SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR THE REVIVAL OF JAMES BALDWIN’S THE AMEN CORNER

Limited engagement runs September 14  – 26, 2021

“SPLENDIDLY REALIZED…Majestic and sprawling.” –The Washington Post

“SPECTACULAR…Every moment, and I mean every moment, is well executed.” –BroadwayWorld

“POWERFUL…A not-to-be-missed production of a great American work.” –MD Theatre Guide

“EXQUISITE…You must see this show.” –Two Hours’ Traffic

June 21, 2020, Washington, D.C.: Shakespeare Theatre Company is excited to announce casting for a limited engagement performance of The Amen Corner, September 14-26, 2021 at Sidney Harman Hall. Single tickets go on sale on July 19.

Heralded as one of the best productions in 2020 by The Washington Post, The Amen Corner closed early due to the pandemic. This limited, two-week engagement allows the critical and commercial success to complete its original run.

“Currently, we have been able to invite limited audiences safely back into the theater with the immersive event, Blindness,” states Executive Director CHRIS JENNINGS. “We were thrilled this event was so well-received. Clearly audiences are ready for the joy of live theater and we are working to invite everyone back at full capacity in September for The Amen Corner following updated safety guidance.”

 “When I was first asked to direct The Amen Corner, I thought how much the words, the wisdom, the fire of James Baldwin has scored my entire life. And yet, The Amen Corner has only become more important, more relevant over the last 16 months,” shares STC Associate Director and Obie Award and Lilly Award-winning Director of The Amen Corner WHITNEY WHITE (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord). “STC really stood behind this work, supporting my decisions and conception of this play, allowing the cast and creative team the space to make this production of The Amen Corner soar.” 

Following James Baldwin’s semi-autobiographical novel Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Amen Corner, which first premiered at Howard University in the 1950s, explores the struggles with faith and fulfillment as Pastor Margaret must contend with a rebellious son, disloyal congregants, and the return of her passionate but wayward husband. Set in 1950s Harlem in a storefront church, the family melodrama combines Baldwin’s characteristic beautiful prose with soaring gospel songs.

“The Amen Corner was a transformative experience for staff and audiences alike.” states STC Artistic Director SIMON GODWIN (PBS’ Romeo & Juliet). “We couldn’t imagine any other event reopening our main stage.”  

The “outstanding cast with some of the best, and most soulful, choir-trained voices from D.C.’s musical theatre scene” (Whisk and Quill) will include returning cast members TRISTAN ANDRÉ (Ragtime at PlayMakers Repertory Company) as Brother Washington/Choir, 2020 Chicagoan of the Year E. FAYE BUTLER (Free For All production of Romeo and Juliet) as Sister Moore/Choir, MIA ELLIS (Marisol at Trinity Rep) as Margaret, FRANCESE (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at Morgan’s Little Theatre) as Choir, CHIKÉ JOHNSON (Runboyrun at New York Theatre Workshop) as Luke, JADE JONES (Macbeth) as Sister Rice/Choir, PHIL MCGLASTON (The Little Foxes on Broadway) as Brother Boxer, NIA-AIYANA MEEKS (Spell #7 at Howard University as Choir,  ROBERT E. PERSON (Black Nativity at the Anacostia Playhouse; Choir), JASMINE M. RUSH (As Much As I Can at The Public Theatre) as Ida Jackson/Choir, THEODORE SAPP (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at Virginia Repertory Theatre) as Choir, LAURYN SIMONE (Children of Killers, Off-Broadway) as Sister Sally/Choir, DEIDRA LAWAN STARNES (Free For All production of Much Ado About Nothing) as Sister Boxer, and ANTONIO MICHAEL WOODARD (Pyramid Theatre Company’s The Amen Corner) as David.

The creative team includes Scenic Designer DANIEL SOULE (for all the women who thought they were Mad at Soho Rep), Costume Designer QWEEN JEAN (one in two at New Group),Lighting Designer ADAM HONORÉ (Ain’t No Mo at Public Theatre), Sound Design and Composition by  BROKEN CHORD (Hamlet), Dramaturg DR. SOYICA COLBERT (STC Associate Director-Literary, Idol Family Professor and Interim Dean at Georgetown University), STC Resident Dramaturg DR. DREW LICHTENBERG, Original Music Director and Composer VICTOR SIMONSON, Original Casting Directors TAYLOR WILLIAMS and CARTER WOODDELL, Voice and Dialect Coach KIM JAMES BEY, Assistant Director MANNA-SYMONE MIDDLEBROOKS, Fight Choreographer and Intimacy Consultant CLIFF WILLIAMS III, Production Stage Manager CHRISTOPHER MICHAEL BORG, and Assistant Stage Manager JOSEPH SMELSER.

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 2021/22 Season is made possible by Michael R. Klein and Joan Fabry and the Harman Family Foundation.

Tickets for The Amen Corner are available first to STC’s subscribers and donors. 3-, 4-, and 5-ticket subscriptions are available for the season. Tickets for the pre-season shows The Amen Corner and Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski go on sale July 19. Tickets are priced $35 – $120. To learn more about The Amen Corner, please visit  https://www.shakespearetheatre.org/the-amen-corner/