BLOOMING IN DRY SEASON Will Come to WP Theater

A weathered rum shop in Grenada becomes the crucible for love, regret, and hard choices in "Blooming in Dry Season," a lyrical new play by Eljon Wardally making its New York premiere May 28 to June 28 at WP Theater, 2162 Broadway (at 76th Street), presented by Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre in partnership with North Carolina Black Repertory Company. Directed by Jackie Alexander, the production follows a struggling former Calypsonian, his steadfast wife, and their gifted teenage daughter as they clash over whether to chase opportunity abroad or remain rooted at home. Featuring an original score by acclaimed Trinidadian musician Etienne Charles, the play blends music and drama to explore generational dreams, cultural inheritance, and the cost of holding on--or letting go.

Fitz, a failed Calypsonian, faces losing everything when he and his devoted wife, Rose, butt heads over the path in life of their 16 year-old daughter, Garland. A gifted steel pan player, Garland has been offered the opportunity to tour with the most famous Calypso group in the Caribbean, but Fitz fears the outcome will repeat his own disappointments in life. As tensions grow and secrets are revealed, the family struggles to mend broken dreams and find their lost harmony.

What unfolds is not just a family conflict, but a generational reckoning that asks: What does it mean to choose duty over self? To stay? To leave? To bloom in a place that has never allowed it? Lyrical, intimate, and rooted in Caribbean culture, the play explores legacy, and liberation, and wonders: What do we owe the next generation when our own dreams have withered?

The production features original Calypso music by Trinidadian musician Etienne Charles, a Guggenheim Fellow and Creative Capital Awardee recipient. He received France's Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) Medal in November, 2024. 

The actors are (alphabetically) Nikyla Boxley as Garland, Melanie Matthews as Rose and Brian Richardson as Fitz. Scenic design is by Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay. Lighting design is by Antoinette Tynes. Costume design is by Gregory J. Horton. Sound design is by Lee Martinez Cruz. Dialect Coach is Robin Christian-McNair. Props Master is John Virgo. Dramaturg is Melissa Joyner. Production Stage Manager is Bayo.

Nikyla Boxley learned to play the steel pan, a pitched percussion instrument created from oil drums, for the role of Garland.

"Blooming in Dry Season" is winner of the Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling World Premiere Award, which facilitates "rolling world premieres" for plays of distinction at regional Black theaters. The award was created to discover and develop new Black theater classics while promoting collaboration between Black theater companies across the country, enabling them to share a play's debut by producing it successively. The "rolling premiere" of "Blooming in Dry Season" combines three productions: at North Carolina Black Repertory Company in Winston-Salem (August 1-10, 2025), at New Federal Theatre in NYC (May 28-June 28, 2026) and at the 2026 International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem (July 27-August 1, 2026). Previous recipients of the award include "Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou" by Angelica Cheri and "Coconut Cake" by Melda Beaty.

Playwright Eljon Wardally is an award-winning Grenadian Italian-American playwright, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work centers underrepresented voices, identity, trauma, and the complexities of family and cultural inheritance. Born in New York with Grenadian roots, she is a graduate of Clark University and received her MFA in Playwriting from Fordham University/Primary Stages as part of its inaugural class. Her artistic path shifted decisively toward writing after a stroke prompted her to pursue storytelling with renewed urgency and focus.

Wardally's theater work has been widely developed and recognized in major new play incubators, including multiple National O'Neill Theater Conference finalist selections. Her plays also include "By A Thread," "Big Black Balloon," "Bishop" and "I Am…a Shepherdess." Her writing often blends realism with dark comedy and lyrical theatricality, exploring themes such as body image, war, diaspora experience, mental health, and the resilience of family bonds. In film and digital media, Wardally is known for her award-winning web series "Docket 32357," which earned audience and jury recognition on the festival circuit, and "America in Noir," a short film she wrote and produced that was featured in Vanity Fair. Wardally also works in television and commercial storytelling, bringing a cinematic sensibility to her dramatic work. Her MLB-produced video, “Play, Run, Win, Rise," narrated by Leslie Odom Jr., recounts Jackie Robinson's legacy as a trailblazing bigleaguer, social justice advocate, civil rights icon and pioneer in business and broadcasting. She wrote the narrative for Etienne Charles' "San Juan Hill: A New York Story," an immersive multimedia concert visiting the neighborhood of Lincoln Center and its indigenous and immigrant communities before the arts complex was built there. It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic to open David Geffen Hall in 2022.

Director Jackie Alexander is former Artistic Director of The Billie Holiday Theatre in New York, current Producing Artistic Director of The North Carolina Black Repertory Company, and Executive Producer of the International Black Theatre Festival. He is an award-winning actor, writer, producer, director and author of six plays. His stage directing credits include his own play, "Brothers from the Bottom" (AUDELCO award for Best Play), "Jelly's Last Jam" (New Orleans' Big Easy Award Winner for Best Musical),  "Ragtime" at Piedmont Opera, and world premieres of "Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou," "Freedom Summer" and "Maid's Door" (Seven AUDELCO awards including Best Play). His debut novel,"Our Daily Bread," was published by Turner Publishing. His debut feature film, "Joy," was awarded Best Feature Film by the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and earned Best Actor and Best Screenplay honors on the festival circuit.