The Black Rep Presents BEHIND THE SHEET This Month

The St. Louis Black Repertory Company continues its in-person 45th Anniversary season with Behind the Sheet by Charly Evon Simpson opening March 18, 2022. Previews begin March 16 at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre at Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis, Missouri.

Behind the Sheet follows several Black women who suffered invasive experimental surgeries while enslaved on a plantation in Alabama during the 1840s. Although the story is fictionalized, it is deeply rooted in history and the early career of Dr. J. Marion Sims, considered the founder of modern gynecology.

"Simpson's compelling work challenges what history remembers and reframes the origin story of a medical breakthrough through the eyes of the women who experienced these involuntary surgeries," said Ron Himes, Founder and Producing Director of The Black Rep. "Audiences will be moved and challenged."

Playwright Charly Evon Simpson is a distinguished writer best known for her plays Jump and Behind the Sheet. Simpson was named the 2019-20 recipient of the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award from the Vineyard Theatre, co-recipient of the Dramatists Guild's Lanford Wilson Award, was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle's John Gassner Award, and had two of her plays named on The 2019 Kilroys' List.

A Panel Discussion Is scheduled for Thursday, March 10 from 6-7:30pm in the Formal Lounge of the Women's Building on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The panel is free and open to the public. Talk backs are also scheduled following the performances on Thursday March 24 and Thursday March 31.

Season subscriptions and single tickets for Behind the Sheet are available online at www.theblackrep.org or by calling The Black Rep Box Office at 314-534-3807. Reduced prices are available for groups of 12 or more and for the Intergenerational Matinee on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, with support from the Taylor Family and Trio Foundations.

For everyone's health and safety, everyone in attendance must be either fully vaccinated or must present a negative covid test result received within 72 hours prior to arrival. A Covid19 vaccination card or a negative test result must be presented upon arrival. Masks are required at all times while indoors. Even if you are seated in pods and distanced, masks must remain in place. The Black Rep will be using virtual playbills this season. For complete and up to date health protocols, please visit www.theblackrep.org.

This production was made possible in part by the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science & Technology Project with additional support from The Black Rep's Sophisticated Ladies, the Berges Family Foundation, and Caleres.

Funding for The Black Rep's 45th Anniversary Season comes from Ameren, Arts and Education Council, The Black Seed Initiative, Centene Charitable Trust, Missouri Arts Council, Regional Arts Commission, Rodgers-Townsend, The Shubert Foundation, the Steward Family Foundation, and Washington University in St. Louis.

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