SUGAR IN OUR WOUNDS Gets Virginia Premiere At RTP

Richmond Triangle Players continues its spring season with the Virginia premiere of Donja R. Love's acclaimed new play Sugar in Our Wounds, opening Friday April 3, 2020, at 8 pm, following two low-priced previews on Wednesday and Thursday, April 1 & 2, at 8 pm. The production, underwritten by Sharon Larkins-Pederson in honor of her husband Edson Pederson's birthday and their 20th wedding anniversary, will run through April 25.

On a southern plantation during the Civil War, a mystical tree stretches toward heaven. It protects James, a young slave, while he reads newspapers about the imminent possibility of freedom, as the battle rages on. When a brooding stranger arrives, James and his makeshift family take the man in. Soon, an unexpected bond leads to a striking romance, and everyone is in uncharted territory. But is love powerful enough to set your true self free?

This lyrical and lushly realized play is part of poet, filmmaker and playwright Donja R. Love's exploration of LGBTQ love at pivotal moments in Black history, and was the recipient of the 2018 prestigious Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award. Love is an Afro-Queer playwright, poet, and filmmaker. He's the 2017 Princess Grace Fellow, a Eugene O' Neill 2017 National Playwrights Conference finalist, The Lark's 2016 Van Lier New Voices Playwriting Fellow, The Playwrights Realm's 2016-2017 Writing Fellow, and the 2016 Arch and Bruce Brown Playwriting Award recipient. His work has been developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, Rising Circle Theatre, The Lark, and The Playwrights Realm. He's the co-founder of The Each-Other Project, an organization that helps build community and provide visibility, through art and advocacy, for LGBTQ People of Color.

Jamar Jones, who appeared in RTP's production of Choir Boy, and won the 2019 Richmond Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in TheatreLAB's An Octoroon, plays the role of James. Making their RTP debuts are Tevin Davis as the mysterious stranger Henry, Dee Miller as Aunt Mama, and Amari Samya Cummings as Mattie. RTP favorite Louise Keeton (Perfect Arrangement and It Shoulda Been You) returns in the pivotal role of Isabel.

RTP's production is directed by Keith Byron Kirk, director of graduate studies at TheatreVCU. Scenic Design is by Mercedes Schaum, Costume Design by Ruth Hedberg, Lighting Design by Michael Jarett, and Sound Design by Jordan Stroud. Amy Almond is the Production Stage Manager.

Sugar in Our Wounds opens Friday April 3, 2020, at 8 pm, following two low-priced previews on Wednesday and Thursday, April 1 & 2, at 8 pm. Performances run Thurs-Sat Eves at 8 pm through April 25; Sunday matinees at 4 pm on April 12 and 19; and Wednesday at 8 pm on April 22. Tickets are $30-35 ($18 for the previews; $10 for students, always, and discounts for groups of 10 or more). .

All performances will take place at Richmond Triangle Players' home at the Robert B. Moss Theatre at 1300 Altamont Avenue in Scott's Addition, just northwest of the intersection of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and West Broad Street. Reserved seat tickets can be purchased online at RTP's web site at www.rtriangle.org, through RTP's Facebook page, or by leaving a message on the RTP Ticket hotline at 804-346-8113.