Spooky Action Theater opens its 20th-anniversary season with Christopher T. Hampton’s Cracking Zeus, a wildly inventive dark comedy and present-day myth about religion, dependency, and redemption. Directed by Mosaic Theater Company Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas, the cast features Christina Daniels, Charles Franklin IV, DeJeanette Horne, Dupre Isaiah, Lolita Marie, Nicole Ruthmarie, and Jacobie Thornton. Through a relationship with Howard University which began with the play’s Spring 2024 workshop, three members of the cast are current Howard University acting students – Christina Daniels, Dupre Isaiah, and Destiny Jennings – along with one student from Bowie State University, Jacobie Thornton.
ABOUT THE PLAY
Have you ever considered what crack cocaine might do to the powers of a Greek god? And what would happen if Zeus’ newest offspring was the son of a pastor? This outrageous provocation takes center stage in Christopher T. Hampton’s ingenious contemporary epic.
Hera, a goddess with a grudge to settle, has found her husband Zeus’ newest illegitimate child. On the outside, Baniaha is a pillar of his community: he helps his mother run her church while mentoring orphaned youth. On the inside, he is lost: the mystery of his paternity leaves him yearning for answers. When Hera arrives to exact her revenge with the help of Rufus, a homeless crack addict she thinks she can exploit, relationships are strained and faith is put to the test. This wildly inventive dark comedy is a present-day myth about religion, dependency, and redemption.
Cracking Zeus was developed through Spooky Action’s New Works in Action play development program and a Kennedy Center Social Impact Residency workshop in the Spring of 2024, directed by Reginald L. Douglas.
Content transparency: Simulated drug use, language about drug users, haze and strobe lights.
FROM DIRECTOR REGINALD L. DOUGLAS
“I am thrilled to be collaborating with Spooky Action on this special new play. Cracking Zeus is a wonderfully inventive narrative illuminating the eternal pain and joy of Black life while celebrating the god-like power inside of all of us, especially those that we too often disregard. What a joy it is to bring this inspired new work to the stage and introduce DC audiences to Christopher’s talented artistry and thrilling gift for storytelling for the first time.”
FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ELIZABETH DINKOVA
“The theme of our new season, Mythogenesis, charges us with the task of giving life to new myths – stories of wonder and magic that illuminate the most intimate aspects of our contemporary humanity while inviting us to ponder how communities rupture and heal. Cracking Zeus, an ingenious new twist on an old myth, is one of the most exciting new plays I’ve encountered in my national and international travels. The story draws parallels between the rigid structure of the Grecian pantheon and our own modern views of societal hierarchies, to leave both in ruin. The weapons of choice for the demolition are satire, humor, and heart. Through immense theatricality, a mixture of artistic forms, and striking social resonance, this world premiere delivers a simple but potent message: we are all connected.”
ABOUT THE TEAM
Reginald L. Douglas (Director) is dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices and currently serves as the Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company of DC. He has directed at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, TheaterWorks Hartford, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Everyman Theatre, Weston Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Audible, Bard at the Gate, Profile Theatre, Playwrights Realm, The Kennedy Center, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, Barrington Stage, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Negro Ensemble Company, TheatreSquared, Playwrights’ Center, McCarter Theatre Center, Florida Rep, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, City Theatre (where he served as Artistic Producer), Studio Theatre (where he served as Associate Artistic Director), and many other national companies. Reginald has developed and directed work by nationally recognized writers including Dominique Morisseau, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, Psalmayene 24, Idris Goodwin, Cori Thomas, Angelica Chéri, Nikkole Salter, Dael Orlandersmith, Kemp Powers, Jen Silverman, Ngozi Anyanwu, R. Eric Thomas, Brian Quijada, Matt Schatz, Amy Evans, Zakiyyah Alexander, Imani Uzuri, Dave Harris, Francisca Da Silveira, Khalil Kain, Chisa Hutchinson, Tearrance Chisholm, Josh Wilder, Larry Powell, Kareem Fahmy, Harrison David Rivers, and Donja R. Love. A proud graduate of Georgetown University, Reginald is a member of the Board of Directors of Theatre Washington and of the National New Play Network. He received the National Theatre Conference’s Emerging Professional Award in 2020 and the Georgetown University Legacy of a Dream Award in 2024.
The Production Team includes Barrett Doyle (Set Design), Malory Hartman (Lighting Design), Navi (Sound Design and Composition), Cidney Forkpah (Costume Design), Liz Long (Props Design), Siani Beckett (Choreographer & Movement Director), Jared Shamberger (Stage Manager), and Zoe Tompkins (Technical Director).
The Cast features Christina Daniels, Charles Franklin IV, DeJeanette Horne, Dupre Isaiah, Lolita Marie, Nicole Ruthmarie, and Jacobie Thornton.
Christina Daniels (Girl 2) is a senior B.F.A. Theatre Arts Acting major and Television and Film minor at Howard University. She has curated an extensive background in various roles aimed at cultivating a well-rounded understanding of the entertainment industry, working as an actor, director, producer, videographer, draper/dresser, and scriptwriter in both academic environments, university productions, as well as professional sets and theatres, including Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The REACH at the Kennedy Center. She is reprising the role of “Girl 2” following in the Cracking Zeus spring workshop.
Charles Franklin IV (Baniaha) is a native of Southeast Washington, DC and proud to be working professionally as an actor and emerging director in his community, Anacostia. He recently closed the world premiere Look Both Ways at Theater Alliance and The Kennedy Center and will be touring with the company in January 2025. He has also been seen in the Helen Hayes Award-winning Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Production, Blood at the Root, as well as Day of Absence (Theater Alliance), Klecksography (Rorschach Theatre), and Snow Queen (Imagination Stage). Charles has served as a highly effective special education teacher for nearly ten years.
DeJeanette Horne (Rufus) recently made his Folger Theatre debut in Metamorphoses. For This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing at Theater Alliance, he was the recipient of two 2024 Helen Hayes Nominations, for Best Supporting Performer, and Outstanding Ensemble in a Play. His other DC-area credits include Sunset Baby (Anacostia Playhouse), The Brothers Paranormal (Olney Theatre Center), Macbeth, Hamlet, Henry V, The Adventures of Pericles (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company), SWEAT, Elegies: A Song Cycle, The Outsider – 2022 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble, West by God, God of Carnage (The Keegan Theatre), among others.
Dupre Isaiah (Boy 2) is a senior acting major from Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, and a native of Prince George’s County, Maryland. His theater credits include a staged reading of Cracking Zeus workshopped at the Kennedy Center (Spooky Action Theater), Rhyme Deferred (Howard University), devised theater performances with Alliance Theater’s I.D.E.A. focused on inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, and Arena Stage’s Voices of Now.
Destiny Jennings (Girl 1) is a theater major at Howard University. She returns to Spooky Action after participating in Cracking Zeus when it was workshopped at the Kennedy Center. Her other credits include All King’s Woman (BHS Theatre Dept), Harriet Rendition and the Christmas Production (HT Theatre Dept.) and Consume and Hell is a Doctor’s Waiting Room (Howard Players), plus the films Manhunt and Reach at Howard University.
Lolita Marie (Mama Jo), a three-time Helen Hayes Award recipient, is making her inaugural appearance with Spooky Action Theater. DMV credits include Postmortem and Native Son (Mosaic Theater Company), Tempestuous Elements (Arena Stage), The Brothers Paranormal and The Joy That Carries You (Olney Theatre Center), Well and Doubt (1st Stage Theatre), The Royale (Olney and 1st Stage), Sweat, The Outsider, N – A Play, God of Carnage, and American Daughter (Keegan Theatre), Hurricane Diane (Avant Bard), This Girl Laughs…, Flood City, For Colored Girls…, and Brownsville Song (Theater Alliance), The Adventures of Pericles (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company), The Skin of Our Teeth and Blood Wedding (Constellation Theatre), and The Secrets of the Universe and Leto Legend (Hub Theatre).
Nicole Ruthmarie (Hera) is a Helen Hayes Award-nominated theatre artist, for Brave Spirits’ The Trojan Women Project. Her previous credits with Spooky Action include roles in Can’t Complain and I’ve Seen It All. She has also performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies, and School Girls: African Mean Girls Play (NextStop Theatre Company), Oleanna (Perisphere Theater), was featured in Heartland and Unprotected with Pipeline Playwrights, understudied at Round House Theatre for A Jumping Off Point, performed in Bell Wringer (Pinky Swear Productions), and worked numerous times with Brave Spirits Theatre including The Trojan Women Project, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, and Henry V.
Jacobie Thornton (Boy 1) is a senior theater major with a concentration in Acting and Directing at Bowie State University. A few of his credits include The Wiz (Cedar Hill High School), Blood at the Root (Millikin University), Hurt Village (Soul Rep Theatre), and recently Ride the Cyclone (Bowie State University). He has been a storyteller for most of his life, telling stories through acting, singing, and dancing.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Christopher T. Hampton is an Atlanta based writer, performer, director, educator, and arts advocate. Cracking Zeus is his first full length play. His work has been presented nationally in theatres such as The Alliance Theatre, 7 Stages (Atlanta), The Red Cat, Company of Angels, Imagine us Free (L.A.). Christopher holds a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and is an active board Member of Working Title Playwrights.
ABOUT THE THEATER
Spooky Action Theater is an award-winning small professional theater located near DC’s DuPont, U Street Corridor, and Logan Circle neighborhoods. Founded in 2004, the company takes its name from a quantum mechanics phenomenon “spooky action at a distance” in which two particles become entangled such that a change in one is instantly mirrored by a change in the other, no matter the distance between them. Spooky Action produces work that creates this kind of deep connection between actors and audience.
DATES & TICKETS
Cracking Zeus runs September 19 to October 13, 2024 with performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2 pm. The performance runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission. Performances take place at Spooky Action’s home at The Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th Street, NW. The venue is currently not wheelchair accessible. There will be three Pay-What-You-Can shows opening week, September 19 and 20 at 7:30pm and September 22 at 2pm. For tickets, pricing, and available discounts, visit Spooky Action’s website.
