Directed by Jeffrey Page
Funnyhouse of a Negro
Written by Adrienne Kennedy
and
The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole World AKA The Negro Book of the Dead
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Showtimes
February 13, 2019 @ 8 PM
February 14, 2019 @ 8 PM
February 15, 2019 @ 8 PM
February 16, 2019 @ 2 PM
February 16, 2019 @ 8 PM
Columbia University School of the Arts is proud to present Jeffrey Page’s '19 production of The Woman / The Man.
The Woman / The Man is a theatrical double feature comprised of two Obie-winning plays: Adrienne Kennedy’s Funnyhouse of a Negro and Suzan-Lori Parks’ The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead.
Sarah, a young woman living in New York, struggles with her racial identity in Funnyhouse of a Negro. A child born at the intersection of Black and White, Sarah encounters images of her heritage through manifestations of historical figures from Jesus Christ to Queen Victoria to Patrice Lumumba in Kennedy’s dreamlike portrait of what it means to be a Woman of Color in America.
In The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead, Black Man is trapped in a perpetual state of execution. Set in “the great hole” in American History, the legacies and lives of forgotten and omitted African American men and women remain unheard and unseen. Echoes of Black American culture and stereotypes are personified in Parks’ surreal narrative of the historical repetition of racial inequality.
Written nearly 30 years apart, the two pieces in The Woman / The Man remain as haunting and as relevant as the day each was written.
Featuring:
Odera Adimorah, Paris Cymone, Freddie Fulton*, David Glover, Natasha Hakata, Eric Harper*, Lauren Marissa Smith*, Vaughn Pole*, Anthony O. Pratt Jr., Steven Smith, Rachel Sorteberg*, Kirrin Tubo, and Titus VanHook.
* Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
Production Team:
Lead Producer, Bethany Sharp
Producer & General Manager Mei Li Heman
Dramaturg Mandana Chaffa
Production Stage Manager Caitlyn Annelise Dominguez*
1st Assistant Stage Manager Kelley Lynne Moncrief
2nd Assistant Stage Manager Jianqiao Lu
Lighting Designer Eric Norbury
Scenic Designer Ramaj Jamar
Costume Designer Sabrina Bianca Guillaume
Sound Designer Kimberly S. O'Loughlin
Hair & Make-Up Designer Marilyn “Cookie” Jordan
Choreographer Jeffrey Page†
Assistant to the Director Cheryl Pickett
Company Manager Megan Savage
Graphic Designer Anchuli Felicia King
† The Director (or Choreographer or Director-Choreographer) is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
Director's Bio:
Jeffrey Page is an opera and theatre director of both classical and contemporary works. As director and choreographer, he spearheaded the 2015 and 2018 Tokyo productions of the musical Memphis, which received four Yomiuri Award nominations, including Best Musical. The first African American to be named the Marcus Institute Fellow for Opera Directing at The Juilliard School, he has also been nominated for an Emmy Award. Mr. Page has won an MTV Video Music Award for his work with Beyoncé, whose creative team has included him for more than 12 years. His work was featured on Beyoncé’s "The Formation World Tour," in her historic Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performance, and in two of her HBO specials. Mr. Page was the associate creative director for Mariah Carey’s "Sweet, Sweet Fantasy" European Tour, and has been a featured choreographer on Fox Television’s "So You Think You Can Dance." Mr. Page was in the original, award-winning Broadway cast of Fela! (Eugene O’Neill Theatre). He worked alongside Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori to choreograph the hit Broadway musical Violet starring Sutton Foster (Roundabout Theatre Company). At the Barrington Theatre Company, Mr. Page received glowing reviews as the choreographer for Company, and received a 2016 Berkshire Theater Award for his work on Broadway Bounty Hunter. In 2016, he established Movin’ Legacy as an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the ethnology and documentation of contemporary and traditional dance from Africa and the African diaspora. Currently, he is completing his MFA in Theatre Directing at Columbia University in New York City.
Funnyhouse of a Negro and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.