Actors Announced for the 12th ANNUAL 48HOURS IN... HARLEM FESTIVAL

The Harlem9 Producers have announced the 18 Actors for the 12th Annual “48Hours in…Harlem”.  The OBIE Award-Winning collective is responsible for “48Hours in…Harlem”, “48Hours in…El Bronx”, “48Hours in…Detroit”, “48Hours in…Dallas,” and “48Hours in…Holy Ground”.  Playwrights were announced in May, directors were announced and tickets went on sale in July. Harlem9 returns to The National Dance Institute, where the 2019 and 2022 festivals were held. 

The 18 actors are Toree Alexandre* (TV: Luke Cage), Murphy Lorenzo Applin Jr., Taylor A. Blackman* (EST/Sloan Commission), Caturah Brown (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), Maya Carter, Kayla Coleman* (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), Brittany Davis, Marchael Giles (TV: Succession), Kara Green, Chris Herbie Holland* (FAT HAM), Gerrard James* (TV: Pillow Talk), Stephen Conrad Moore* (TV: Empire), Christopher B. Portley* (Cleveland Playhouse, African American Repertory Theatre), AhDream Smith* (TV: Life Coach), Cherene Snow* (Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Booker Vance* (TV: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Imani Pearl Williams*(TV: Fleishman is in Trouble), Justin K. Winley (Harlem's Very Own Podcast).

In 2019, the OBIE Award-Winning collective succeeded in gaining a national audience when they produced “48Hours in...El Bronx” with Pregones / PRTT,  “48Hours in...Detroit” with Detroit Public Theatre, “48Hours in...Dallas” with Shades of Brown Theatre, and “48Hours in...Holy Ground” in Winston-Salem at The National Black Theatre Festival in partnership with NC Black Rep.  

The “48Hours in...” festivals bring together 6 playwrights, 6 directors, and 18 actors. The 12th Annual Harlem edition asks playwrights to create ten-minute plays inspired by Black Linguistic Appropriation; words that have been adopted and made its way into mainstream culture: Woke, Karen, Ghosted, Salty, Bougie and Lit. 

A whirlwind weekend of play creation with emerging and established artists will culminate with two live performances on Sunday, August 27, 2023 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM.  Participating artists' details are below. Tickets are now available on www.harlem9.org.  Patrons will be able to purchase for $25 in advance online.   A limited number of tickets will also be available at the 9:30pm show for $30, cash only. The National Dance Institute Center for Learning & the Arts  is located at 217 W. 147th Street between Frederick Douglass Blvd and Adam Clayton Powell Jr, Blvd.

The 6 playwrights are Andrea Ambam (Playwrights Realms' 2023 INK'D Festival), Christin Eve Cato (Sancocho), Julienne Hairston (The Fire This Time Festival), Johnny G. Lloyd (Patience) a.k. Payne (Amani), and M.D. Schaffer (Obsidian Theatre Festival). The 6 directors are Christopher D. Betts (Trouble in Mind - Hartford Stage), Tyrone Davis, Kelly GreenLight, Benton Greene, Ava Novak, and Kirya Traber.  

Since 2011, Harlem9 has commissioned Black playwrights to tell their stories in the annual “48Hours in...Harlem” play festival.  For over a decade, the producers have continued to highlight and uplift writers, directors, and actors at various points in their careers, including Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, Nollywood Dreams, Russian Doll), Brandon Michael Hall (The Mayor, God Friended Me), Dominique Morisseau (Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations, Skeleton Crew), Tonye Patano (Weeds), Tonya Pinkins (Madam Secretary, Gotham), Aurin Squire (Good Fight, Evil), Marcel Spears (The Neighborhood, FAT HAM) and Benja K. Thomas (Bootycandy, FAT HAM).

ABOUT HARLEM9

Harlem9 is a collaborative producing organization composed of a group of Black theater professionals from various backgrounds whose mission is to produce together, exploring the past, present, and future of black culture, celebrating its rich and diverse history of storytelling. Bryan E. Glover, Garlia Cornelia Jones, Eric Lockley, Jonathan McCrory, and Liberation Theatre Company (Sandra A. Daley-Sharif and Spencer Scott Barros) are the producers that comprise Harlem9. For more information, please visit www.harlem9.org

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