Jackie Davis News

When you get seated inside the Chace Theater at Trinity Rep, you might think you're in the wrong place. Eugene Lee's set for A TALE OF TWO CITIES, written by Brian McEleny and based on Dickens' novel, looks like a library. Stacks and stacks of books on two levels set behind rows of tables. When Christopher Sadlers and Joel Thibodeau enter alone to perform a musical introduction, you might still be confused. Check your program; you're in the right place. Not until the actors appear and begin intoning 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .,' are you totally certain. It's a roundabout trip, but A TALE OF TWO CITIES ends up where it needs to be.

Trinity Repertory Company presents A Tale of Two Cities.

Trinity Rep will continue its 2019-20 Season with a timeless classic retold, A Tale of Two Cities. Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky, who last brought audiences Little Shop of Horrors, this is a beautifully vibrant production that is at once sweepingly epic and profoundly personal. Based on the novel by Charles Dickens and adapted by resident acting company member Brian McEleney, the story famously depicts the best of times and worst of times. A Tale of Two Cities runs February 20 - March 22, with press opening on Monday, February 24 at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $27. More information can be found at www.TrinityRep.com/tale.

Friedrich Nietzsche said, 'He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.' In Dance Nation, currently running at The Wilbury Theatre Group, the hopeful young dancers put everything they can into learning and perfecting how to dance, so that it might eventually help them take flight.

Trinity Repertory Company presents Marisol.  Directed by Brian Mertes. Performances run May 16 - June 16. Tickets are on sale by phone at (401) 351-4242, online at www.TrinityRep.com, or in person at the theater's box office at 201 Washington Street, Providence.

Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater opens the 2019 season of live theater with Race, by David Mamet, June 5-28. Race is directed by Jackie Davis, with stage and film actors Johnny Lee Davenport, John Kooi, Bill Mootos, and Tyra Ann-Marie Wilson. Performances are at 8:00 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays (with one Monday performance on June 24). Two preview performances, June 5 and 6, begin at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is June 7, at 8 p.m.

Trinity Rep will conclude its dynamic 2018-19 Season with the primal and poetic Marisol by Obie award-winning playwright Jos Rivera. This production focuses on the sensational search for hope among the ruins.

The Homeric epic The Odyssey, is at its core, a story of a man trying to return home after a war. black odyssey is much the same, but instead of Odysseus, hero of the Trojan war, we follow Ulysses Lincoln, a black man who joined the army to earn some money for his young family, but who was pulled into an unexpected war after the attacks of September 11, 2001. This retelling blends the classic story of The Odyssey with lots of music, fantastic costumes, heartbreak and laughter. Unlike the character of Odysseus, who seems most himself when he's fighting, killing or talking his way out of a situation; Ulysses Lincoln is a man who wants to go home, but who is also feels unworthy because of things he did during the war. He's a much more human character, played with perfect humility and inner turmoil by Joe Wilson Jr. Knowledge of the original story of The Odyssey may make certain in-jokes in this play slightly funnier, but there's absolutely no need to slog through that tome before experiencing this excellent production.

Trinity Rep will continue its 2018-19 Season with the epic tale of black odyssey by Marcus Gardley. Inspired by Homer's Odyssey, this story examines Ulysses Lincoln's journey home from war when the world - and the gods - are against him. This adventure brings the combination of history and heart together in a poignant and imaginative story that will captivate audiences. This production will feature resident acting company members, Jude Sandy and Joe Wilson, Jr. as co-directors, with Joe Wilson, Jr. as Ulysses Lincoln. black odyssey runs January 3 - February 3 with press opening on Monday, January 7 at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $25. More information can be found at www.trinityrep.com/odyssey.

On Monday, May 7th The League of Professional Theatre Women (Kelli Lynn Harrison & Lisa Rothe, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been leading the gender parity conversation and championing women in the professional theatre for over 35 years, presented the final Oral History event of their 2017-18 season with two-time Tony Award winner Chita Rivera in the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (111 Amsterdam Avenue at 65th Street). Ms. Rivera talked about her life and illustrious career with Broadway World's lead correspondent, Richard Ridge, host of Backstage with Richard Ridge. 

From October 20 to November 25, 2017, SpeakEasy Stage Company will proudly present the Boston Regional Theatre premiere of the 2015 Tony Award-winning play THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME.

Israeli Stage presents the North American premiere production of Hanna Azoulay-Hasfari's DAYS OF ATONEMENT, a dramatic exploration of the Moroccan-Israeli immigrant experience through the eyes of four estranged sisters who reunite when their mother goes missing on the eve of Yom Kippur. Producing Artistic Director Guy Ben-Aharon directs the stripped-down staging featuring a quartet of strong, complex performances from Jackie Davis, Adrianne Krstansky, Ramona Lisa Alexander, and Dana Stern.

BARBECUE is a play about which one cannot say too much without ruining its considerable effect. Here's the minimalist FYI, things you need to know but that won't give anything away. It is written by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams, and features an ensemble cast of ten actors who all give great performances and disappear into their richly drawn characters. Taking place on a raised pavilion in a pastoral park, the lovely setting belies the serious nature of the subjects (substance abuse, family dysfunction, race) that BARBECUE serves up on a platter. And one more thing - it's a comedy.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents Barbecue by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams and running April 7 - May 7, 2017. Click below to watch a trailer for the show!

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents Barbecue by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams and running April 7 - May 7, 2017. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company!

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston has announced its cast and creative team for Barbecue by Robert O'Hara, directed by Summer L. Williams and running April 7 - May 7, 2017.

The Boston One-Minute Play Festival (#1MPF) returns with a twist: the sixth annual festival will celebrate the works of all women-identified playwrights and directors, as part of 1MPF's National Women's Initiative. Boston joins New York, Minneapolis, Chicago, South Florida, and other cities including an all women-identified cohort of artists this season. The aim of this program is to get a cohort of women-identified theatremakers in the room, uphold the important themes, ideas, conversations, and dialogues that bubble up to the surface, and hold space for valuable community conversations.

Anserine Productions is proud to present its very first production of Don't Know Nobody That Bo ogies Anymore, by Andy Gaus, directed by Jackie Davis. The show opens Wednesday September 7, with a low­price preview on Tuesday, September 6. It will run Wednesday through Sunday at 8 p.m. from September 7, 2016 through September 25, 2016 at the Black Box at the Arsenal Center For the Arts, 321 Arsenal St, Watertown, MA 02472.

The New England premiere of Robert O'Hara's BOOTYCANDY at SpeakEasy Stage Company is based on the author's own experiences of growing up black and gay in America. Similar in structure and tone to THE COLORED MUSEUM, it is a series of loosely connected vignettes that rely on humor and satire to confront racial, sexual, and cultural stereotypes. Summer L. Williams directs an outstanding cast of five actors who portray nearly two dozen characters.

From tonight, March 12, to April 9, 2016, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England Premiere of BOOTYCANDY, a shockingly funny and saucy spin on race, sex, and sexuality, written by award-winning playwright and director Robert O'Hara.