LaDarrion Williams' New Play UMOJA Will Receive Staged Reading At Blank Theatre

The Blank Theatre will present a staged reading performance of LaDarrion Williams' new play UMOJA and to be directed by Shelli Boone. The reading will be apart of their anual Living Room Series.

UMOJA is centered around a group of young college students who set out to create their own black excellence group called "UMOJA" on a predominately white Christian college campus. But when it is sidelined with racial tension, these young people must stand up and fight for what they believe in even when they have to deal with some dark secrets of their own.

The reading will feature:
ThurZday Lyons
Shane Liburd
Krenee A. Tolson
Samuel Isaiah Hunter
Phillip McNair
Brian Joe Minor
Jennifer Ashe

DATE:
Monday, January 20th, 2020

TIME: 8PM

ADMISSION:
Suggested Donation - $15 TICKET INFO:

Available online at https://secure.givelively.org/event/blank-theatre-company/living-room-series-umoja
or by calling 323-661-9827.
LOCATION: The Blank's 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Wilcox),
Hollywood, 90038.

ABOUT THE LIVING ROOM SERIES
Now in its 29th year, The Living Room Series is a New Play Development program, which embodies The Blank's commitment to developing new work by diverse voices from both established and emerging writers. Submissions by women, playwrights of color, and other under-represented voices are strongly encouraged. The Blank is firmly committed to supporting gender parity and diversity.

The Living Room Series (LRS) takes place on Monday evenings at the 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood between Labor Day and Memorial Day. LRS offers a week-long rehearsal process for the playwright, director, and actors to explore and refine the play before presenting it to an audience.

The performances are minimally staged, with actors carrying scripts, and are a wonderful opportunity for the playwright to get a sense of the play's full potential.

LaDarrion Williams (Playwright) - LaDarrion Williams Los Angeles based playwright. His first play, Concrete Rose, won first place at the Alabama State Thespian Conference and was performed internationally in 2013. It was self-produced in Dec 2017 at the Moments Playhouse Theatre in Los Angeles. It was also produced at A Noise Within Theatre as apart of their Noise Now Reading Series. It is now an award-winning short film. His play, Broken Memories, has been performed several times nationwide, acquiring several awards and recognition. His adaptation of the best-selling memoir, Feeding A Monster, was directed by award-winning actor and director, Art Evans at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, CA. He was a guest writer for Center Theatre Group's August Wilson Monologue Competition and his play Black Creek Risin' was a part of the 2019 Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. LaDarrion was also awarded the 2019 MacDowell Colony Playwriting Fellowship where he will develop the second installment of his Black Creek Trilogy Plays. In September 2019, his play, Coco Queens, was apart of The Sundance Institute's Playwriting Intensive. He is also a current member of LA's Towne Street Theatre Company where his play Concrete Rose will be making a West Coast Premiere slated for October 2020.

Shelli Boone (Director) is an American actress, most known for portraying Evan Reed in Saints & Sinners. Other notable works include films: Holla, Crossover, Tied Up, Out the Gate and Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story, as well as the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. She appeared also in Grey's Anatomy, season 7 ep. 14. Shelli Boone is currently the Artistic Director of Willie Agee Playhouse.

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