Fresh off its first Jeff Award winning season, Pulse Theatre Chicago opens its 2024/2025 season with the world premiere of a new play, Beneath The Willow Tree by Jeff Award Winner, Isis Elizabeth and directed by artistic director, Aaron Reese Boseman.
The vagabond theatre company is the 2024 Jeff Award Recipient for Best Ensemble (Short Run) for its critically acclaimed production of Once on This Island; the production was also nominated for Best Production (Short Run). Pulse Theatre Chicago’s mission is to ambitiously tell stories with a unique outlook and visceral honesty to the human experience. Pulse seeks to break the barriers of archetypes and convention in American Theatre. They also seek to cultivate the next generation of artists with a specific focus on BIMPOC and Queer communities through innovative programming and creating a safe space, challenging audiences and collaborators alike.
Through its inaugural New Play Initiative, Pulse Theatre Chicago will produce Beneath The Willow Tree. It is a spiritual family drama that centers around the spiraling Bordeaux Family, in its a matriarchal family home of three black women in a Louisiana Bayou. When Willow Bordeaux comes home from NYU with a new love interest, unearthed family secrets unfold a visceral and spiritual story of unpacked family trauma and trampled traditions. The Bordeaux women must begrudgingly move towards a path of healing, acceptance, and new identity. It will be the first original play produced by the company. Through this initiative, Pulse Theatre Chicago will support their emerging playwright, Isis Elizabeth, by commissioning the piece and bringing Isis Elizabeth on the project as an artistic associate.
The family drama will be workshopped during the Spring and Summer of 2024, for a full production in September. Beneath the Willow Tree will be helmed by Pulse Theatre Artistic Director, Aaron Reese Boseman (Topdog/Underdog - Invictus Theatre, Once on This Island- Pulse Theatre Chicago).
Joining the principal cast will be Sierra Coachman as Willow Bordeaux, Yahdina U-Deen as Betty Bordeaux, Monique Marshaun as Gloria Bordeaux, ASH as Zurie , Dylan Rogers as Dantè, Deyani Wilson as Young Willow. The production also features Aiya Hunter, David Taylor, Chartamia Turner, Kemati J. Porter, and Karli Scott as understudies.
The creative production team: Aaron Reese Boseman (Director/Producer), Kevin M. Rolfs (Scenic Design), Levi J. Wilkins (Lighting Design), Terri Devine (Costume Designer), Ethan Korvne (Composer), Warren Levon (Sound Design), Gregory Geffrard (Intimacy & Violence Director), Susan Gosdick (Dialect Coach), and Kenya Hall (Dramaturgy), Isis Elizabeth (Associate Director). Beneath The Willow Tree is sponsored by The Michael and Mona Heath Fund and co-produced by Aaron Reese Boseman Productions, LLC.
Previews begin September 6, opening September 8, 2024 at The Den Theatre (Upstairs Mainstage) with a limited run through September 29, 2024. Tickets range from $25-$45. More show information can be found and tickets can be purchased at www.pulsetheatrechicago.org.
About Pulse Theatre Chicago
Pulse Theatre Chicago’s mission is to ambitiously tell stories with a unique outlook and visceral honesty to the human experience. Pulse seeks to break the barriers of archetypes and convention in American Theatre. They also seek to cultivate the next generation of artists with a specific focus on BIMPOC and Queer communities through innovative programming and creating a safe space, challenging audiences and collaborators alike.
BENEATH THE WILLOW TREE (A World Premiere)
September 6-29, 2024 | The Den Theatre
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL. 60622
Written by Isis Elizabeth | Directed by Aaron Reese Boseman
www.pulsetheatrechicago.org | Purchase Tickets Here