Playhouse On The Square Concludes Season With A World Premiere

Playhouse on the Square, in partnership with Marjorie Palazzolo for The HUB Automotive and super sponsor Dr. Thomas Ratliff, is proud to present the World Premiere winner of the 2017 NewWorks@TheWorks playwriting competition. This is the final installation of our 2018-2019 POTS@TheWorks series.

His entire life, Percy Nelson has fought to provide safety and security for his family only to feel as if it is all slipping away when he is diagnosed with a debilitating disease. The Miraculous and the Mundane is the story of a southern African-American family who find their lives turned upside down when the patriarch falls ill, and ties of kinship start to fray.

Making his return to Playhouse on the Square, is Memphis Theatre icon TC Sharpe (The Piano Lesson) as Percy Nelson. Playhouse favorite, Curtis C. Jackson (Cabaret, Tuck Everlasting), takes on the role of Percy's best friend Bones. Percy's children, Chloe and Junior, are played by two talented young artists, Samantha Lynn (The Legend of Georgia McBride, 9 to 5) and Johnathan Underwood (Superior Donuts).

Howard L. Craft is a father, husband, playwright, poet, essayist and arts educator. He is the author of several plays including: Freight: The Five Incarnations of Able Green, Calypso and the Midnight Marauders, Orange Light, and The Jade City Chronicles Volume:1 The Super Spectacular Badass Herald M. F. Jones. He is the creator of the first African-American Super Hero Radio Serial: The Jade City Pharaoh.

Craft is a recipient of the North Carolina Playwriting Fellowship, and a two-time winner of the NCCU New Play Project. As an arts educator, Craft works as a creative writing instructor for Mike Wiley Productions and is the current Piller Professor of the Practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for the Writing for the Stage and Screen Program.

The NewWorks@TheWorks Playwriting Competition provides an outlet for new playwrights

to showcase their work and have a chance to see their play produced on a professional level. Two works are chosen annually to receive a cash prize and fully mounted productions.

Performances will run Thursday - Saturday 8:00 pm curtain and with 2:00 pm curtain on Sunday. Talkbacks will be conducted after Sunday matinee performances.

For tickets, call the Box Office at (901) 726-4656 or visit our website www.playhouseonthesquare.org. Follow with social media using #MandMMemphis. Group rates available.

Special ticket pricing for opening weekend $25. Pay What You Can performance, sponsored by Arts First and the First Tennessee Foundation is July 18th.