KUDZU CALLING Comes to Alabama Shakespeare Festival

Alabama Shakespeare Festival will present Kudzu Calling, written by Donnetta Lavinia Grays and directed by Kevin R. Free, May 29 – June 8, 2025, on the Octagon Stage. This world premiere, commissioned and produced by Alabama Shakespeare Festival, was six years in the making.

Playwright Donnetta Lavinia Grays recalls ASF's 2018 “State of the South Tour,” when the theatre invited playwrights to travel together from New Orleans to Nashville. Grays explained that their goal was “to ask communities ‘What is the South? Where is the South? Who is the South?'”

“That last question became central to this play,” Grays said. “Black, queer, and faith-filled...my body doesn't easily conform to what one might associate with a typical Southerner. But this is my home. It is the place that built me. All of me. And I love it. Even if it doesn't always love me back. Who is the South? I am.”

Kudzu Calling is an interweaving of poems and moments that seeks to expand and complicate the Southern narrative — a celebration of Black Southern love, queerness, playfulness, culture, and spirituality. It is the playwright's love letter to the place that made her. This piece includes lyric poetry and prose that explores LGBT+ themes and tropes, Southern culture, and spirituality. It is recommended only for mature audiences. For detailed content information, visit ASF's Show Guidelines at asf.net/show-guidelines.

Birmingham native Kanoa Sims joins the cast as Wanderer, fresh from playing Gertrude in ASF's Hamlet. Sims performed on Broadway in for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf. Aisha de Haas, known for Broadway's Bring in da Noise, Bring In da Funk with Savion Glover; RENT; and Caroline, Or Change, portrays Oak. Terrence Williams, Jr., who made his Off-Broadway debut in Titaníque, takes on the role of Pine.

Three actors make their ASF debuts with Kudzu Calling: actor/singer, writer, teacher, director, and international award-winning choreographer Terrance Henderson in the role of Dogwood; Nafeesa Monroe, who originated the role of Wiletta in the first professional Canadian production of Alice Childress' Trouble in Mind at the Shaw Festival, as Magnolia; and Achille Vann Ricca, who recently performed as Touchstone in As You Like It with Amoeba Productions, as Weeping Willow.

The Production Team bringing the show to life includes Set Designer Riw Rakkulchon, Costume Designer Ramona Ward, Sound Designer DJ Potts, Lighting Designer Kathy A. Perkins, Projections Designer Edward T. Morris, Stage Manager Lisa R. Stafford, and Production Assistant Kitt Williams.