Resonant with Arthur Miller's The Crucible, SPOKEN WORD takes place in a small community dominated by hearsay, fear, outrage, and over-reaching authority figures, on the isolated campus of a Midwest university - sex, race, and gender, collide in an epic culture war.
At the center of this genre-bending drama are two undergrads - one Persian, the other Black - trying to navigate their conflicted feelings, while social loyalties, family obligations, and administrative pressures encroach on their privacy with an oppressive need to know everything about their sexual encounter gone wrong. In SPOKEN WORD everyone will have their say, and it all turns on a single word - never spoken.
We are located at:
The Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Box Office: (773) 404-7336 Website: www.mpaact.org
Running: January 17 – March 1, 2020
All Show Times: Thursdays – Saturdays 8pm & Sundays 3pm
Mainstage: $20 - $38 single tickets. Group tickets available.
About MPAACT
MPAACT was founded in 1991 by a group of like-minded individuals who shared an artistic vision and who wanted to develop, nurture, and sustain Afrikan Centered Theatre, which is grounded in the many cultures and traditions of the African continent and its Diaspora. With a vision focused on creating new work and collaborative art, MPAACT produces and educates with the goal of increasing understanding and appreciation of Afrikan Centered Theatre and its interrelated disciplines, including not only main stage and standing productions but also a playwright's laboratory, original music, a publishing company (Sakhu Publications), an arts education program, and many workshops and master classes.
About THE SEASON
MPAACT dedicates this season to a varied and nuanced exploration of the America's culture wars. With works examining the soldiers, casualties and the less than innocent by-standers of our national recalibration of identity, sexuality, race, class and gender... We ask the question... Is the concept of being "woke" part of the problem, part of the solution, or simply business as usual?
The PLAYERS
Jelani Pitcher Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jelani moved to Chicago after graduating from Ithaca College’s BFA Acting program. Most recently he was seen as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre’s production of The Mountaintop, which garnered him a Black Theatre Alliance Award nomination. Other Chicago credits include: Sweet (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre), A Home on the Lake (Piven Theatre Workshop), Cardboard Piano (TimeLine Theatre Company), and Topdog/Underdog (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre)- for which he won the Black Theatre Alliance Award for “Best Actor in an Ensemble”. Regional credits include: Our Town (Artistry Theatre), King Lear (Theater at Monmouth), Slashes of Light (Kitchen Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Ithaca Shakespeare Company), Othello (4615 Theatre Company), and My Children! My Africa! (Civic Ensemble). Jelani is proudly represented by DDO Artists Agency. jelanipitcher.com
Nadia Pillay Nadia Pillay is a Chicago based actress and company member of Theatre Y. Stage credits include Stories of the Body with Theatre Y. She’s had the tremendous opportunity to collaborate with McKay Arts in It’s Okay to Say Goodbye, and Westloop Paradise directed by Antoine McKay (Empire, Southside) Past credits include working with the acclaimed The Good Night Ladies in a one-woman show 22nd Century. She has had the privilege of partnering with Congo Square’s new playwrights’ and mounting a one woman show Invisible Crowns. She was recently seen in Theatre Y’s critically acclaimed Self-Accusation. In addition to acting Nadia is a writer, director, and a producer winning Nadia Pillay is proud company member of Theatre Y who was recently granted $50,000 by the MacArthur Foundation to create and perform the critically acclaimed The Camino Project in Serbia. With both stage and on-camera pursuits, Nadia’s recent TV Pilot “The Dryver” has received “Winner” distinctions and awards for Best Pilot at the Global Film Festival and the Vegas Film Festival. www.nadiapillay.com
Allison Feist Allison Feist is a California transplant, brand new to Chicago. She received her degree from the University of California, Irvine, and most recently completed the Actor Conservatory Training Program with PCPA in Santa Maria, Ca. Previous productions include Sylvia, (Sylvia), Romeo and Juliet, (Nurse/Prince), Angels in America (Harper/Martin), Summer and Smoke (Alma), Midsummer Night's Dream (Quince), Oklahoma! (Ado Annie), 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Dale Prist), The Wolves (Soccer Mom U/S), and The Little Dog Laughed, (Ellen). www.allisonfeist.com
Ashlea Woodley is an actor, teacher, and devising artist originally hailing from Campbellsport, Wisconsin. Regional credits include Anne/Woman U/S in The Father at Remy Bumppo (dir. Kay Martinovich), Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Jacaranda Collective at The Den Theater (dir. Sam Bianchini), Constantine in The Seagull at Cooperative Performance (dir. Don Russell), and Inger in Number the Stars at GreatWorks Theatre Company (dir. Matt O’Brien). She holds her MFA from The Theatre School at DePaul. She is a fierce advocate for individuals with different abilities in all performance media and works with Chicago Children's Theatre Camp Red Kite. Find her online at ashleawoodley.com.
Veronda Carey has performed with several Chicago theatres including: Steppenwolf, Remy Bumppo, Congo Square, Fleetwood-Jourdain, Circle Theatre, Theatre on The Lake and ETA.