Hunter John and Jane

By Amina Henry
August 2 - 18, 2018

In her third production at JACK, playwright Amina Henry shares a ghost story, with songs, about a homeless man who is approached in the park by the ghost of a murdered prostitute. The ghost enlists him on a quest to find her remains so that her grieving mother can finally bury her and move past her mourning. Hunter John and Jane approaches trauma, mental illness and violence towards women in a whimsical way, giving the audience the opportunity to engage with difficult topics through poetic language as well as through a rich musical and visual landscape. With this play, Henry re-imagines what a love story can be, re-imagines what a musical can be, and proposes a world in which all lost or missing individuals are worthy of being found.

Performers: Erin Cherry*, Bob Jaffe*, Madelyn McCray*, Jenson Smith*, Daniel Kublick*, Carolyn Holding*, Ugo Chukwu*, Jane Bradley* (* indicates member of Actors Equity Association)

Director: Sash Bischoff
Set Design: Brett Banakis
Lighting Design: Jamie Roderick
Costume Design: David Crowley
Composer: Jared Saltiel
Musician: Jack Dentinger
Puppet Master: James Ortiz
Fight Choreographer: Esco Jouléy
Stage Management: Joel Andrew Cote

DATES/TIMES
August 2 - 4 at 8 pm
August 8 - 11 at 8 pm
August 15 - 18 at 8 pm

Amina Henry (playwright & producer) is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer. Productions include: Ducklings at JACK, The Animals at JACK (developed with The Brooklyn Generator), Happily Ever at Brooklyn College, An American Family Takes a Lover at Theater for the New City, Bully at Interrobang Theater, Water produced by Drama of Works and The Minstrel Show, produced as part of the 2013 Bring a Weasel and a Pint of Your Own Blood Festival at 13th Street Theater/CSC (NYC). Her work has been developed by and/or presented at: The New Group, The Flea, Clubbed Thumb, National Black Theater, Barefoot Theater, Little Theater at Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR), Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas, TX) and Interrobang Theatre (Baltimore, MD), among others. She has been a participant in Clubbed Thumb's Early Career Writers, Page 73's Interstate 73 writers group and Ars Nova's emerging writers group. She is also a recipient of a 2017-2018 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) Space Grant.

Sash Bischoff (Director) is a freelance director based in New York who specializes in the development of new plays, musicals, and plays with music. Sash creates theater that is heightened and theatrical, while also rooted in specificity and emotional truth. Sash strives to create work that engages and calls upon an audience's imagination. Her work typically has an actor-driven, minimalist aesthetic, stripped down to what is essential in the telling of the story. Credits include James Presson's FUCK MARRY KILL (New Ohio); James Presson’s LONG DIVISION (Portland Center Stage); Stephanie Del Rosso’s FLEE (NY Stage & Film, Colt Coeur); Susan Soon-He Stanton’s HOTEL (The Civilians); Nick Gandiello’s CANDYLAND, Sofia Alvarez’ LIFE, and Erica Saleh’s TABOO (as an evening at Ars Nova); Michael Mitnick’s BABS THE DODO (Williamstown); Nick Gandiello’s SWEPT (Williamstown); Meghan Kennedy’s NAPOLI, BROOKLYN (Williamstown); Michael Mitnick’s SEVEN CATEGORIES (Williamstown); Mat Smart’s COLD (Williamstown); Bekah Brunstetter’s MINE (Chautauqua); Nick Gandiello’s HOW THE MOON WOULD TALK (Keen Company); Amina Henry’s THE WHITE PARTY (Clubbed Thumb, National Black Theatre); James Presson’s MARY IN THE CLUB (Judson); Amina Henry’s THE JOHNSONS (Judson); Claire Keichel’s NORWAY (The ______ Space); Sarah DeLappe’s TRUMP (The Flea); and Amy Witting’s ELEVEN SHADES OF BLUE (Pipeline). She has served as an associate to John Doyle, Richard Nelson, John Rando, Jack O’Brien, Jo Bonney, Christopher Ashley, Anne Kauffman, Davis McCallum, Rob Ashford, and others. Alum of The Civilians R&D Group, The Lincoln Center Directors Lab, and the 2011 SDC Traube Fellow. Princeton University.

Bob Jaffe (Hunter John) is a New York-based actor working in film and theater. Notable theater credits include But For the Grace... (solo show) at the Trinity Repertory Company and elsewhere, ...and then you go on (solo show) at Berkshire Theatre Festival and elsewhere, Bug, Black Maria and Suicide in B Flat at Providence Black Repertory Theater, and The Biscuit Club and The Real McGonagall at the cell. He is a lifetime member of the Ensemble Studio Theater.

Erin Cherry (Jane) received her M.F.A in Acting from Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. She's appeared at The Cherry Lane Theatre, MTC, Luna Stage, The Flea Theater, Penguin Rep, Hartford Stage, St. Louis Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Classical Theatre of Harlem, New York Stage and Film, Capitol Rep, The Prince Music Theatre, The Guthrie Theatre, Crossroads Theatre, to name a few. She is the host of her own video blog show called Sunday’s With A Cherry on Top which is a health and lifestyle show on Black Culture and she is a private acting coach and acting teacher at Maggie Flanigan Studio. You can catch her as Brenda on the series After Forever that you can watch on Amazon Prime Video. You can also follow her on twitter @cherryacts and on Instagram @Sundayswithacherryontop

Photo Credit: Ed Forti