American Bard Theater Company Presents the NYC Premiere of YOU WOULDN'T EXPECT

American Bard Theater Company presents the New York City premiere of You Wouldn't Expect, a play written by Marilynn Barner Anselmi examining the staggering truths about the coercive influence of the government-sponsored eugenics program and its direct focus on poverty and race. Cezar Williams directs a cast of eight, including Cherie Danielle, Adiagha Faizah, Carl Fisk, Erin Gilbreth*, Ross G. Hewitt, Malikha Mallette, Okema T Moore*, and Atiya Yanique Taylor. Fifteen performances will be staged at The Chain Theater, 312 West 36th Street in New York City, from September 19-October 7, 2018.

You Wouldn't Expect unfolds at a local Eugenics office in 1960's North Carolina where we see the cat-and-mouse workings of the two women who work there. Here, four African-American woman are pressured to be sterilized, part of a racist practice sanctioned by our government for over a decade. We are also brought to the squalid shack of a pedophile father angling to get his daughter "fixed" so that he won't have to deal with outcome of his actions, the offspring. The North Carolina Board enabled county departments of public welfare to petition the Board to sterilize their clients. The majority of these sterilizations were coerced, and academic sources have observed that this was not only an ableist and classist project but also a racist one. Of the 7,686 people who were sterilized in North Carolina after 1933, 5,000 were Black. The Board remained in operation until 1977.

Tickets are $10 for previews, $25 for general admission, and $20 for seniors and students. Visit https://www.americanbard.org/.

You Wouldn't Expect is produced by American Bard Theater Company. Costume Design: DeShon Elem; Costume Assistant: Ty Anderson; Sound Design: Caroline Eng; Lighting & Projection Design: Elizabeth Mak; Set Design: Jamie Larson; Prop Master: Liana Jackson; Production Stage Manager: Belynda Hardin; Graphic Designer: Samantha Hewitt; Marketing: Lily Warpinski; Box Office Manager: Cheri Wicks.

Notes from the playwright, Marilynn Barner Anselmi:
I didn't know anyone touched by the horror of eugenics; however, after learning of it, it haunted me. So I researched the topic and met many of the victims (in print and in person)-and the characters in You Wouldn't Expect stepped out of this shameful (and largely unrecorded) chapter in our nation's history. To date YWE has been performed around the country and the short film version has been around the world. Theatrical performances include: The National Black Theatre Conference, The DC Black Theatre Festival, The August Wilson Center, and several universities including North Carolina State University, University of NC Pembroke, Barton College, NC Wesleyan College and Wellesley College. This is the NYC premiere.

Cezar Williams (director) - Recent credits include the Off-Broadway premiere of Dancing on Eggshells (Billie Holiday Theatre), Crowndation: I Will Not Lie to David (National Black Theatre), The Hunting Season (Planet Connections Festivity), How To Be Safe (The Dirty Blondes in rep at the Kraine Theater), directing all seven short plays in the 8th Annual (The Fire This Time Festival), Free Will (The Arthur Seelen Theatre), Ghost Town and Tailypo (Detroit NY Festival), Lunchtime in Heaven (48 hours in Harlem), Nightfall and Slow Gin Fits (The Fire This Time Festival 2013 & 2014). He has worked at venues including The Actor's Studio, Williamstown Theater Festival, 59 e.59th Street Theater, La Mama, The Cherry Lane, and the Bleecker Street Theater. Cezar is a graduate of New York University where he was the recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. He is the Artistic Director of the Obie Award-winning Fire This Time Festival and he is the co-founder of Robinson Williams Productions, a theater Production Company based in Yonkers, NY. Cezar Williams is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Meet the Cast

Cherie Danielle, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, is currently based in New York City. In high school, she attended the DeKalb School of the Arts and went on to study acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She has performed numerous plays at a variety of NYC Off-Off Broadway theaters. Her film and television work includes roles in the short films: The Zantcuary, In Black and White, Enganjyani and a co-starring role in Netflix Original film Barry. Her most recent television appearance was on the HBO series The Deuce. She feels honored to have written her own one-woman show, The Diary of an Afro Goddess, in honor of her ancestors. The solo show received an AUDELCO "Viv" Award Nomination for "Outstanding Solo Performance" in 2016. With everything she creates, she hopes to inspire audiences to become the change they want to see in this world.

Adiagha Faizah is a Barrymore award-winning actress, playwright, and vocalist from Brooklyn, NY with formal training through The Negro Ensemble Company, The Barrow Group and Susan Batson Studio. She holds an M.S. in Developmental Psychology from Howard Univ., a B.S. in Psychology from Bennett College For Women and is the Founder of The G.O.O.DLife, a podcast and lifestyle brand. Theatre Credits include Radio Golf, The Exonerated, Crowns, Little Shop of Horrors. Adiagha can currently be seen as "Dr. Simone" on BET's new digital series, "Brooklyn. Blue. Sky." and is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Carl Fisk (Mr. Kinley) is an Actor and Fight Director originally from upstate NY. This is his second production with The American Bard Theater, having acted last year in their production of "Visionary Voices". Carl has appeared as a recurring character on Hulu's "The Path", "Grave Secrets", numerous indie films, and has both acted and fight directed for "Mysteries at the Museum." A consummate student of everything, in his spare time Carl is a personal trainer, writer, history buff, ax throwing instructor, and fighter in the Armored Combat League. For more info and to keep up with his various doings, you're invited to check out his website, CarlOfHouseFisk.com, and his Instagram @CarlOfHouseFisk.

Erin Gilbreth* (Mary Tom Walker) was the founding Managing Director of American Bard Theater Company from 2009 - 2011 and is now so pleased to share the title of Co-Producing Artistic Director with her dear friend, Cheri Wicks. For ABTC, she has played Friar Frances in Much Ado About Nothing, Isabella in Measure for Measure, Helicanus in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Miss Simple in The Case of the Crushed Petunias and Sara in The People. She has also workshopped The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice with Patsy Rodenburg. She has a BA in Theater Arts/Musical Theater from California State University, Fullerton and an MA in Liberal Studies from SUNY Stony Brook. She has served as a teaching artist with Hip to Hip Theater Company, Riverdale Children's Theater, and Lara Teeter's Beyond the Performance workshops.

Ross Hewitt (Richard Banor) is a playwright, director, actor, singer, and arts administrator -- all in his spare time. His play, When October Goes, produced by Ujima Theatre Company, Buffalo, NY, received an ArtVoice Artie Award nomination for Best New Play. His one-act play Booties was part of the 13th NY Fresh Fruit Festival. His jukebox musical/cabaret Rainbows & Ribbons premiered at Don't Tell Mama in 2017. Ross directed the world premiere of Shawn Nacol's The Trophy Wife for Buffalo Ensemble Theatre. Favorite roles include Soundman in The Lady Was a Disc Jockey (Dolly Ellen Friedman), Albany in King Lear, Mistress Overdone/Friar in Measure For Measure, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing (American Bard, founding member), Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare in Delaware Park), Coach/Nurse in Daisy in Disguise (Vital Theatre, Original Cast Recording), Dr. Hubert Bonney in It Runs in the Family (Cortland Repertory Theatre), and Angus in Tuck Everlasting (Lexington Children's Theatre). www.rainbowsandribbons.org

Malikha Mallette (Barbara), a Queens, NY native, is an actress and voiceover artist. Her stage credits included the award-winning NYC Fringe play, Colorblind'd and a revival of David Rabe's In The Boom Room. Her screen credits include work on Daredevil, House of Cards, Law & Order: SVU, Bull, Blindspot and more. A former radio personality on Power 105.1, Malikha's voice can now be heard narrating the TV One crime series Fatal Attraction and in the 20th Century Fox Animated film Epic. She has also voiced over 100 TV and radio commercials. Malikha is a graduate of Spelman College and Maggie Flanigan Studio.

Okema T. Moore* (Temperence Hedgepeth) is an actor, singer, and producer. She has taken her experiences as a youngster in entertainment and been fortunate enough to continue cultivating quite a life of experiences as an adult. Her regional theatrical experience includes DREAMGIRLS (Lorrelle Robinson) under the direction of TONY award winner Ben Harney, and Once Upon a Pastime (Whitey) at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. Okema has several short films on the festival circuit and is in a bevy of web series as well. Her production experience runs the gamut from network TV to indie film and digital series. She also writes and directs from time to time. Okema is elated to reprise her role, for a third time, as Temperance in this amazing play! She is also a proud member of Actor's Equity and SAG-AFTRA. You can find her on social @okematmoore on Twitter and IG and on her website MOOREthanEnuff.com.

Atiya Taylor credits include The Public Theater: Public Works The Tempest, The Winter's Tale, The Odyssey, Emigrants, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park). University Theater: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, The Cherry Orchard. Workshops: UPROOT (HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place). Film/TV: Black Rose (pilot). She thanks her family, friends, and mentors for their support.

*Appears courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

The American Bard Theater Company is a not-for-profit organization serving the Greater New York community. Founded in 2009, our objectives are to produce classical and contemporary plays that connect to our current socio-political climate, to join with our audience in exploring humanity, and to develop a varied network of artists.