FANCY MAIDS to Return to the Stage in New Production at Walkerspace

The award-winning stage play, Fancy Maids will return to the stage this August. After being honored with "Outstanding Play" at Ken Davenport's Rave Theater Festival, a new and expanded version of the play will premier at SoHo Rep's Walkerspace, with a run from August 9th through the 13th. Tickets can be bought HERE.

Fancy Maids follows Idabelle, a young woman who narrowly escaped the horrors of slavery, only to discover that the Fugitive Slave Act has made it impossible for her to find honest work in the North. Left with no choice, she joins the women of Pinky's Pleasure House, where she is confronted by a wealthy Southern-planter who finds the women-run business disturbing. After an intense altercation in the privacy of her room, Idabelle and the women are faced with a life-or-death dilemma that tests their morality and questions the value of revenge.

The production stars Caitlyn Joi (IDABELLE), Chinara Stroman (QUENNIE), Danyele Yvonne James (LOUELLA), Rayna Johnson (TWEET), and Lauren Lattimore (PINKY) as the women of Pinky's Pleasure House. The cast is completed by Reed Pike (WILLIAM), Will Sanders (RICHARD), and Eric Parness (AUCTIONEER/MAN). The show is led by Harold Hodge, Jr as the director, with Karnae Jackson and Latrece Hopkins stage managing.

"I think Fancy Maids is relevant now more than ever," Chinara Stroman, who originated the role of Queenie in 2018, said when asked about the show's return. "Especially when looking at our current social and political climate, the lack of agency and rights to our own bodies as women. The importance of sisterhood, womanhood, and solidarity is a constant theme in this show as it is what holds the ladies who work at Pinky's together, and if there is anything that we need right now as women in order to take back our human rights, in real life, in real-time, it's that."

Reed Pike, who is reprising his role as William, added, "The power dynamics and racial relations explored in this play, while taking place nearly 200 years ago, remain prevalent in today's society. Performative activism, bodily autonomy, and fetishization are also themes that, when examined through this pre-Civil War lens, become more apparent and recognizable in the modern world."

Performances are slated for: August 9th at 7:30 PM, August 10th at 7:30 PM, August 11th at 7:30 PM, August 12th at 3:00 PM, August 12th at 7:30 PM, August 13th at 3:00 PM, and August 13th at 7:30 PM.

When asked what audiences can expect from the show, Chinara stated, "Despite its relatively "heavy" topics, the humor and comedic relief that Harold has written in the play creates such a great balance, and happen to be some of my favorite moments in the play."

"I hope audience members see this show and are challenged to imagine themselves forced to make the types of decisions the characters have to," Reed added. "I hope they ask themselves whether they could or would overcome or succumb to their own inherent biases in such decisive moments."

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