FLEX to Make West Coast Premiere at San Francisco Playhouse

San Francisco Playhouse will present the West Coast Premiere of Candrice Jones' Flex, directed by Bay Area theatre titan and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre artistic director Margo Hall. This action-packed new play set in 1998 spotlights the Lady Train high school basketball team in Plainnole, Arkansas. Following the recent formation of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the players dream of going pro. First, they must face the pressures of being young, Black, and female in the rural South as setbacks on and off the court threaten to break the team apart. Flex will perform March 26 – May 2, 2026  at San Francisco Playhouse.

Developed at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Ground Floor, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of the Arts, and National New Play Network's National Showcase of New Plays, Flex made its New York premiere at Lincoln Center Theater. The New York Times gave the show a Critic's Pick, calling it “a slam-dunk. Jones excels equally in sly humor and in the swift-tongued rhythms of teenage and athletic talk.” The Daily Beast said, “the whooping, sighing, applause and interactions of the audience make clear how sharply the play hits home.” The New York Sun proclaimed it “as charming a portrait of female camaraderie as you're likely to see in a theater anytime soon. Poignant and humorous, Flex is infused with such a generous, buoyant spirit, you can't help being uplifted by it.”

Director Hall helms a talented cast for this production. Seen in Barbecue and The Story, Halili Knox (she/her) returns to the Playhouse as Coach Francine Pace. She reprises her role from the World Premiere at TheatreSquared, Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of the Arts, and Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center. She serves as Associate Artist and Board Member at Oakland Theater Project, where she was nominated for a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC) Award for her performance in A Thousand Ships. She has also appeared onstage at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Aurora Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre.

Seen in Fat Ham, Courtney Gabrielle Williams (she/her) returns as Donna. She has also performed with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Shotgun Players, and Aurora Theatre company as well as New York's Clubbed Thumb, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Rivendell Theater. Her film and T.V. credits include Starz's “Blindspotting,” Fox's “Empire,” Netflix's “Soundtrack,” and NBC's “Chicago Med.”

Santeon Brown (she/her) makes her Playhouse debut as Starra, the ambitious team captain. Seen across film and television, Brown's credits include Comedy Central's “Idiotsitter” and By the Grape of God.

Paige Mayes (she/her) makes her Playhouse debut as Sidney, a recent transplant from Oakland, California and a skilled shooting guard. She has acted with American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre, Aurora Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, and African-American Shakespeare Company.

Emma Gardner (she/her) makes her Playhouse debut as Cherise, a strong power forward. She has acted with African-American Shakespeare Company and Ross Valley Players as well as a staged reading with Word for Word.

Camille Collaço (she/her) makes her Playhouse debut as April, a fearless shooting guard. She has performed with African-American Shakespeare Company, SFBATCO, and 5th Avenue Theatre. She also participated in staged readings with Bay Area Playwrights Foundation, Magic Theatre, 3Girls Theatre, and SFBATCO.

Flex features direction by Margo Hall, assistant direction by Devin A. Cunningham, scenic design by Bill English with associate scenic designer Kiki Hood, lighting design by Ray Oppenheimer, costume design by Jasmine Milan Williams, sound design by Ray Archie, properties design by Amy Benjamin, and intimacy coordination by Jeunée Simon. Emmanuel Blackwell is basketball consultant.