Olney Theatre Center opens the 2025/26 season on September 17 with preview performances of the U.S. premiere of Red Pitch by Tyrell Williams in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. Following a successful initial engagement at London’s prestigious Bush Theatre, where it captured all five Off West End Awards for Best New Play*, Red Pitch enjoyed a critically acclaimed limited run on the West End. Now, Olney Theatre mounts this new production, based on Daniel Bailey’s original direction of the story of three young soccer-obsessed Black British teens who gather on a small urban pitch to pursue their dreams of football greatness while their neighborhood gentrifies around them.
Tickets are $47 – $96 and are available online at olneytheatre.org/redpitch or via the Box Office at 301-924-3400. As part of its radical pricing program, first-time patrons of Olney Theatre can reserve up to four free tickets to a preview performance of Red Pitch (Sept 17-19), using the code 1stTimeFree. A range of special prices is available at olneytheatre.org/discounts
Jason Loewith, Olney Theatre’s Artistic Director, says, “When I saw Red Pitch in London, I was immediately drawn-in by Bilal, Omz, and Joey and the joy of their camaraderie, their passion, and the bravery with which they face an uncertain future, combined with a theatrical dynamism I rarely see onstage. We’ve worked with playwright Tyrell Williams to tweak some of the dialogue for American ears; and to ensure our audience experience it with the same power London audiences did, we’ve asked director Daniel Bailey to adapt his West End staging for three stellar American actors, in a design and production unique to Olney Theatre Center and the United States.”
The American cast features a trio of DC actors, including Angelo Harrington II (Omz) who previously appeared in last season’s productions of Disney’s Frozen and the World Premiere of Senior Class. Ty’Ree Hope Davis (Bilal) and Terrence Griffin (Joey) are making their Olney Theatre debuts, with the latter making his professional debut. Chandler Jordan and Quincy Vicks serve as understudies. All members of the ensemble underwent a 3-day soccer boot camp earlier in the summer run by Malcolm Harris, the production’s Soccer Consultant, who played professionally for five seasons with the Harrisburg Heat of the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) and is now a local soccer coach on staff at the Liverpool FC International Academy Maryland and CEO of Project 77 – whose mission is to use soccer as a tool for personal growth, opportunity, and transformation.
To deepen the connection between the production and America’s growing passion for “the beautiful game,” Olney Theatre has engaged a trio of soccer legends with local ties to serve as production ambassadors. Oguchi Onyewu, originally from Olney, burst to fame as a mainstay of the U.S. Men’s National Team for over a decade, including starts in the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups. During his 15-year professional career, he played for elite teams such as Newcastle United (England), AC Milan (Italy), Sporting Lisbon (Portugal), and Malaga CF (Spain). He currently serves as U.S. Soccer’s Vice President of Sporting. Bruce Murray is a Montgomery County native, the radio voice of DC United, and a 2011 inductee into the US Soccer Hall of Fame. As a US Men’s National Team player, Bruce scored 21 goals in 85 appearances, also scoring and assisting goals in the 1990 World Cup. Bruce also represented the United States in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Hamisi Amani-Dove now lives in Howard County; however, as a graduate of Rutgers University, he is the sixth all-time scoring leader at the university with thirty-two goals in seventy-two games, and he was a member of the 1996 Summer Olympics U.S. Men’s team. He traveled the world as a professional soccer player in the Netherlands, Austria, and the United States. He was inducted into the Maryland Soccer Legends Hall of Fame in 2017. The three Honorary Producers are lending their names and followings to promote the American premiere of Red Pitch.
The creative team for the production includes Nadir Bey (Scenic Designer), Tony Award-nominee Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Designer), Jeannette Christensen (Costume Designer), DJ Potts (Sound Designer), Siani Nicole (Choreographer), Casey Kaleba (Fight Choreographer), Yetunde Felix-Ukwu (Dialect Coach), and Rachel Harrison (Stage Manager). Kevin McAllister is the restager of Daniel Bailey’s original direction.
To add to the “football spirit” of the performances, patrons wearing their favorite soccer jersey can receive 25% off their first drink at the concessions bar.
*Those awards are: (1) The Evening Standard Theatre Award and (2) Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, (3) The Stage Debut Award for Best Writer, the (4) George Devine Award, and the (5) Off-West End Award for Best New Play.
Red Pitch runs September 17-October 19, 2025 in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theater Lab at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd, Olney, MD. Regular performances are Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 pm, with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 pm (no matinee Saturday, September 20). Tickets range from $47-$95. Purchase via olneytheatre.org/redpitch or 301-924-3400. Discounts are available for groups, seniors, teachers, active military, first responders, and students. Visit olneytheatre.org/discounts for details.
ACCESSIBILITY
Audio-described performance on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 pm
Sign interpreted performance on Thursday, October 9 at 7:30 pm
ABOUT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER
Mission
Olney Theatre Center for the Arts produces and curates theatrical performance for the diverse audiences in its community, and educates, learns from, supports and inspires a more inclusive generation of theater-makers.
Vision
Olney strives to become an arts and culture powerhouse, redefining the American regional theater movement by cultivating and sharing the creativity of its community.
History
Founded in 1938 as a summer playhouse, Olney Theatre Center now produces year-round world and American premieres of plays and musicals, and reimaginings of familiar titles; presents the work of leading companies; tours nationally and locally; teaches students of all ages; and mentors the next generation of theatremakers. For more than 8 decades, Olney Theatre has brought impactful theater performance and education to its community, helping to grow the vibrancy and vitality of its home in central Maryland.
Over the years, some of the biggest names in theater and film have appeared on Olney stages, including Tallulah Bankhead, Helen Hayes, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Bob Fosse, Phillip Bosco, Eve Arden, Eva Gabor, Burl Ives, Jose Ferrer, Carol Channing, Olivia de Havilland, Tony Randall, Paulette Goddard, Dorothy and Lillian Gish, Jane Seymour, Anne Revere, Frances Sternhagen, Arthur Treacher, James Broderick, Olympia Dukakis, Sir Ian McKellen, Marica Gay Harden, John Colicos, Uzo Aduba, Alan Cumming, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, among many, many others.
Olney Theatre is now the cultural anchor of a rapidly changing region and serves one of the most diverse, best educated, and wealthiest counties in the country. Situated on the unceded land of the Piscataway-Conoy people, the Olney area was once a rural farming community with a unique Quaker heritage. Now the area is occupied by every kind of family that makes up 21st-century America, along with major corporations, shopping districts, civic associations, non profit organizations and a diverse collection of houses of worship. Montgomery County’s 1 million residents play a dynamic role in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, and is a driving force behind the region’s creative economy.
