After beginning performances November 23, the return engagement of Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play officially opened at the August Wilson Theatre December 2. The production is scheduled to play a limited run through January 23, 2022.
Slave Play first opened at the John Golden Theatre October 6, 2019. It played 29 previews and 121 performances before closing January 19, 2020, earning 12 Tony Award nominations, including Best Play.
Set at the MacGregor Plantation, Slave Play follows three couples as they navigate the complexities of race, history, gender, and sexuality in America.
Ato Blankson-Wood, Chalia La Tour, and Annie McNamara—each Tony-nominated for their performances in the original Broadway run—return with the production, along with their former co-stars Irene Sofia Lucio and Paul Alexander Nolan. Antoinette Crowe-Legacy joins them as Kaneisha, a role she originated during the show's early stages while she and Harris were students at Yale School of Drama. Devin Kawaoka and Jonathan Chad Higginbotham are also new to the ensemble. This marks the trio's Broadway debuts.
Rounding out the company are Eboni Flowers, Blake Russell, Luigi Sottile, Elizabeth Stahlmann, and Galen J. Williams as understudies.
Directed by Robert O’Hara, the production features sets by Clint Ramos, costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Jiyoun Chang, sound design by Jones; rounding out the creative team are dramaturg Amauta Marston-Firmino, movement director Byron Easley, intimacy and fight directors Claire Warden and Teniece Divya Johnson, production counsel Doug Nevin, and casting director Taylor Williams.
Slave Play is produced by Seaview, Troy Carter, Level Forward, and Nine Stories (founded by Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker), Sing Out, Louise! Productions, Shooting Star Productions, Roth-Manella Productions, Carlin Katler Productions, Cohen Hopkins Productions, Thomas Laub, Blair Russell, WEB Productions, Salman Al-Rashid, Jeremy O. Harris, and New York Theatre Workshop. Mark Shacket serves as executive producer.
The production, furthering its guiding principle of “radical accessibility,” has doubled its ticketing initiative’s weekly commitment from the initial Broadway run. For the return engagement, 10,400 tickets have been made available for $39. December 3 will be a "Black Out" performance for the run. Conceived by Harris, the initiative provides Black theatregoers the chance to experience the play together in private, invitation-only performances.
