BR'ER COTTON
by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm
directed by Matthew Kellen Burgos
August 2-18
Lynchburg, Virginia, on the former site of a cotton mill. Fourteen-year-old Ruffrino is struggling to make sense of his place in an impoverished world filled with seemingly random killings of young black men. As his anger towards reality grows, he moves further away from his family. Losing himself online, Ruffrino's world sinks around him while he battles to wake up the zombies and prove by any means necessary that Black Lives Matter.
Join us for the Atlanta premiere of Br'er Cotton by Tearrance Arvelle Chishom, directed by Matthew Kellen Burgos, produced by VanguardRep.
TRANSPORTATION
Free parking in the lot and free street parking around the building.
Or ditch the car--the East Point MARTA stop is only 2 blocks away!
DINING AND REFRESHMENTS
Before or after the show, check out some of our favorite local joints:
THE CAST
Lau'rie Roach
Ruffrino
Beverlix Jean-Baptiste
Nadine
Madeline Marconi
Caged_Bird 99
Sam R. Ross*
Officer
*Appearing courtesy of the Actor's Equity Association.
Daviorr Snipes*
Matthew
THE PLAYWRIGHT
TEARRANCE ARVELLE CHISHOLM's play Br’er Cotton had a critically-acclaimed production by London’s Theatre 503 (nominee, Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright), as well as an NNPN Rolling World Premiere, with productions at Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas, Lower Depth Ensemble in Los Angeles, and Cleveland Public Theatre. He won a 2018 Helen Hayes award (the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical) for his play Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies, which premiered and was revived at Mosaic Theater. This season, Tearrance will present the world premiere of P.Y.G. at Studio Theater as both playwright and director; the play has previously been developed at the Magic Theater’s Virgin Play Festival and at Juilliard. His upcoming works include Vanye, an adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, which received the Smith Prize for Political Theater, a commission through NNPN, as well as a new Frankenstein adaptation for Classic Stage Company. He's a staff writer on season 2 of Boomerang. Former residencies include Sundance Institute/Time Warner Foundation Fellow, and 2050 Fellow at NYTW. Education: Juilliard playwrights program, MFA from Catholic University.