MPAACT Theatre presents their fall production in Season 31, a world premiere, Ride or Die at The Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614
Box Office: (773) 404-7336 / boxoffice@greenhousetheater.org
Website: www.mpaact.org
Running: October 16 – November 20, 2022
All Show Times: All Thursday - Saturdays 8pm All Sundays 3pm
Mainstage: $22 - $40 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 Play:
Brought to life by a stellar company of voices, Ride or Die is culled from the 200 entries of Project Uplift, a collection of moments that will forever define a generation. A "two-week exercise" to "keep sane" has exploded into a yearlong chronicle of our time. Shepsu Aakhu, in a fit of frustration, creativity, and a need to connect with our collective humanity, has generated some of the most joyous, vulnerable, and delightfully (if sometimes brutally) honest excavations of collective and personal crises. Penned while in lock down, and originally shared with a small community of artmakers we gain a rare glimpse into the pandemic and its aftermath - all through a Black prism.
From the Director:
What the world went through in 2020 and 2021 will be written and talked about throughout the ages. Sooner or later every director in professional theatre will do, or be asked to do, a pandemic /covid play. This is mine. - Chuck Smith
About the Director:
Chuck Smith is an Associate Artist at MPMCT where he has directed several projects from ChrisT (1999) to Crowns (2019). He is a member of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees and is a Goodman Theatre Resident Director. He is also a resident director at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida. His directing credits include productions at The Goodman, Boston's Huntington Theatre Co., Fisk Univ., Roosevelt Univ., Eclipse Theatre, ETA, Black Ensemble, Northlight, Congo Square, The New Regal Theater, Kuumba Theatre Co., Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, Pegasus Players, the Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, the University of Illinois in Urbana, and the Univ. of Wisconsin in Madison. He is a 2003 inductee into the Chicago State Univ. Gwendolyn Brooks Center's Literary Hall of Fame and a 2001 Chicago Tribune Chicagoan of the Year. He is the proud recipient of the 1982 Paul Robeson Award and the 1997 Award of Merit presented by the Black Theater Alliance of Chicago. Smith also holds an honorary PhD from Governors State University.
About the Players:
J. Xavier (Ensemble) is an artistic omnivore, he is a Chicago born artist that brings life to the work that he does. He has graced the stage in productions such as Red Summer, A Raisin in the Sun, Sister Act, Mr. Burns a post Electric Play, and many immersive and devised theatre pieces. He has also performed on the Old Globe stage in London. His play At Arm’s Length is currently being workshopped in Chicago. After receiving a masters from Loyola University Chicago, he produced several short documentaries. One being, For My Brother: The Legacy of Joseph Beam, which details the life of the late activist Joseph Beam.
Reji Simon (Ensemble) Reji is a Chicago based artist, overjoyed to join MPAACT for Ride or Die. Reji’s favorite Chicago credits include The Van Gogh Café & The Snow Queen (Filament Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Hamlet & A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Muse of Fire); I and You (Redtwist Theatre); and American Revolution & Moon Shot (Theatre Unspeakable). Regionally, he has performed with Cleveland Play House (Cleveland, OH) and was seen in StageOne Family Theatre’s world premiere of And in This Corner… Cassius Clay (Louisville, KY). On television, he has appeared in CBS’ The Red Line. Reji is the Associate Artistic Director of Filament Theatre.
Jordan Gleaves (Ensemble) An actor/teaching artist/playwright, Jordan is ecstatic to be hitting the stage once again since the shutdown. He was most recently in TimeLine Theatre Company’s production of RELENTLESS (u/s) at both Goodman Theatre and Theater Wit. Additional local credits are SUNSET BABY (Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre) and ALOFT (Collaboraction). His regional credits include MACBETH and JULIUS CAESAR, (The Nashville Shakespeare Festival), plus OTHELLO and LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). Short-film features are DOWNSTATE by Jordan Tragash and himself, CIG by Jordan Tragash, and THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL by Jamie Kreppein. He holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BA in Drama from Morehouse College. Jordan is represented by Stewart Talent.
Esther Fishbein (Ensemble) is thrilled to be making her MPAACT debut. Other Chicago credits include: In Every Generation (Victory Gardens Theatre), Failure: A Love Story (Oil Lamp Theatre), Henry V (First Folio Theatre); Billy and the Potato Powered Time Machine (Chicago Music Theatre Festival); Child’s Play (Babes with Blades); Movie Queens and Sapphic Switcheroo (Pride Films and Plays) Television Credits: I Hate You Too (Web Series) Esther received her BFA in theatre at the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign. estherfishbein.com
Monette McLin (Ensemble) is happy to work with MPAACT again. Some of her stage credits include: Punk (The New Colony), Truth & Reconciliation (Side Show), For Her as a Piano (Pegasus), Stage Black (MPMCT). Television credits: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD (NBC), and The Chi (SHOWTIME). She's a member of SAGI AFTRA and is represented by Grossman Jack Talent.
Kairis Rivera (Ensemble Understudy) is grateful to work with MPAACT theatre. Kairis is an Indigenous Q'ueqchi and Mexican actor born and raised in Chicago. They aim to foster stories that are heartfelt and engage with new voices. After completing their B.A. in theatre from Connecticut College, they trained at the Atlantic Theatre Conservatory in New York. Most recent credits include Nasty Yatra (Pipeline Theatre), and Seven Twenty Five (Stage Left Theatre). Kairis is also a poet, whose most recent works were published in Bold Magazine and the Sancrosanct Collective. Instagram: @Unpocobougie
MPAACT is a resident theatre company at The Greenhouse Theater Cente