performance Information

All performances at Plays & Players Theatre, at 1714 Delancey Place. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door for general admission. Discounted group rates of $15 for groups of 10 or more and student rates of $20 are also available.* Tickets may be purchased online at www.playsandplayers.org or by phone at 800-595-4849.

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