Mixed Blood Theater Presents A COOL DRINK A WATER 9/17-10/10

Mixed Blood Theatre opens its 35th season on September 17 with the regional premiere of A COOL DRINK A WATER by Broadway-bound playwright Thomas W. Jones II, who also stars in the comedy. The critically acclaimed play, in only its second production after a successful 2009 debut in Atlanta, runs at Mixed Blood, 1501 S. 4th St., through October 10.

Playwright Jones borrows a title from Maya Angelou ("Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die") and the characters from A Raisin in the Sun, transporting them into a smart, contemporary comedy that spans generations, classes and continents. From 21st Century feminism and a disillusioned return to Africa to aspirations of hip-hop stardom and surprising struggles with affluence, comic banter flies fast in this provocative and funny update to a classic story.

Frequent Mixed Blood collaborator Marion McClinton directs A COOL DRINK A WATER and teams up again with Jones and Regina Marie Williams, with whom he worked in Mixed Blood's Yellowman for the Guthrie's Dowling Studio Theatre 2006 opening. (Jones received an Ivey Award for that performance.) The cast also features Ansa Akyea (from last season's The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity); U of M/Guthrie BFA student Nathan Barlow; film, Broadway and regional theatre veteran Isabell Monk O'Connor, and Ivey Award winner Sonja Parks in her Mixed Blood debut.

"A COOL DRINK A WATER is that rare find for which artistic directors perpetually hunt - a new play that is simultaneously hilarious, touching, substantive, universal and specific, that can attract the finest talent in the land, and that embodies the vision and mission of the home theatre," says Mixed Blood Artistic Director Jack Reuler.

A COOL DRINK A WATER premiered at Atlanta's Horizon Theatre in 2009. Mixed Blood and Horizon are colleagues in the National New Play Network, an alliance of theatres focused on the development, production, and proliferation of new work.

A preview of A COOL DRINK A WATER will be held Thursday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m.; the show opens Friday, September 17 at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with 3:00 p.m. matinees on Sundays. All performances are at Mixed Blood's historic firehouse theatre at 1501 S. 4th St., Minneapolis. Tickets are $10-$28 (with opening night at $15). Groups, senior and student prices are offered. Tickets are available at 612-338-6131 or online www.mixedblood.com.