SUNSET BABY Opens Tonight at Odyssey Theatre

A secret cache of letters brings together a former Black Power leader, his estranged daughter and her drug-dealing boyfriend in a powerful story of family and activism, revolution and estrangement. The West Coast premiere of Dominique Morisseau's explosive, uncensored Sunset Baby opens tonight, April 18 at the Odyssey Theatre.

Nina is a fiercely independent hustler and her boyfriend, Damon, is a thug, but they both are dead set on breaking from this life and finding a way out. When Kenyatta, a former Black Liberation leader and Nina's estranged father, shows up on her doorstep hoping to reunite and reconcile the past, Nina's life plan is thrown askew.

"The play explores the gaps between generations, movements and the effect that absent fathers have on their young daughters," said Morisseau. "That dynamic is so rarely examined on the stage: we usually talk about the effect it has on young black boys, but what about our girls?"

"When Kenyatta reaches out to Nina shortly after her mother's passing, he has high hopes of burying the wounds of the past," she explained. "What he finds instead is a vengeful daughter who embodies everything contrary to the movement he fought in."

Legendary TV director Jeffrey Hayden (Cagney and Lacey, In the Heat of the Night, Route 66, Andy Griffith, Donna Reed) returns to the Odyssey where he previously directed critically acclaimed productions of August Wilson's Fences and an all-black version of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms. Nadège August (Antaeus Company's Wedding Band: A Love Hate Story in Black and White, Desire Under the Elms at the Odyssey, NAACP nomination for Three Sisters After Chekhov at Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble) stars as Nina. Chris Gardner (A Good Soldier at the Odyssey, The America Play at The Theatre @ Boston Court) is Damon, and John Wesley (Stick Fly at the Matrix, The Ballad of Emmett Till at the Goodman Theatre, An American Clock and Wild Oats at the Mark Taper Forum) takes on the role of Kenyatta Shakur.

In his New York Times review of the Labyrinth Theatre production, Ben Brantley called Sunset Baby "a smart and bracing new play about two generations of urban outlaws struggling to stay afloat in the lower depths... Without ever sounding merely expositional on the one hand or dialectical on the other, the conversation covers vast acres of social and political ground. Among the subjects: the parallels between criminal acts in the name of revolutionary change and plain old street crime? the changing and unchanging face of paternal absenteeism? and the toll on trust - and the possibility of love - taken by a culture of survival."

Dominique Morisseau is an award-winning writer and actress. Sunset Baby premiered at the Gate Theatre in London and had its U.S. premiere at Labyrinth Theater Company in New York City. Her play Detroit '67, the first play in a three-play cycle about her hometown of Detroit, was the winner of the 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History. Morisseau is an alumnus of the Public Theater Emerging Writer's Group, the Women's Project Playwrights Lab and Lark Playwrights' Workshop. The Huffington Post calls Morisseau a "direct heir to the magical wordsmiths named Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson."

Set design for Sunset Baby is by Charles Erven; lighting design is by Jeremy Pivnick; costume design is by Mylette Nora; and props design is by Vesna Hoceva. The assistant director is Brenda Hearing, and Ron Sossi and Sally Essex-Lopresti produce for Odyssey Theatre Ensemble.

Performances of Sunset Baby take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., April 18 through June 7, except Sunday, April 19 which will be at 5 p.m. with no 2 p.m. matinee. Additional weeknight performances are scheduled on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on May 6 and May 27; and on Thursdays at 8 p.m. on April 30, May 14, May 21 and June 4. Tickets are $30 on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and $34.99 on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be three pay-what-you-can (minimum $10) performances on Friday, April 24; Wednesday, May 6; and Wednesday, May 27. The third Friday of every month is wine night at the Odyssey: enjoy complimentary wine and snacks and mingle with the cast after the show. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (310) 477-2055 or go to www.OdysseyTheatre.com

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