Oakland Theater Project Presents the Bay Area Premiere of IS GOD IS
Performances take place at the Oakland Theater at FLAX art & design (1501 Martin Luther King Jr Way) from March 31—April 23.
A smash hit Off-Broadway in 2018 and a runaway success in London's West End, Aleshea Harris' multi-award-winning play, Is God Is, is finally making its Bay Area debut in an all-new production at Oakland Theater Project. Directed by OTP Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director William Hodgson, this contemporary epic features Rolanda D. Bell and Jamella Cross as two sisters on a mission to avenge their past. Performances take place at the Oakland Theater at FLAX art & design (1501 Martin Luther King Jr Way) from March 31-April 23.
After receiving a letter from a mother they believed was dead, 21-year-old twins Racine and Anaia embark on an odyssey from the Northeast to the Dirty South to The Valley, on a mission to avenge their past. Harris weaves "the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk" (Relentless Award, 2016) in an unforgettable tale of two women seeing justice-and taking control their own narratives.
The cast includes Rolanda D. Bell (Anaia), Jamella Cross (Racine), Tanika Baptiste (Angie / She), Devin Cunningham (Hall / Riley), and Anthony Rollins-Mullens (Scotch / Man).
Is violence justified in response to brutality? John Wayne. Pam Grier. Medea. The vengeful fantasy is very human. This play asks: without seeing retribution as righteous, can we even bring ourselves to actualize equality in this imperfect world?
"Is God Is is a powerful piece of theater. Without even seeing it staged, it terrified me at first read," said OTP Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director William Hodgson. "At its heart is a violent act against black women. But what happens when those innocents, victims of a crime that lasts a lifetime, pick up the tools used against them and decide to fight fire with fire? What if justice becomes their God-given, moral imperative? What if it is their only hope?"
"The New West proves just as wild as the Old West as our heroes cross the country in search of their outlaw father," says Hodgson. "This is a story about manifesting your rightful destiny in a lawless uninhabitable frontier. This indulgent, violent fantasy may be overkill, but contextualized against a backdrop of antagonism and violence (i.e. America) a challenging parable emerges."
"Is God Is has been a play we have wanted to do since it premiered," said OTP Co-Founder and Executive Co-Artistic Director Michael Socrates Moran. "As part of our 2023 season theme of exploring the relationship between history and hope, Is God Is follows two children as they wreak a righteous revenge against history, in order for a more hopeful world to be possible. Aleshea Harris's play is electric, theatrical, bold and defiant, while reaching for the whole in unconventional and exciting ways. We are thrilled to have Co-Artistic Director William Hodgson at the helm, and we think this play will challenge and excite our audiences in equal measure."
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