The return Broadway engagement of Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play ends its limited run January 23 at the August Wilson Theatre. Preview performances of the Tony-nominated play began November 23, 2021 ahead of an official opening on December 2.
Ato Blankson-Wood, Chalia La Tour, and Annie McNamara—each Tony-nominated for their performances in the original Broadway run—returned with the production, along with their former co-stars Irene Sofia Lucio and Paul Alexander Nolan. Antoinette Crowe-Legacy joined the cast 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 made their Broadway debuts in the engagement ensemble.
READ: Antoinette Crowe-Legacy Makes Her Broadway Debut With an Old Friend
Understudies for the production are Eboni Flowers, Blake Russell, Luigi Sottile, Elizabeth Stahlmann, and Galen J. Williams.
Robert O'Hara again directs the provocative study of sex, race, power, and history, in which three interracial couples work through their marital troubles in a Southern plantation setting.
Slave Play originally played Broadway's John Golden Theatre in the 2019–2020 season, closing two months prior to the COVID-19 shutdown. The production received a record 12 nominations—the most of any play in history—including Best Play, Best Original Score (Lindsay Jones), and Best Direction of a Play. Ultimately, it did not win in any category.
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.
