Clayton Pelham News

Signature Theatre has announced the cast for Light, the final of four readings in its 2020/21 SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Reading Series. Now in its fifth year, the SigWorks: Monday Night New Play Reading Series has moved to an entirely digital format.

Playwright Marco Ramirez's The Royale at 1st Stage is a rare and thought-provoking theatre experience.

Jay a?oeThe Sporta?? Jackson dreams of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, but in the racially segregated world of boxing in 1905, the odds are stacked against him. When a crooked boxing promoter hatches a plan for a?oethe fight of the century,a?? a?oeThe Sporta?? might land a place in the ring with the reigning white heavyweight champion. Inspired by the real-life experiences of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight world champion, The Royale is an a?oearresting productiona??.a stylized blow by blow of a fight that still rages today.a?? (The Washington Post).

Director Paige Hernandez does a masterful job in a play about boxing and racism.

Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage's co-production of The Royale by Marco Ramirez and directed by Paige Hernandez begins its delayed run on Wednesday, October 2 at 1:45pm. The original first week of performances were cancelled when the actor had to withdraw for medical reasons just prior to the first scheduled performance.

Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage combine forces to co-produce the first show of the 2019 - 20 Season in the Olney Theatre's Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab: The Royale by Marco Ramirez, directed and choreographed by Paige Hernandez. Inspired by the story of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion boxer, the New York Times praised Ramirez's play that a?oeboldly takes on and reorients a familiar genre and a familiar tale.a?? The area premiere runs at Olney Theatre Center September 25 - October 27, 2019 with Invited Press Night on Saturday, September 28 at 7:45pm. The production, with the same actors and set, moves to 1st Stage for a run January 30 - February 23, 2020

Mosaic Theater Company of DC launches its 5th season this month with the DC premiere of Lynn Nottage's Fabulation, Or The Re-Education of Undine, previewing August 21 (see our August 1 Fabulation press release for opening night information, and our March 29 a?oe#Wokeseason5a?? release for full season line-up), exactly one month after the close of the most successful show in Mosaic's history, the co-production of Kelvin Roston Jr.'s Twisted Melodies, which sold out its last week of performances, playing to record crowds and box office, providing the capstone to a season of transformative artistic and fundraising achievements. 

'Native Son' is a heavy drama with an important story to tell. But what makes this production really shine is Psalmayene 24's guiding emphasis on "radicalizing empathy." In Mosaic Theater Company's production, the audience isn't asked to excuse Bigger, but to try to understand him. That understanding, that empathy, it's suggested, can go a long way in ensuring that the circumstances surrounding Bigger's story can maybe be kept in the past.

Richard Wright's iconic novel, Native Son,  streamlined into a blazing 90 minute adaptation by actor/playwright Nambi E. Kelley, will run in repertory with Les Deux Noirs: Notes on Notes of A Native Son, inspired by James Baldwin's blistening critique of Wright's controversial work. Award-winning director and playwright Psalmayene 24's stages the innovative take on Wright's masterpiece while authoring a modern reimagining of Wright's real-life meeting with Baldwin in 1953 Paris.

From the co-creator of the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight comes a profoundly compelling story of family, devotion, and belonging. Deep in the Louisiana bayou, the hardworking and steady, Ogun Size, is reunited with his aimless younger brother recently released from prison. Flights of poetry, music, and West African mythology combine in a one-of-a-kind experience that delivers "the greatest piece of writing by an American playwright under 30 in a generation or more" (The Chicago Tribune).

Hero's Welcome weaves a twisted and darkly comedic tale of relationships shaped by love, redemption, jealously, and deceit. When Murray, a war hero, returns to his home town after 17 years away he hopes to settle down with his new wife and refurbish his family's old hotel

There's nothing quite like a British dark comedy to usher in the unofficial start of autumn. The poignant regional premiere of HERO'S WELCOME at 1st Stage in Tysons fits the bill, with its undercurrent of personal drama that quickly rises to the surface, engulfing a town in figurative flames that could turn literal at any moment.

The nominees for the 2018 Helen Hayes Awards were announced on February 5, 2018. One of the country's most prestigious cultural honors, The Helen Hayes Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington metropolitan area. The National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery set the scene for the announcement of nominees in 47 categories for artistic excellence, and the theatre companies eligible for the 2017 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company. The recipient of the 2018 Helen Hayes Tribute will be announced shortly.

Back by popular demand (and just in time) WORD BECOMES FLESH is theatre worth doing more than thinking about. This encore presentation written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph with additional dramaturgical compositions by Khalil Anthony and Dahlak Brathwaite and directed by Psalmayene 24 is an arresting composition of dance, hip-hop, music, and spoken word performed by an indefatigable five man ensemble. Louis E. Davis, Chris Lane, Clayton Pelham Jr., Gary L. Perkins III, and Justin Weaks, with nary a weak link among them, move with one heartbeat as they perform a series of letters from a young black man to his unborn son and explore what it means to grow up black in the 21st century. Sneakers squeak, sweat drips, music blares, voices reverberate around every corner of the intimate theatre. It's clear a rebellion is taking shape.

Important content and several exceptional performances outweigh 1st Stage's flawed production of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. 

From the extraordinary mind of Pultizer, Tony, and Academy Award recognized playwright August Wilson comes one of America's most renowned stories of race and music. Inspired by the real life of legendary blues singer, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a powerful installment in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning Century Cycle- 10 illustrious plays that explore the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century.

BroadwayWorld has a full list of the Helen Hayes Awards winners updating LIVE below! Named for actor Helen Hayes - a Washington native and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre - the Helen Hayes Awards celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region and has become a hallmark recognized by theatre makers and theatre lovers far beyond Washington D.C.

From the extraordinary mind of Pultizer, Tony, and Academy Award recognized playwright, August Wilson comes one of America's most renowned stories of race and music. Inspired by the real life of legendary blues singer, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a powerful installment in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize winning Century Cycle- 10 illustrious plays that explore the African-American experience in each decade of the 20th century.

The 2017 Helen Hayes Award nominations were announced tonight. A line-up of leading theatre artists announced nominations in 47 categories of artistic excellence. Award recipients will be announced at the Helen Hayes Awards gala event to be held at the Lincoln Theatre on Monday, May 15 with an after-party hosted at Washington's legendary 9:30 Club.