WORLD PREMIERE OF ESAI'S TABLE
JAG Productions & Cherry Lane Theatre Co-Production
October 10 - 27
Briggs Opera House
5 South Main St, WRJ VT 05001
In ESAI'S TABLE, destiny meets eternity for three young black men atop an ancient magical table in this mythic tale of black lives, friendship, family, and love.
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Our fourth season will open this fall with the world premiere of Nathan Yungerberg's play Esai's Table; a dream that was born in 2018 at JAGfest, our new works festival, where the play received a staged reading. This beautiful show transports audience and characters on a mystical journey in which we experience the lives of three young Black men, and redefine what it means to be human. The vision to do a world premiere in the Upper Valley for the community that nurtured and supported its development will come to life in October 2019 at Briggs Opera House in White River. The play will subsequently transfer Off-Broadway to the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York City. Esai's Table will mark a pivotal moment for JAG as it's first world premiere, first Off-Broadway transfer, and first co-production.
Dimitri Carter is a native New Yorker and delighted to be working with the cast and crew of Esai’s Table. Theatrical Credits: WILL-A-THON 2018 Training: Harlem School of The Arts and The New York Film Academy. Thanks to Family, Friends and Connecting Talent Company.
Cornelius Davidson received his BA in theatre performance from Western Michigan University and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Proud member of AEA. Regional Credits include Shepard Mallory Ben Butler. Portland Stage(Maine) Off-Broadway credits include Bird of Prey (Shaq) ASWSLT (Baby) and Everyday Afro Play (Company). Cornelius can seen onscreen in I Can I Will I Did, winner of the 2017 Asian American Film Festival, and in the web series Interested In. Winner of Best LGBT short in the FramelineFest 2018. Internationally, Cornelius studied at BADA in Oxford England. Cornelius teaches literacy through drama in NYC through Public Works, (Dream Yard) CUNY’s Creative Arts Team and The Leadership Program. Cornelius teaches throughout all five boroughs, and is based highly on Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Cornelius is humbled to bring young people resources to speak out against bigotry, misogyny, racism, transphobia, homophobia and to fight for all marginalized communities.
Marcus Gladney Jr. is an actor and singer based in New York City. He can be seen as Ellis in the upcoming Amazon Prime miniseries Underground Railroad directed by Barry Jenkins. Other credits: Choir Boy (Broadway MTC); The Skin of Our Teeth (BTG); Made in America (Public Theater); Wu-Tang: An American Saga (Hulu). Thanks to family, friends, Carnegie Mellon, BRS/Gage, and, of course, God, for the unwavering love and support. "You cannot touch the sky from inside yourself. You cannot fly until you break the shell."
Benton Greene. Broadway: Sweat Select Theater: Sweat (Public Theater National Tour), Father Comes Home From The Wars (American Repertory Theater/Public Theater), Art (Westport Country Playhouse), The Seven (Best Musical-Obie Awards) and 365 Days/365 Plays (New York Theatre Workshop), This Is How It Goes (The Studio Theatre), Dream On Monkey Mountain (Classical Theater of Harlem), Sex On Sunday by Chisa Hutchinson, Faust (Mabou Mines), The Seven (LaJolla Playhouse), Enrico IV (American Conservatory Theatre), Bomb-itty Of Errors, References To Salvador Dali , Comedy Of Errors, Cyrano, Romeo& Juliet, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Funnyhouse Of A Negro. Film: Broken City, Last Night, Search Party. TV: “Big Dogs”, “The Following”, “Law & Order: SVU”, “Blue Bloods”, “White Collar”, “Damages”, “Law & Order:CI”, “Law & Order”. Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Indie Capitol Awards).
Stevie Walker-Webb (Director) is a director, performing artist, and cultural worker. He is a Princess Grace Award Winner- Gant Gaither Theater Award 2015. He is a Cofounder of the non-profit C.A.S.T. where he served as Executive Director. CAST creates theatre for social change. He’s served as the Artistic Director of the Jubilee Theatre and as a Teaching Artist with Mission Waco-Mission World where he devised work with urban youth, and the homeless community. He has worked as the Outreach Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed-NYC. He is a 2050 fellow at New York theatre workshop. He holds A MFA in directing from the New School for Drama, and a B.S. in Sociology from the University of North Texas, and is a Hemispheric Institute EMERGENYC alumnus. Stevie has developed work with: New York theatre workshop, the public theatre, La Mama Experimental Theatre, Lincoln Center Education, Dixon place, TONYC, Theatre Row, Baby Crow Productions, Wide Eyed Productions, Petit Jean Performance Festival, New York International Fringe Festival,Jubilee Theatre, Texas Playhouse and the American Civil Liberties union.
Nathan Yungerberg (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based Afro-Surrealist, storyteller, producer and community organizer whose work has been developed or featured by The Cherry Lane Theatre (2017 Mentor Project with Stephen Adly Guirgis), Roundabout Theatre Company, The Playwrights’ Center, American Blues Theater, JAG Productions, Crowded Fire Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, The Lark, The Fire This Time Festival, 48 Hours in Harlem, Climate Change Theatre Action, The National Black Theatre, The Sheen Center, The August Wilson Red Door Project, The Bushwick Starr, and BBC Radio Afternoon Drama. He is one of seven black playwrights commissioned by The New Black Fest for HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments, which was published by Samuel French. Nathan is also the founder and producing artistic director of www.mercurii.nyc. Awards and honors: The 2016 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference (Semifinalist), Ken Davenport 10-Minute Play Festival (Winner), 2019 Djerassi Resident Artist. www.nathanyungerberg.com
Esai’s creative team, playwright Nathan, JAG’s Jarvis, director Stevie, illustrator Patience, and DALI Lab animators Kaitlyn Hahn and Mira Ram spent three days in July immersed in the arc and heart of the story of Esai’s to create the storyboard and the animation that brings the writing to life, tapping into the deep compassion this play evokes. On the final day, the artists invited a dozen or so friends of JAG into the room to continue the co-creative process. This is a testament to the commitment of the ‘we’ that is birthing this work – and what we gain through learning from and with one another.