6 | programfeature
“MAKE IT MATTER”: BRINGING EVERYBODY TO THE COCA-COLA STAGE Co-Directors Susan V. Booth and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden discuss Everybody’s unique staging, timeliness, and challenge for its audiences STORY BY
Ashley Elliott
“T
his play [feels] like a fresh start,” says Co-Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. “It proposes a reset while also giving us some landscape to reflect on how we got to where we are today.”
Everybody, masterfully written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and inspired by the 15th century play Everyman, tells the story of Everybody, a happy person, a free person, a person who believes nothing but the best lies ahead. Then Death comes calling, and Everybody must go on a journey to find what has had lasting significance in their lifetime. “Sounds odd to talk about joy when you’re talking about mortality,” adds Co-Director Susan V. Booth, “But the tone and impact of this piece is so, so joyful. And in a time of ever-multiplying senses of division, a piece that reminds us of the most basic of human connections seems so very necessary.” And she’s right. The only other story that comes to mind when thinking of a tale where the central character is Death is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This play, like that book, must masterfully balance the weight of the driving theme (the fact that the audience is watching the main character die) with a sense of humor that lightens the mood.
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