Lynn Nottage's CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY Comes To FreeFall In St. Petersburg

Rehearsals are underway for freeFall's production of Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy. This Tampa Bay professional theatre premiere opens March 23 and runs through April 14. Crumbs from the Table of Joy stars Alicia Thomas (Ernestine), Rae Davis (Ermina), and Michael J. Kinsey (Godfrey) as the Crump family. This break out play for two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined) is the coming of age story of a young African American girl whose family is finding their way through 1950's Brooklyn, as she teeters between filtering her life experiences through the fantasy of movies and learning the real poetry and pain of the world. Crumbs from the Table of Joy also stars freeFall favorites Trenell Mooring (freeFall's Our Town and The Little Prince) and Emilee Dupre (Broadway's Chaplin and freeFall's smash hit Cabaret).

In 1950s Brooklyn, recently widowed Godfrey Crump has just moved his two daughters from Florida to be closer to the charismatic Father Divine. His late wife's sister, an outspoken communist, appears on the scene. When Godfrey meets Gerte, a recent émigré from Germany, on the subway and ultimately marries her, things get crowded in the tiny apartment. This beautiful memory play, told through the often magical eyes of its young 17-year-old narrator (Alicia Thomas in her freeFall debut), paints a picture of a family and a country in a time of upheaval and growth.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy has been called "A Glass Menagerie in the Sun" as it combines elements of the classic and beloved plays of Tennessee Williams and Lorraine Hansberry.

Lynn Nottage is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Her most recent play, Mlima's Tale, premiered at The Public Theater in May 2018. In the spring of 2017, Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold out run at The Public Theater.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy is directed by award winning actress/director Jacqueline Thompson. Jacqueline L. Thompson is a theatre maker passionate about creating art to promote social change. Thompson received a Master in Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Louisville as well as a graduate certificate in African American Theatre in 2012.