Video: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM at Round House Theatre
The 1920s-set drama kicks off Round House Theatre's 50th anniversary season.
Get a first look at Round House Theatre's production of August Wilson's MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM now through October 18. The Bethesda theatre co-produced the play with Olney Theatre Center, marking the latest collaboration between the two companies.
Set in a Chicago recording studio in the 1920s, the play follows blues singer Ma Rainey and her band during a recording session that grows increasingly tense as conflicts over art, power, and control escalate between the musicians and studio executives. The Chicago Reader has called the work a "genuine American masterpiece," and the production has been described as pulsing with blues music, wry comedy, and poetic insight while examining racial exploitation within the music industry.
The production is directed by Lili-Anne Brown and opens Round House Theatre's 50th anniversary season. It stars Nicole Michelle Haskins in the title role, part of a cast that also includes Ro Boddie as Toledo, a role he takes on after previous appearances at Round House in productions including Sally & Tom and Topdog/Underdog.
BroadwayWorld's own review of the production noted that among August Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle, MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM stands out as one of the most dynamic entries, with its themes of art, power, freedom, and despair still resonating a century after the story's setting. More on the production and Boddie's role can be found in BroadwayWorld's Theatre Life interview.
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