Cast is Set for HEAD OF PASSES at the Taper

Center Theatre Group has announced the cast for "Head of Passes" by Oscar winner and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney. Directed by Tina Landau and featuring Tony winner Phylicia Rashad, "Head of Passes" begins previews September 13, opens September 24 and continues through October 22, 2017, at the Mark Taper Forum.

Joining the previously announced Rashad, the cast includes, in alphabetical order, Alana Arenas, Francois Battiste, Kyle Beltran, J. Bernard Calloway, James Carpenter, John Earl Jelks and Jacqueline Williams.

The creative team includes scenic design by G.W. Mercier, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jeff Croiter and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen. The production stage manager is David S. Franklin.

Family and friends are gathering to celebrate Shelah's (Rashad) birthday under the leaky roof of her home at the mouth of the Mississippi River. But an unwanted birthday party and unrelenting rains are only the first challenges in this contemporary parable inspired by the Book of Job in which unexpected events turn the reunion into the ultimate test of faith and love. As her world seems to collapse around her, Shelah must fight to survive the rising flood of life's greatest challenges in this poetic and piercing new play.