FIM Flint Repertory Theatre will present the world premiere production of A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, March 14 - 30 at FIM Elgood Theatre.
Developed in Flint Rep’s 2023 New Works Festival, A Driving Beat follows Mateo, a 14-year-old boy with brown skin, and Diane, his white adoptive mother, on a road trip from their home in Ohio to his birthplace in San Diego. Throughout the journey, they are forced to reconcile their differing identities and what it means to be a family.
“We’re thrilled to bring A Driving Beat to life on our stage for its world premiere production,” says Nicole Samsel, Flint Rep Interim Artistic Director and Managing Director. “This is a piece, and a playwright, we have been in love with for years. Jordan’s play is an exciting and heartfelt exploration of what makes us who we are. The reading was a crowd favorite at our 2023 New Works Festival, and we can’t wait to share the full production with our audience this March.”
A Driving Beat is directed by Courtney Burkett. The cast includes Dani Cochrane, Mikee Loria and Clara Tristan. The world premiere play features scenic design by Shane Cinal, costume design by Marley Boone, lighting design by Chelsie McPhilimy, sound design by Taylor J. Williams, projection design by Alison Dobbins, props design by Leslie Hull, and is stage managed by Melissa A. Nathan.
Jordan Ramirez Puckett (Playwright) is a Chicanx writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. Their other plays include A Sapphic Family Christmas, Transitional Love Stories, Untitled Dad Play, Huelga, En Las Sombras, To Saints and Stars, Las Pajaritas, Restore and Inevitable. These works have been produced and/or developed by Abingdon Theatre Company, Creede Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Intar Theatre, New Harmony Project, Playwrights Realm, San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, and TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, among others. Ramirez was named a finalist for the prestigious Yale Drama Series Prize and is a 2024 graduate of the Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. They are a current fellow of WP Theatre’s Lab.
Courtney Burkett (Director) is a founder and member of the artistic leadership team at Detroit Public Theatre, where she regularly directs productions (Clydes, DPT Holiday Cabaret, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Murder Ballad, Cry It Out, American Here, Marie and Rosetta). In her role as producing artistic director, she oversees production and marketing. Prior to co-founding DPT, Burkett was the director of theatre programs with Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, directing the internationally acclaimed Mosaic Acting Company. Burkett was a founding artistic partner with Breathe Art Theatre Project and also served as managing director of the CRLT Players at the University of Michigan, and as business manager for the University of Detroit Mercy Theatre Company. Burkett is a fourth-generation native Detroiter. She holds a BFA from Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts in St. Louis, and an MFA from Wayne State University’s Hilberry Theatre program.
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