Press Release: Rep Stage presents a Reading of Noms de Guerre by Jacqueline E. Lawton
In commemoration of the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rep Stage will be producing additional programming during the 2014-2015 Season that explore race in America. On Monday, October 27th at 7:00pm, they will present a “one-night-only” staged reading of Noms de Guerre by Jacqueline E. Lawton, under the direction of Otis Cortes Ramsey-Zoe and featuring Nora Achrati, James J. Johnson, Lolita Marie, Jon Hudson Odom, Natalie Graves Tucker, and Dawn Ursula.
The reading is free and will take place on Monday October 27, 2014 at 7 PM in The Monteabaro Hall. Click here for directions to Howard Community College.
About the Play
Mira is a rising star in the Republican Party, but her campaign against women’s reproductive rights puts her at odds with her best friend, Jude, an award-winning journalist. At home, Mira struggles to run a campaign for Governor and help her war hero husband, Douglas, adjust to civilian life. When Jude discovers that Douglas is linked to a massacre of Afghan civilians, Mira is thrown into a whirlwind of political intrigue and must decide whether to hold on to her career or save her husband. Noms de Guerre is a socio-political drama that addresses the damaging impact of PTSD on veterans and their family.
About the Creative Team
Jacqueline E. Lawton (Playwright) received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin. Her plays include: Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; The Hampton Years; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade; Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow. Ms. Lawton She is also a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America.
Otis Ramsey-Zöe (Director) is an Associate Artistic Director at banished? productions, Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University, Series Editor for NoPassport Press’s Dreaming the Americas Series, and freelance dramaturg. Current projects include dramaturg for Jacqueline E. Lawton’s new adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Adventure Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Round House), The Shipment (Forum Theatre) and deviser/ dramaturg for Tyger presented bybanished? productions as part of the Mead Theatre Lab Program in 2014-2015 season.
About the Cast
Nora Achrati (Hasina Bahram) has appeared in shows with Forum Theatre, where she is an ensemble member, as well as Constellation Theatre, Imagination Stage, The Hub, 1st Stage, Arts on the Horizon, and The Welders. She tours and performs with New Moon Theater, a Baltimore-based educational theater company, and teaches with Round House Theatre. She'll be performing next with Constellation in The Fire and the Rain.
James J. Johnson (Cooper Belizaire) received his BFA in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University. Favorite credits include: Our Suburb (Theater J), Ruined (Arena Stage), A Member of the Wedding (Ford’s Theatre), The Unmentionables (Woolly Mammoth Theatre), The Jungle Book (Adventure Theatre MTC), Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Kennedy Center), Kingdom (ACTCo), and P. Nokio (Imagination Stage). He starred in the indie film, Too Saved, available to rent from Netflix.
Lolita-Marie (Jude Nolan-Belizaire) is a two-time W.A.T.C.H. Award winner (Lead and Cameo), Lolita’s recent stage credits include Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls, Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (Ruby Griffith 2nd Runner Up), Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park, Jack Sharkey’s While the Lights Were Out, and Jacqueline Lawton’s The Hampton Years.
Jon Hudson Odom (Douglas Hamilton) attended University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Recent credits: Olney Theatre Center: Colossal, Piano Lesson; Center Stage: Twelfth Night; Rep Stage: Yellowman; Keegan Theatre: A Few Good Men; Everyman Theatre: You Can't Take It With You; Studio Theatre: 2-2-Tango, Invisible Man (u/s); Fords Theatre: Our Town; Theatre Alliance DC: Reals, Imagination Stage: BFG; Constellation Theatre: The Ramayana; Goodman Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Theatre Alliance Winston-Salem: Take Me Out.
Natalie Tucker (Leeda Ramsey) received her B.A. in Speech Communications from University of Maryland at College Park and a Master’s in Social Work from Howard University. She has appeared at Studio Theatre, African Continuum, Folger, and 1st Stage, and in commercials, industrials and voiceovers around the region including AARP, FDIC, Marriott, and Ocean City. She’s also a Helen Hayes judge for theatreWashington, an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and neighborhood run coordinator for Black Girls RUN!. www.natalietucker.com
Dawn Ursula (Mira Hamilton) has recently appeared at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Polignac/Mrs. Sauce, David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, director YuryUrnov; Francine, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's The Totalitarians, director Robert O'Hara; Black Woman/Actor 6, Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present... director Michael John Garcés also director of Danai Gurira's The Convert for which she received a 2014 Helen Hayes Award. Also, at Everyman Theatre: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage director Walter Dallas. www.dawnursula
About Rep Stage
Rep Stage, a professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College, is celebrating its 22nd season. The company is a member of the League of Washington Theatre, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and Theatre Communications Group. Rep Stage is recognized by Theatre Washington as professional DC Metro area theatre company and is eligible to be nominated for the Helen Hayes Awards. Performances are made possible by Howard Arts Council, Howard County Government, and the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the Stage of Maryland and National Endowment of the Arts, as well as through generous individual contributions. Rep Stage is proud to be a partner of Howard County Tourism and promotion. Rep Stage’s Artistic Leadership is helmed by Co-Producing Artistic Directors Suzanne Beal and Joseph Ritsch.
The reading is free and will take place on Monday October 27, 2014 at 7 PM in The Monteabaro Hall. Click here for directions to Howard Community College.
About the Play
Mira is a rising star in the Republican Party, but her campaign against women’s reproductive rights puts her at odds with her best friend, Jude, an award-winning journalist. At home, Mira struggles to run a campaign for Governor and help her war hero husband, Douglas, adjust to civilian life. When Jude discovers that Douglas is linked to a massacre of Afghan civilians, Mira is thrown into a whirlwind of political intrigue and must decide whether to hold on to her career or save her husband. Noms de Guerre is a socio-political drama that addresses the damaging impact of PTSD on veterans and their family.
About the Creative Team
Jacqueline E. Lawton (Playwright) received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin. Her plays include: Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; The Hampton Years; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade; Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow. Ms. Lawton She is also a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America.
Otis Ramsey-Zöe (Director) is an Associate Artistic Director at banished? productions, Lecturer of Theatre Arts at Howard University, Series Editor for NoPassport Press’s Dreaming the Americas Series, and freelance dramaturg. Current projects include dramaturg for Jacqueline E. Lawton’s new adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Adventure Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Round House), The Shipment (Forum Theatre) and deviser/ dramaturg for Tyger presented bybanished? productions as part of the Mead Theatre Lab Program in 2014-2015 season.
About the Cast
Nora Achrati (Hasina Bahram) has appeared in shows with Forum Theatre, where she is an ensemble member, as well as Constellation Theatre, Imagination Stage, The Hub, 1st Stage, Arts on the Horizon, and The Welders. She tours and performs with New Moon Theater, a Baltimore-based educational theater company, and teaches with Round House Theatre. She'll be performing next with Constellation in The Fire and the Rain.
James J. Johnson (Cooper Belizaire) received his BFA in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University. Favorite credits include: Our Suburb (Theater J), Ruined (Arena Stage), A Member of the Wedding (Ford’s Theatre), The Unmentionables (Woolly Mammoth Theatre), The Jungle Book (Adventure Theatre MTC), Teddy Roosevelt and the Ghostly Mistletoe, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Kennedy Center), Kingdom (ACTCo), and P. Nokio (Imagination Stage). He starred in the indie film, Too Saved, available to rent from Netflix.
Lolita-Marie (Jude Nolan-Belizaire) is a two-time W.A.T.C.H. Award winner (Lead and Cameo), Lolita’s recent stage credits include Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls, Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (Ruby Griffith 2nd Runner Up), Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park, Jack Sharkey’s While the Lights Were Out, and Jacqueline Lawton’s The Hampton Years.
Jon Hudson Odom (Douglas Hamilton) attended University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Recent credits: Olney Theatre Center: Colossal, Piano Lesson; Center Stage: Twelfth Night; Rep Stage: Yellowman; Keegan Theatre: A Few Good Men; Everyman Theatre: You Can't Take It With You; Studio Theatre: 2-2-Tango, Invisible Man (u/s); Fords Theatre: Our Town; Theatre Alliance DC: Reals, Imagination Stage: BFG; Constellation Theatre: The Ramayana; Goodman Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Theatre Alliance Winston-Salem: Take Me Out.
Natalie Tucker (Leeda Ramsey) received her B.A. in Speech Communications from University of Maryland at College Park and a Master’s in Social Work from Howard University. She has appeared at Studio Theatre, African Continuum, Folger, and 1st Stage, and in commercials, industrials and voiceovers around the region including AARP, FDIC, Marriott, and Ocean City. She’s also a Helen Hayes judge for theatreWashington, an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and neighborhood run coordinator for Black Girls RUN!. www.natalietucker.com
Dawn Ursula (Mira Hamilton) has recently appeared at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Polignac/Mrs. Sauce, David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette, director YuryUrnov; Francine, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's The Totalitarians, director Robert O'Hara; Black Woman/Actor 6, Jackie Sibblies Drury's We Are Proud to Present... director Michael John Garcés also director of Danai Gurira's The Convert for which she received a 2014 Helen Hayes Award. Also, at Everyman Theatre: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark by Lynn Nottage director Walter Dallas. www.dawnursula
About Rep Stage
Rep Stage, a professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College, is celebrating its 22nd season. The company is a member of the League of Washington Theatre, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance and Theatre Communications Group. Rep Stage is recognized by Theatre Washington as professional DC Metro area theatre company and is eligible to be nominated for the Helen Hayes Awards. Performances are made possible by Howard Arts Council, Howard County Government, and the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the Stage of Maryland and National Endowment of the Arts, as well as through generous individual contributions. Rep Stage is proud to be a partner of Howard County Tourism and promotion. Rep Stage’s Artistic Leadership is helmed by Co-Producing Artistic Directors Suzanne Beal and Joseph Ritsch.
JACQUELINE E. LAWTON was named one of 30 of the nation's leading black playwrights by Arena Stage’s American Voices New Play Institute. Her plays include: Anna K; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful;The Devil’s Sweet Water; The Hampton Years; Ira Aldridge: the African Roscius; Lions of Industry, Mothers of Invention; Love Brothers Serenade (2013 semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference); Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; and Our Man Beverly Snow. Ms. Lawton received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. She is a 2012 TCG Young Leaders of Color award recipient, National New Play Network (NNPN) Playwright Alum, and member of Arena Stage's Playwrights' Arena. She is also a proud member of the Dramatist Guild of America.