Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the cast and creative team for The Motion. A fiercely intelligent and emotionally charged exploration of humanity by Obie Award winner Christopher Chen, The Motion journeys through memory, identity, and the fragile boundaries of belief. Directed by Arena Stage Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif, this thought-provoking dissertation will run May 6 – June 14, 2026, in Arena’s in-the-round Fichandler Stage. For information and tickets, visit arenastage.org/motion.
“I could not be more thrilled to be working with the brilliant Hana Sharif and this outstanding cast and creative team to bring this play to life,” shared Chen. “The play is a wild ride that wrestles with big questions, and I am so grateful to be working with collaborators who share its adventurous, provocative spirit.”
What begins as razor-sharp debate between four scholars swiftly spirals into a real-life experiment: where the scientists become the subjects. Stripped of the world they know, they wrestle with profound and unsettling questions about purpose, morality, and what it truly means to be alive. Where certainty shatters, vulnerability reigns, and no conviction emerges unscathed, they find unexpected solace, love, and companionship. The Motion is a searing thinkpiece into the core of the human condition. Who deserves to love? Who deserves to live? And, most importantly, who gets to decide what it means to be human?
Last month, Chen was named a 2025 recipient of the Steinberg Playwright Awards (the “Mimi” Awards). Presented annually by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust to two early-to-mid-career playwrights, the $100,000 award celebrates writers whose work consistently demonstrates exceptional talent and artistic excellence.
From the first time I read it, I knew The Motion was something special — riveting, emotionally compelling, and unlike anything else in American theater,” said Sharif. “Chris Chen is a once-in-a-generation playwright whose work pulls down the walls between audience and stage, drawing us into a profound exploration of who we are and how we live together, combining real intelligence with genuine heart and humor.”
The cast bringing this live debate to the Fichandler Stageincludes Barzin Akhavan (Broadway’s The Kite Runner), Peregrine Teng Heard (Arena’s POTUS), Nehal Joshi (Broadway’s The Cottage), Nancy Robinette (Broadway’s Prayer for the French Republic), and Nikkole Salter (Broadway’s The Great Society), along with Eli El (Arena’s Fremont Ave.)and Yesenia Iglesias (The Public Theater’s Public Charge) as understudies.
The creative team joining Sharif includes set designer Tim Mackabee (Broadway’s The Elephant Man), costume designer Mika Eubanks (Manhattan Theatre Club’s The Monsters), lighting designer Jason Lynch (Washington National Opera’s The Crucible), with sound design and original music by Charles Coes and Nathan A. Roberts (Arena’s The Age of Innocence). The associate director is Alexis Kulani Woodard. Casting is by The Tesley Office/Destiny Lilly, CSA and Raiyon Hunter, CSA. The stage manager for this production is Christi B. Spann and the assistant stage manager is Margaret V. Warner.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Barzin Akhavan (Dr. Alan James) Arena: Mary Zimmerman’s The Arabian Nights. Other DC credits: Pericles (Folger); Inana and Lidless (CATF). Broadway: Network, The Kite Runner. Select NYC productions: Fuente Ovejuna (TFNA), Macbeth (CSC), Richard II (Public/WNYC), Hamlet (Waterwell), 2nd Stage (Meet the Cartozian’s), Coriolanus (TFNA). International: Aftermath (Melbourne, Paris, Amsterdam), A Thousand Splendid Suns (Theater Calgary). Select regional theater companies: Seattle Rep, Guthrie, Berkeley Rep, ACT SF, Baltimore Centerstage, Huntington, Cincinnati Playhouse, Virginia Stage, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, 4 seasons with the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, 6 seasons with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Film: F.A.S.T. (Upcoming), Zugzwang (upcoming), Ezra, Funny Face. Select TV: The Blacklist, Chicago Med, Girls5Eva, SMASH, Law and Order: CI. MFA University of Washington.
Peregrine Teng Heard (Professor Lily Chan) is a DC-born, Brooklyn-based actor and playwright. She last appearedat Arena Stage in POTUS (u/s Stephanie and Jean). Other regional credits include Tom Jones and Remix 38 at Actors Theatre of Louisville. New York credits include the world premiere of Chuck Mee’s soot and spit (The New Ohio), Call Out Culture: or, the unbearable whiteness of being (Ars Nova ANT Fest), Ski End (Piehole), and Sehnsucht (JACK). Peregrine is the artistic director of The Associates Theater Ensemble, with whom she has devised and performed The Cousinhood (The Center at West Park), Sheila (A.R.T./New York Theatres), Black Protagonist (124 Bank Street Theater), and Freesome (The Brick). Peregrine’s plays Redemption Story and On the Prowl with Ada Tsiao were O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Semifinalists in 2023 and 2024.
Nehal Joshi (Professor Neel Bharara) is astonished to mark his 9th show & 10th appearance here. He has appeared as Benny Van Buren in Damn Yankees, Ali Hakim in Oklahoma!, Amir in Disgraced, Catch Me If You Can (Helen Hayes nom), Mother Courage with Kathleen Turner, Unknown Soldier, The Music Man, & Señor Discretion Himself. DC credits include: Babbitt (Shakespeare Theatre), Woolly Mammoth, Olney Theater Center, Kennedy Center, Theater J. Broadway: The Cottage, All My Sons, The Phantom of the Opera (closing cast), Flying Over Sunset, School of Rock, Gettin’ the Band Back Together, Les Misérables (1st revival), The Threepenny Opera. Off-Broadway: Cyrano, Working (2008 revision), Grand Hotel (Encores!). Regional include: Dallas Theater Center, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Goodman, Huntington. Video games: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Television/Film “The Wire,” “Search Party” (HBO), “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC), “Blackout,” “Under One Roof.” Honors: Special Drama Desk Award. He would like to thank you for being here today and supporting the American theater.
Nancy Robinette (Moderator) was most recently seen at Arena in Death on the Nile, The Heiress, Well, and Ah, Wilderness!. Other recent roles in DC include Nan in Jennifer Who Is Leaving (Round House), Carrie in The Trip to Bountiful (Ford’s), Bubbe in The Chameleon (Theater J), and Aunt Barb in Problems Between Sisters (Studio). She was recently on Broadway in Prayer for the French Republic (Manhattan Theatre Club), and earlier in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. For Prayer, she received an Outer Critics Circle nomination; for her 40-plus years in DC theater, she received a Helen Hayes Tribute.
Nikkole Salter (Dr. Sarah Matthis) has recently appeared in Washington DC productions including As You Like It and Julius X at Folger Theatre, We Are Gathered at Arena Stage, The Confederates at Mosaic Theatre Company, Jumping Off Point at Round House Theatre, and as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare Theatre Company. On Broadway she portrayed Coretta Scott King in The Great Society at Lincoln Center Theater, and Off-Broadway appeared in Gloria (DR2) and her co-authored play In the Continuum at Primary Stages among others. A playwright and director, she has also appeared on television in New Amsterdam and Godfather of Harlem. Her honors include recognition from Helen Hayes Awards, Outer Critics Circle, OBIE, Audelco, IRNE and Acclaim. Nikkole is professor of acting and playwriting and inaugural chair of the Department of Theatre Arts in Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts.
Eli El (u/s Dr. Alan James, Professor Neel Bharara) is returning to Arena Stage after performing in Fremont Ave. (2025), The Great Society (2018). Other theater performances include The Piano Lesson (1st Stage), Testosterone and Migraaaaants (ExPats Theatre), AJAX (Scena Theatre), Radio Golf (Roundhouse Theatre), FAT HAM (Studio Theatre), A Thirst for Freedom (Live Garra) and many more. He has completed and is currently involved with several independent film projects (Once Upon a Time in The District, Unarmed Man, Harriet, The Meek, Last Night, THICK, etc. Eli has directed (The Healing Floor) award winner DCBTF. He also directed a feature film and two shorts (The Cracked Mask and Lay Me Down). His motto is “you can learn from anyone, if only you allow yourself to.”
Yesenia Iglesias (u/s Dr. Sarah Matthis, Professor Lily Chan, Moderator) is a Washington, D.C.-based artist and educator from Bayamón, Puerto Rico. She is thrilled to be returning to Arena Stage after previously appearing in POTUS. Select local theater credits include: The Garbologists (Theater Alliance), Metamorphoses (Folger Shakespeare), At the Wedding (Studio Theater), Primary Trust (Signature Theater), Daphne’s Dive (Signature Theater), and Kid Prince and Pablo (The Kennedy Center), among others. She has performed on stages across the DMV including Ford’s Theater, Shakespeare Theater Company, Olney Theater Center, Imagination Stage, Round House Theater, and Constellation Theater Company. Regional credits include Don’t Eat the Mangos (Huntington Theatre Company), and Off-Broadway in Public Charge (The Public Theater). Her work is also featured in various commercials, and audio books. Forever grateful to her family! MFA: University of Washington – PATP.
The Motion runs May 6 – June 14, 2026, in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 Sixth St SW, Washington, DC. Tickets start at $49 and are available at arenastage.org. Tickets may also be purchased through the Sales Office by phone at 202-488-3300, Tuesday through Sunday, 12-6PM, or in person at 1101 Sixth Street, SW, Washington, DC, Tuesday through Sunday, 2 hours before the show begins on performance days.
Groups of 10 or more may book tickets at arenastage.org/groups or via email at groups@arenastage.org.
Arena Stage’s many savings programs include “pay your age” tickets for those aged 35 and under; military, first responder, and educator discounts; student discounts; and “Southwest Nights” for those living and working in the District’s Southwest neighborhood. To learn more, visit arenastage.org/savings-programs.
PERFORMANCE DATES
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday at 7:30PM
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8PM
Saturday and Sunday at 2PM
Weekday matinees at 12PM on May 28, June 3, and June 10
Times are subject to change. Please confirm on the website upon booking.
Southwest Night Performances: Wednesday, May 6 through Wednesday, May 13
Early Curtain Performance: Sunday, June 7 at 6PM
Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, May 30 at 2PM
Closed Captioning: Globetitles will be available at select performances.
College Night: Saturday, May 9 at 8PM
Pride Night: Wednesday, May 13 at 7:30PM
HBCU Night: Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30PM
Young Professionals Night: Saturday, May 30 at 8PM
Post-Show Conversations
Connect with the show beyond the performance at a post-show conversation on June 3 following the 12PM matinee, and on June 9 following the 7:30PM performance.
ABOUT ARENA STAGE
The first racially integrated theater in our nation’s capital and a pioneer of the regional theater movement, Arena Stage was founded in 1950 in Washington, DC. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is a national center dedicated to American voices and artists. Arena produces plays of all that is passionate, profound, deep, and dangerous in the American spirit, and presents diverse and groundbreaking work from some of the best artists around the country. Consistently contributing to the American theatrical lexicon by commissioning and developing new plays, Arena Stage impacts the lives of over 10,000 students annually through its work in community engagement and serves a diverse annual audience of more than 300,000.
