BWW Previews: OUTCAST THEATRE COLLECTIVE'S PASSOVER at thestudio@620

At thestudio@620 through February 13 is Outcast Theatre Collective's play, PASSOVER, written by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu.

Director Erica Sutherlin explained the significance of the play's title.

"PASSOVER has religious connotations. It features the energy behind the Book of Exodus coming out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Also, passing over from the physical plane to the spiritual plane, as in life to death. PASSOVER represents getting off the block and finally taking that step to a better future."

PASSOVER follows Moses and Kitch, two young Black men who hang out on a street corner and fear being murdered by the police.

Erica's first reaction upon reading the script was 'wow.'

"It took me back to a place in my teenage years, sitting on the block talking to the guys on the street just about everything - hopes and dreams, the universe - just how brilliant those conversations were, but at the same time, there was a profound sense of sadness. That was my immediate reaction upon reading the script. It brought me back to that place."

In PASSOVER, Tron Montgomery plays Moses, while Lance Felton and Joshua Dupree play Kitch. Michael Menszycki portrays both Mister and Ossifer.

"I'm on a personal crusade in St. Pete to find and train as many male black actors as I can because we have a shortage here. I wanted to give as many people an opportunity as I can," she said. "Watching all of them resonate with what was inside of them that they didn't know was inside of them was a beautiful moment."

Aesthetically, Erica is creating a simple set: a streetlight, a tire, and a shopping cart, allowing the power of actors' words to be the focus. Her goal is to bring the actors' truths out how they relate to the characters they portray.

"The script can be heavy if you handle it heavily, but it really does have a lot of lighthearted and humorous comedic moments. I wanted to make sure the balance was there, that we weren't spending too much time in the heaviness because people stop listening," she said. "As a director, it is not often that you get a piece of theatre that transforms you, so magical in a very special way. This is the second time that I've had this experience in my career. She (the playwright) did something to me that I am sharing a part of myself that I don't share with the world. It's like this secret that only the guys I sat on the block with and had that conversation and energetic exchange - they're the only ones that understand-this play allowed me to go inside that world again to be an objective viewer. I was in the conversation the last time; now, I'm on the outside spectating. This is such beautiful art. The language is something familiar. The conversations are not foreign. This is theatre that transforms you written for brown bodies."

Talk-backs will happen at the St. Petersburg theater with "Deconstructing the Block and the Black Male" on February 6 and "Slur and Slang in Pop Culture" on February 13. PASSOVER runs now through February 13. Tickets are $20-$25 at The Studio@620, 620 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Learn more at https://www.outcasttheatre.org and Buy tickets at thestudioat620.org/events/pass-over-by-antoinette-nwandu.

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