All god’s Chillun got wings

By Eugene O’Neill
Directed by Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr.
September 5-21, 2013

For this provocative, rarely-produced 1924 Eugene O’Neill play about an interracial marriage, JACK co-founder Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (Dispatches from (A)mended America) divides the audience by race – black on one side, white on the other, and others forced to choose a side. In the play, Jim, a black man, loves Ella, a white woman. She loves him back. They struggle to come together from grade school through high school graduation and into marriage. Ella begins to mentally unravel and undermines Jim's attempts to become a lawyer, setting the stage for a rabid climax. O'Neill paints a bitter picture about the external pressures on interracial marriage, but the biggest pressures come from within Jim and Ella themselves. Civic Ensemble and Above The Fold co-produce.

Cast: Devin Haqq*, Barbra Wengerd*, Vernice Miller*, Lori Parquet*, Brandt Adams*, Kevaughn Harvey*, and Jamie Watkins
*Appears courtesy of Actors Equity Association
Lighting Design: Christina Watanabe
Sound Designer: Mark Van Hare
Stage Manager: Kimberly Alava

Performance schedule:
Thursday – Saturday, September 5 – 7 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 8 at 2 pm
Wednesday - Saturday, September 11 – 14 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 15 at 2 pm
Tuesday – Saturday, September 17 – 21 at 7:30 pm

BIOS

Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (Director) recently co-wrote and starred in the documentary play Dispatches from (A)mended America, which was produced by OBIE-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble in the fall of 2012. Dispatches... examines the hopes, fears and dreams of the American South during the month leading up to President Barack Obama's inauguration. has been championing and shepherding new scripts and adaptations toward production for over 15 years. He was most recently seen in Epic’s take on Richard III entitled Born with Teeth. In summer of 2012, Godfrey appeared as Macduff in Epic’s re-imagining of Macbeth in NYC, and in February 2013 he appeared as Hambone in Syracuse Stage’s production of Two Trains Running. Godfrey also recently co-wrote and appeared in The Lost Children, Mark Harris' independent film about death cults. Godfrey appeared in Alec Duffy's acclaimed site-specific production of Murder in the Cathedral at The Church of St. Joseph in Brooklyn.

Civic Ensemble creates theatre that explores and explodes the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. Through the production of new and overlooked plays, community-based plays, and re-imaginings of classics, Civic Ensemble works to bring audiences of different races, classes, and experiences together in a public forum on the American experiment.

Above The Fold is Brandt Adams and Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., two actor/writer/teaching artists who make investigative theatre about Race in America.

Photo by Christina Watanabe