Interview: Tony Award Winner Trezana Beverley Talks World Premiere of Lorene Cary's LADYSITTING at Arden Theatre

Philadelphia's Arden Theatre Company is currently presenting the world premiere of Lorene Cary's Ladysitting, now running through March 3, 2024. Directed by Zuhairah McGill, the play is based on Cary's 2019 memoir of the same name.

A touching, funny, tumultous, and human story, Ladysitting chronicles the last year of Lorene Cary's grandmother's life, as Lorene and other family members balance Nana Jackson's care with their own lives and responsibilities. 

The production stars Tony Award winner Trezana Beverley along with Melanye Finister, David Ingram, Brian Anthony Wilson, and Monet Debose.  

BroadwayWorld spoke with Trezana Beverly about what audiences can expect from this new play, and much more! 

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You are starring in the world premeire of Ladysitting at the Arden Theatre. How does it feel to be a part of a world premiere play, putting new work onto the stage?

It’s always a great honor when you have the opportunity to create an original role, because my creative stamp will be on that role. And then it’s for others to create the role of Nana, but I’m going to be the first actor to do it. So, that’s always a great honor, especially with a world premiere.

Can you tease for us what Ladysitting is about? What can audiences expect to see with this show?

Absolutely! It is a tribute to the playwright and her grandmother who she took care of before she passed away. It is the story of the journey of her and her grandmother at that stage in her grandmother’s life. What is really special about this play is that even though you are watching an individual progress onto the hereafter, it’s full of humor, and you do delight in the characters, and that is a beautiful thing. Because when you’re dealing with issues of death and such, those are not very happy issues, but we bring a lot of joy and humor to this play, and I think that makes it extremely palatable.

Can you tell me about the character that you play, Nana Jackson? Do you feel like you relate to this character, and connect to her?

Ironically, my grandmother was named Nana, and she was a matriarch, she ruled the roost! And this lady did as well. She was a businesswoman, she had a lot of power, she was self-sufficient, she took care of herself, she took care of the family after her father passed away, and she’s a very bold lady. She has a very dry sense of humor, she’s quite lovable, and she’s very irascible at the same time. A very complex lady.

How has it been working with this cast and creative team to bring Ladysitting to the stage?

Wonderful! It’s a wonderful company of people, they’re very kind, very generous people. It’s a small cast, it’s not a large cast. There’s of course my ‘granddaughter’ Lorene, and the play really is sort of a tete a tete between the two, her struggles, Lorene’s struggles with taking care of this very irascible woman in her later years. Then you have Lorene’s husband, her 15 year old daughter, and you have the very real character of death in the play, it’s really played by an actor, you see death passing through the play. So he’s really onstage.

Have you ever worked in Philly before?

I was the original Lady in Red in the Broadway production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, and in the road tour we came to Philadelphia. That was a very long time ago! I am also a writer, and I wrote a one-woman show entitled The Spirit Moves, and would you know that the Wilma Theater was one of the first theaters that I did my one-woman show in. I remember it like it was yesterday, and I was very young at the time. 

What do you hope that audiences take away from this show?

Well, you know, given this particular period in history, a lot of people are now beginning to take care of their parents, and I think this play is going to be so relatable, people will come and see it and they’re going to see themselves. They’re going to see the struggles and the dilemmas that they’re caught up in, taking care of an elder, and hopefully have a few laughs at the same time. Because I tell you, the characters are really adorable, and they really draw you into the play, and I think that’s very important with a play like this. People are really going to relate to this. It has a lot of elements. Along with its pathos, it has a lot of joy and humor, it’s a very interesting play, a very layered play, emotionally.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

I’ve been enjoying the process, working with Zuhairah [McGill], enjoying this company of people, they’ve been incredibly kind and generous in the process, and I very much appreciate that, that’s been a real joy.

 

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