When Studio Theatre welcomes audiences back to its four-theater complex in Logan Circle, the building will be in the finishing stages of a nearly $20 million renovation, including the complete reengineering of its flagship theater. The company returns to producing in-person theater with an eclectic five-play 2021–2022 season that includes fresh stories from ascendant talent, poignant productions from titans of the field, and shows that challenge Studio to use its spaces—whether familiar or newly renovated—in brand-new ways.
“After weathering an incredibly precarious year for theater, it feels good to welcome audiences back in a triumphant way, with a new building and a dynamic season of powerhouse plays,” said Studio Artistic Director David Muse. “From the intimate viewing experience of Flight to Katori Hall’s Hot Wing King and the world premiere of John Proctor is the Villain, this season is all about theater in exciting scale, whether it’s telling momentous stories in innovative ways or staging big, elaborate productions.”
“After being dark for so long and away from the audiences that bring life to our building, we’re so pleased to invite our community back with a very different Studio experience following our extensive Open Studio renovations,” said Managing Director Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg.
The season begins in December 2021 with Flight, directed by Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison, who created the magic effects and illusions for Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This epic story about two brothers on a cross-continental odyssey from Syria to safety in the UK unfolds like a three-dimensional graphic novel, through richly detailed miniatures and a rotating, hand-made diorama. No live actors are present, and audiences watch from their own personal viewing booths with headphones. The hybrid theater/installation piece offers an in-person experience with enough distance for patrons to be comfortable. Flight comes to Studio for a 12-week engagement and is being shipped from the UK following a run at Bridge Theatre co-presented by the Barbican.
By January 2022, renovations will be complete and audiences will enjoy seated, live performances again beginning with White Noise, the provocative comedy about race, identity, and friendships pushed to their limits, by Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog). The new, state-of-the-art Victor Shargai Theatre will be inaugurated with Duncan Macmillan’s sprawling addiction and recovery drama People, Places & Things. Equally ambitious in scale is the world premiere of John Proctor Is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, an exuberant, empowering post-#MeToo play that centers on small town scandal and teenagers studying The Crucible who end up questioning all the ways they’ve been told that power has to operate.
The season culminates with the jubilant, stirring winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall, with Steve H. Broadnax III of the lauded New York premiere directing this play about dreams, achieving deep-fry perfection, and the crew that makes the risks worthwhile.
TICKET AFFORDABILITY
To make its work more widely accessible to members of the community, Studio is expanding its affordability initiatives and discount programs. Studio has partnered with community organizations such as the DC Public Library to assist with targeted distribution of free and low-cost tickets to the audiences they serve throughout the city. Additionally, Studio has increased the number of affinity groups eligible for ticket discounts, to include members of the military, students, first responders, educators, arts practitioners, and patrons 30 years old and younger. Additionally, beginning in the 2021–2022 season, Studio will host an Industry Night on the first preview performance of each production with $20 tickets available to patrons who identify themselves as part of the greater theater industry.
OPEN STUDIO
Announced in 2020 and delayed nearly a year by the coronavirus pandemic, Open Studio is a $20 million investment in Studio’s future, including significant renovations to its complex in Logan Circle. Studio broke ground on the project in March 2021; renovations will be complete by early 2022.
A focal point of the renovations is the complete reengineering of Studio’s flagship theater, renamed the Victor Shargai Theatre. A blank canvas for artists and directors, the space will be capable of myriad configurations, from thrust to end-stage, in the round, cabaret, and traverse, allowing artists to create a completely customizable experience tailored to individual productions. Like Studio’s other fixed-seat venues, the Victor Shargai Theatre will seat over 200 people. A suite of state-of-the-art technology will enhance the work on stage, such as a new full-tension wire grid, and new lighting, sound, and projection equipment. Other building updates include renovated lobbies, a new street-facing box office, and upgraded HVAC systems.
Another major component of Open Studio is the addition of a day-to-night café and bar. Studio has partnered with woman-owned, Virginia-based RĀKO Coffee Roasters to operate a 1,100-square-foot café in what is currently the first-floor Mead Bar and lobby area, with direct access to P Street NW and a 66-seat patio. The company will also operate concessions for Studio. The café will serve rotating single-origin pour overs and unique handcrafted espresso-based drinks by day, and natural wines, craft beer, and cocktails by night, as well as a seasonally rotating food program sourced from local women, BIPOC, and zero-waste–focused specialty-food makers.
Full details on the scope of the renovation are available at openstudiocampaign.org.
ABOUT THE 2020–2021 SEASON (listed chronologically)
Flight
by Vox Motus
based on the novel Hinterland by Caroline Brothers
adapted by Oliver Emanuel
directed by Jamie Harrison and Candice Edmunds
DEC 16–MAR 6, 2022
STAGE 4
Tickets starting at $65; low-cost ticket options and discounts available
“Pulse-pounding, immersive storytelling. Strange and exquisite and intensely affecting.” —The New York Times
With their small inheritance stitched into their clothes, two children set off on an epic journey across Europe—orphaned brothers on a desperate odyssey to freedom and safety. Wearing headphones and viewing a handcrafted diorama from a personal booth, audience members are plunged into the brothers’ story of hope and survival, playing out in breathtaking, intimate miniature. Flight is an immersive installation created by Scottish innovators Vox Motus and designed by Jamie Harrison (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child magic effects and illusions designer). An invitation to bear witness to the personal stories of two of the 300,000 displaced children who make unaccompanied journeys every year. There are no live actors in this production. Audience members will arrive at staggered times and view the play from individual booths with headphones.
White Noise
by Suzan-Lori Parks
directed by Reginald L. Douglas
JAN 12–FEB 20, 2022
MILTON THEATRE
Tickets starting at $65; low-cost ticket options and discounts available
2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play
“Enthrallingly thought-packed! In burrowing deep into what one character calls ‘the worm hole’ of how we talk—and think—about race, Ms. Parks isn’t cutting anyone any slack. Herself included.” —The New York Times
Leo, Dawn, Ralph, and Misha are four longtime friends and sometimes lovers who are coming into their own in the city, until a violent police encounter prompts Leo to suggest an audacious experiment that unmasks long-simmering secrets among the group. Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks brings her bold sense of humor and history to a story about four thirtysomethings in a not-at-all post-racial world.
People, Places & Things
by Duncan Macmillan
directed by David Muse
POSTPONED TO FALL 2022
VICTOR SHARGAI THEATRE
Tickets starting at $65; low-cost ticket options and discounts available
“The self-destructive spiral of abuse has fuelled infinite plays and films, yet People, Places and Things is distinguished by its central question about what any of us chooses to find real, and how that choice either benefits or destroys those around us.”
—Time Out (London)
Emma is an actress. She also has an addiction, and it’s trying to kill her. In rehab, but not ready for recovery, Emma just wants to escape—through drugs, through performing, through anything that lets her make her own reality. David Muse inaugurates the Victor Shargai Theatre with a production that evokes the vivid and disorienting world of intoxication and lies as Emma decides whether to fight for her recovery and the people, places, and things she’ll face there.
John Proctor Is the Villain
by Kimberly Belflower
directed by Marti Lyons
World Premiere
APR 27–JUN 5, 2022
MEAD THEATRE
Tickets starting at $65; low-cost ticket options and discounts available
Supported by Studio R&D, Studio Theatre’s new works initiative
Things are unsettled at Helen County High in rural Georgia—rumors are swirling around a student’s dad, another student blew up her life and left for Atlanta, and Mr. Smith’s junior English class has to make it through sex ed before they can finally start The Crucible. But what one man calls a witch hunt, a young woman calls the truth, and when the teens start questioning what really happened in Salem, everything threatens to change. A new play from a major new voice, John Proctor Is the Villain captures a generation in mid-transformation, running on pop music, optimism, and fury—writing their own coming of age story.
The Hot Wing King
by Katori Hall
directed by Steve H. Broadnax III
JUN 22–JUL 31, 2022
VICTOR SHARGAI THEATRE
Tickets starting at $65; low-cost ticket options and discounts available
2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
It’s August in Memphis, time to crown the new Hot Wang King. Backed by his best friends and boyfriend Dwayne, who serve as his fry crew The New Wing Order, Cordell has a feeling that this is his year. But then a family emergency throws Dwayne’s nephew into the house on prep night, one of his crew starts messing with the seasoning, and suddenly Cordell’s facing a future in danger of going up in flames. Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Katori Hall (The Mountaintop) has written a fresh and fierce comedy about the risk and rewards of celebrating who you are.
SEASON ARTIST BIOSÂ (listed alphabetically)
Kimberly Belflower is a playwright and educator originally from a small town in Appalachian Georgia. She is currently developing a new play, Saint Pigtail, commissioned by Studio Theatre. Her play Lost Girl premiered at Milwaukee Repand is published by Concord Theatricals. Kimberly’s other work has been produced, developed, and commissioned by South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alliance Theatre, and the Ojai Playwrights Conference, among others. She received The Kennedy Center’s 2018 Darrell Ayers Playwriting Award and was on the 2019 Kilroys List. Kimberly has also worked as a narrative lead for Meow Wolf, where she wrote a short film with original music by Beach House. She holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Playwriting Fellow at Emory University.
Steve H. Broadnax III’s directing credits include Katori Hall’s Pulitzer Prize winning The Hot Wing King at Signature Theatre Company (world premiere), Lee Edward Colston II’s The First Deep Breath at Chicago’s Vineyard Theatre (premiere and winner of Best New Work by the Jeff Awards), Dominique Morisseau’s Blood at the Root at the National Black Theatre (winner of The Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Theater Creator Award), and William Jackson Harper’s Travisville at Ensemble Studio Theatre (NYC premiere). He has also directed at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hattiloo Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Chautauqua Theater Company, People’s Light, New York’s Apollo Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Atlantic Theater Company, Detroit Public Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Cleveland Play House, Black Theatre Troupe (Phoenix, AZ), Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Seattle Theatre Group’s Moore Theatre, Market Theatre (Johannesburg, SA), The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, National Arts Festival in South Africa, and Adelaide Festival in Australia.
The Hip Hop Project, an award-winning, full-length original play that Steve conceived, directed, and choreographed, has toured nationally and was showcased at The Kennedy Center. His musical play, Bayard Rustin: Inside Ashland, will premiere at People’s Light in their 2021-2022 season.
Caroline Brothers is a writer who is interested in how individuals cope in the aftermath of violence, after the world’s attention has moved on. Her award-winning first novel, Hinterland (Bloomsbury), dramatized by Vox Motus as Flight, grew out of her reporting into lone foreign children adrift across Europe; it was described by critics as “stark and unsentimental,” “visceral and moving.” Her second novel,  The Memory Stones, explores the search for the stolen children of the disappeared in Argentina through the experience of an exiled grandfather. Brothers spent many years working as a correspondent in Europe and Latin America for Reuters and the on the international Desk for The New York Times, reporting from London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Belfast, and Paris, and from various locations in Mexico and Central America. She is the author of a nonfiction book, War and Photography, based on her doctoral research into the Spanish Civil War. Born in Australia, she is still striving to rein in her nomadic existence, and now divides her time between Paris and London.
Oliver Emanuel has written for most of the major theater companies in Scotland and his work has been seen across the UK, Ireland, Europe, Canada, US, and China. He is currently under commission to the Traverse Theatre, the Unicorn Theatre, and BBC Radio. In 2020 Tiger is Out, an extract from I Am Tiger, directed by Lu Kemp and starring Ava Hickey, was broadcast on BBC as part of National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes for Survival. Awards include: the Tinniswood Award (2019) for When The Pips Stop; the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Original Series or Serial (2019) and the ISNTD Festival AUDIO Award (2018) for The Truth About Hawaii; a Herald Angel as part of the Edinburgh International Festival (2017) for Flight; a BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation (2017) for Emile Zola: Blood, Sex & Money; the People’s Choice Victor Award at IPAY (2015) for Titus; Best Show For Children and Young People at the UK Theatre Awards (2014) for Dragon; and nomination for a Sony Radio Academy Award for Best Drama (2010) for Daniel And Mary. Theatre credits include: The Monstrous Heart, The 306:Dawn, The 306:Day, The 306: Dusk, The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish, Flit (National Theatre of Scotland); Flight (Vox Motus); The Adventures Of Robin Hood, John, Ship Of Shadows (Visible Fictions);  The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot, Titus (Macrobert); Dragon (National Theatre of Scotland/Tianjin People’s Arts Theatre, China); End Of The World (Red Note Ensemble); Random Objects Flying Through The Air (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); Spirit Of Adventure, One Night In Iran, Videotape (Oran Mor); Henry And Ingrid (Tron Theatre); Magpie Park (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Man Across The Way, Bella & The Beautiful Knight, Iz (Silver Tongue Theatre). Radio projects include Lanny (adapted from the novel by Max Porter), The Tenderness of Boys, When The Pips Stop, The Truth About Hawaii, Transformations, Emile Zola (Series 1-3); Blood, Take Me To Necropolis, Albion Street, The Spare Room, The Other One, 13 Minutes In Cairo, Ancient Greek, Songbirds, Everything, The Vanishing, Elvis In Prestwick (BBC Radio 4); One Night In Iran (BBC Radio 3); Daniel And Mary (BBC Radio Scotland).
Reginald L. Douglas is a director, producer, and advocate dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices. This is his second season as Studio’s Associate Artistic Director. He has directed work at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Audible, TheaterWorks, CATF, Everyman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Barrington Stage, TheatreSquared, Playwrights’ Center, Profile Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, The Kennedy Center, Florida Repertory Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Third Rail, Luna Stage, Harlem Stage, wild project, The Pershing Square Signature Center, Drama League, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop (where he was an inaugural 2050 Directing Fellow), and City Theatre, where he served as Artistic Producer from 2015-2020.
Reginald has developed and directed plays and musicals by Dominique Morisseau, Cori Thomas, Angelica Chéri, Lynn Nottage, Nikkole Salter, Kemp Powers, Jen Silverman, Ngozi Anyanwu, Brian Quijada, Matt Schatz, Amy Evans, R. Eric Thomas, Zakiyyah Alexander, Imani Uzuri, Dave Harris, Francisca Da Silveira, Khalil Kain, Chisa Hutchinson, Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, Josh Wilder, Larry Powell, Harrison David Rivers, Donja R. Love, Nick Malakhow, Herb Newsome, Craig “muMs” Grant, Korde Arrington Tuttle, a.k. payne, Jessica Dickey, Laura Brienza, Kevin R. Free, Brent Askari, and Micah Ariel Watson. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the National New Play Network and is on the faculties of the O’Neill’s National Theater Institute and his alma mater, Georgetown University. Reginald is the recipient of the National Theatre Conference’s 2020 Emerging Professional Award. reginalddouglas.com.
Candice Edmunds is co-Artistic Director of award-winning theatre company Vox Motus, and a director and dramaturg for theater and dance.
For Vox Motus, Candice has co-created and directed all of the company’s productions. Recent successes include Flight (Vox Motus, Edinburgh International Festival, Beacon Arts Centre), Dragon (Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland, Tianjin Peoples’ Arts Theatre China), and The Infamous Brothers Davenport (Vox Motus, Royal Lyceum Theatre). Other credits with Vox Motus include The Not-So-Fatal Death of Grandpa Fredo, Bright Black, Slick, How to Steal a Diamond, and Interference. Their productions tour internationally and been nominated for and won numerous awards, including a UK Theatre Award for Dragon and a Herald Angel for Flight.
Directing credits include Carmen (Oper Wuppertal) and her adaptation Dance of Death in association with The Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow. Candice has collaborated with Barrowland Ballet on Wolves, Whiteout, A Conversation with Carmel, and The River (for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Cultural Program).
Laurence Olivier Award-winning and two-time Tony-nominated Memphis native Katori Hall is the book writer and co-producer of the West End and Broadway hit Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. She’s also the creator of P-Valley, the breakout Starz drama based on her play Pussy Valley. Katori’s latest piece, The Hot Wing King, premiered in Spring 2020 at Signature Theatre Company, rounding out her three-play residency there and winning her the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Her play The Mountaintop, which fictionalizes the last night in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2010 before opening on Broadway in October 2011 to critical acclaim. Katori’s other works include the award-winning Hurt Village, Hoodoo Love, Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Our Lady of Kibeho, and The Blood Quilt. She is also the director of the award-winning short, Arkabutla. Katori is an alumna of Columbia University, American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, and Juilliard. She’s a graduate of the Sundance Episodic Lab’s inaugural class, the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and Ryan Murphy’s Half Foundation Directing Program. In addition to her Olivier Award, Katori has won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, The Lark’s Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellowship, two Lecomte du Nouy Prizes from Lincoln Center, the Fellowship of Southern Writers Bryan Family Foundation Award for Drama, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, the Columbia University John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement, National Black Theatre’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, and the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award.
Jamie Harrison (Director) is co-artistic director of award-winning theater company Vox Motus, for which he has co-directed and designed all of the company’s work to date. These projects include: Dragon (Vox Motus, National Theatre of Scotland, Tianjin people’s Art Theatre, China), The Infamous Brothers Davenport (Vox Motus, Royal Lyceum), The Not-So-Fatal Death of Grandpa Fredo (Vox Motus, ATT Fife), Bright Black (Vox Motus, Platform), Slick (Vox Motus, Tron), and How to Steal a Diamond (Vox Motus).
In addition to Vox Motus’s creations Jamie has worked on numerous other theatre productions in various roles, including director, designer, illusion designer, and puppet designer. In 2016 he created the magic and illusion for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Sonia Friedman Productions) at the Palace Theatre, London. Jamie also designed the puppets and illusions for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the New Musical (Warner Brothers/Neal Street Productions) at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, directed by Sam Mendes.
Other recent designs include: Tomorrow (Design, Vanishing Point, Brighton Festival, Cena Contemporanea, Brazil), The Wheel (Illusion Design, National Theatre of Scotland), 1000 Paper Cranes (Illusion Design, Catherine Wheels), A Conversation with Carmel (Design, Barrowland Ballet), Peter Pan (Illusion Design, Barbican, National Theatre of Scotland), What We Know (Illusion Design, Traverse), The Last Witch (Magic Consultant, Edinburgh International festival), A Christmas Carol, The Cherry Orchard, and The Visit (Magic Consultant, Dundee Rep Ensemble), Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (Magic Consultant, National Theatre of Scotland), Frankenspine (Magic Consultant, Damfino, Bristol Old Vic), Pinocchio (Illusion Design, Royal Lyceum), The Wolves in the Walls (Magic/Illusion Consultant, National Theatre of Scotland, Improbable), Jerusalem (Magic consultant, West Yorkshire Playhouse) and A Brief History of Time (Magic consultant, Vanishing Point).
Jamie trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He is a trustee of Puppet Animation Scotland and a board member of Edinburgh International Magic Festival.
Marti Lyons returns to Studio, where she previously directed The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and both the stage and audio productions of Kings by Sarah Burgess. Marti most recently directed I, Banquo by Tim Crouch at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and will direct Cymbeline at American Players Theatre. Marti’s other productions include How to Defend Yourself by liliana padilla (a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production), Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee (Victory Gardens, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Witch by Jen Silverman (Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and Writers Theatre in Chicago), The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess (Writers Theatre), Native Gardens by Karen ZacarÃas (Victory Gardens), Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (Court Theatre), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks), Short Shakes! Macbeth and Short Shakes! Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Wit (The Hypocrites), and The City of Conversation by Anthony Giardina (Northlight Theatre). Other projects include Wondrous Strange by Meg Miroshnik, Martyna Majok, Jen Silverman, and Jiehae Park as part of the 2016 Humana Festival; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Laura Marks’ Bethany, Marks’ Mine, and Will Nedved’s Body + Blood at The Gift Theatre; Catherine Treischmann’s Hot Georgia Sunday and Theresa Rebeck’s Seminar at Haven Theatre; Prowess by Ike Holter, The Peacock by Calamity West, and The Last Duck by Lucas Neff at Jackalope Theatre; Give It All Back by Calamity West, 9 Circles by Bill Cain, and Maria/Stuart by Jason Grote at Sideshow Theatre Company. Marti is an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre, an Artistic Associate with Sideshow Theatre Company, and a proud member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. martilyons.com.
Duncan Macmillan is a playwright, director, screenwriter, and Studio Cabinet member. His play Lungs received its world premiere at Studio in 2011, and he directed the US premiere of Mike Bartlett’s play Contractions at the Theatre in 2013. Studio also presented Olney Theatre Center’s production of his play Every Brilliant Thing in 2019. His production of 1984, which he co-adapted and co-directed with Robert Icke, played at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway in 2017, after three runs on the West End and multiple national and international tours, including to the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC. People, Places & Things premiered at the National Theatre in 2015, before touring the UK and transferring to the West End the following year. It was subsequently revived at St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. Both that play and 1984 were nominated as Best New Play at the Laurence Olivier Awards, and Duncan’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Rosmersholm, which played in the West End in 2019, was nominated for Best Revival. His work has been performed throughout the world, including at the Old Vic, Royal Court Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Barbican Centre, Barrow Street Theatre, Melbourne Theatre Company, Berliner Ensemble, DeutscheSchauspielhaus (Hamburg, Germany), Schauspiel Köln (Cologne, Germany), Burgtheater (Vienna, Austria), Vesturport (Reykjavik, Iceland), Kansallisteatteri (Helsinki, Finland), Nationaltheatret (Oslo, Norway), and in the repertory of the Schaubühne (Berlin), as well as the Edinburgh Festival, Manchester International Festival, Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Avignon, and Theatertreffen. He has collaborated with orchestras and DJs and co-authored a book on climate science with Professor Chris Rapley. His screen work has appeared on BBC, HBO, Netflix, and at the London and Berlin Film Festivals.
David Muse (director) is entering his twelfth season as Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, where he has directed Cock (the in-person and digital productions), The Children, The Remains, The Effect, The Father, Constellations, Chimerica, Murder Ballad, Belleville, Tribes, The Real Thing, An Iliad, Dirt, Bachelorette, The Habit of Art, Venus in Fur, Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Blackbird, Frozen, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. As Studio’s Artistic Director, he has produced 105 productions; established Studio R&D, its new work incubator; significantly increased artist compensation; created The Cabinet, an artist advisory board; and overseen Open Studio, a $20M expansion and upgrade of Studio’s four-theater complex. Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he has directed nine productions, including Richard III, Henry V, Coriolanus, and King Charles III (a co-production with American Conservatory Theater and Seattle Rep). Other directing projects include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Arena Stage, The Bluest Eye at Theatre Alliance, and Patrick Page’s Swansong at the New York Summer Play Festival. He has helped to develop new work at numerous theaters, including New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, Arena Stage, New Dramatists, and The Kennedy Center. David has taught acting and directing at Georgetown, Yale, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy of Classical Acting. A nine-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Direction, he is a recipient of the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the National Theatre Conference Emerging Artist Award. David is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.
Suzan-Lori Parks is a multi-award-winning American playwright and the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit Topdog/Underdog. Parks’ adaptation of The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Her other works include The Book of Grace, Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical, In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, The America Play, Father Comes Home From the Wars (parts 1, 2, and 3) and Fucking A. Her project 365 Days/365 Plays—where she wrote a play a day for an entire year—was produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theatre history. A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, her novel Getting Mother’s Body is published by Random House. She also works extensively in film and television, most recently as the screenwriter for The United States vs. Billie Holiday and, also premiering earlier this year, as showrunner/executive producer/head writer for Genius: Aretha. In her spare time, she writes songs and fronts her band Sula & The Noise.
Vox Motus is an award-winning Glasgow-based theater company—a theater of storytelling visuals, transformational design, and, most importantly, thrills. The stories they produce offer audiences opportunities to engage in experiences that may in small (or large) ways enhance or challenge their understanding of the world.
Vox Motus is a sociable creature and for each project, collaboration with other artists—composers, writers, designers, illustrative artists, and choreographers—is at the heart of the work. Artistic Directors Jamie Harrison and Candice Edmunds conceive, direct and design Vox Motus’s productions. They continue to dream up new works of increasing imagination and endeavor to take to the widest possible audience—nationally and internationally—Vox Motus’s unique brand of Scottish theater. Their work has toured the UK, Europe, US, Australia, China, and the Middle East.
Their production Flight (originally commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival) has toured to international festivals and venues across the world to wide critical acclaim. Dragon (Vox Motus/National Theatre of Scotland/Tianjin People’s Arts Theatre) toured the UK and China, winning the UK Theatre Award for Best Production for Children and Young People.
Previous works include: Slick (2013 and 2008); The Infamous Brothers Davenport (Royal Lyceum Theatre, 2011); The Not So Fatal Death of Grandpa Fredo (2010), and Bright Black (2009).
ABOUT STUDIO THEATRE
Studio Theatre is Washington’s premier venue for contemporary theater, “where local audiences will find today’s edgiest playwrights” (Variety). One of the most respected midsized theaters in the country, Studio produces exceptional contemporary drama in deliberately intimate spaces. Drawing inspiration from great ensembles—where people work together with a spirit of generosity and professional rigor—Studio brings characteristic thoughtfulness and daring to its work onstage and off, through its new work incubator and engagement, education, and workforce training initiatives. Studio serves nearly 75,000 people each year, including more than 1,000 youth and young adults through community engagement initiatives. Founded in 1978, the quality of Studio’s work has been recognized by sustained community support, as well as 72 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theater.
