2 minute read
IN REHEARSAL
from IS GOD IS Program
by recroomarts
Photography by Emma Bacon
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
At the start of this process, I didn’t know how much Is God Is would be a prescient source material for the current sociopolitical moment in the U.S. I have asked myself: Who is worthy of expressing
rage? Who is deserving of retribution? When is vengeance, if ever, righteous?
This is Aleshea Harris’s genius. She has created a new world in which Black women are vulnerable and violent, without judgment. Just a world where this multi-faceted nature exists. She leaves us plenty room to decide for ourselves the answers to the same questions I ask myself. She gives us the freedom to reckon with the power of witnessing this story, knowing that our own judgements and perceptions are the stories we created for ourselves.
As we continue forward in a society that places the inarguable human rights of so many under legislation, I think of Audre Lorde’s essay “The Uses of Anger.” I think of how many of us become fire
when we aren’t held. How we burn others with the scars from fires we’ve survived.
It’s not a stretch to say that this world is on fire.
Perhaps, if we try hard enough, we can all become ice packs for each other.
Candice D’Meza Director
REC ROOM ARTS SALUTES THE SPONSORS OF IS GOD IS
The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance
Dedicated to removing the stigma of mental illness through art, education and community engagement.
Matt Hune Stefän Azizi
Artistic Director Executive Director
Sophia Watt
Associate Artistic Director
Rec Room Arts
presents Obie Award Winner Helen Merrill Playwriting Award Winner Relentless Award Winner Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist
IS GOD IS
by ALESHEA HARRIS directed by CANDICE D’MEZA
Featuring GRANT EASON, KIMBERLY HICKS, REYNA JANELLE, JESSICA T. JOHNSON, COMFORT IFEOMA KATCHY, BRANDON MORGAN, JACKSON SWINTON, and JUSTIN WALKER
PRODUCTION Scenic Design STEFÄN AZIZI† Costume Design SAIDA CARTER Lighting Design JANESSA HARRIS Sound Design SEAN RAMOS Projection Design NICHOLAS LAM Fight and Intimacy Director AVERY VONN KENYATTA Technical Director BRANDON CHO Master Electrician ANDREW ARCHER Photography TASHA GOREL, SAMUEL HERRERA Production Intern ARYANA GREEN Production Assistant TAFARI HERNDON Assistant Director ROBERT JACKSON Production Stage Manager EMMA BACON
IS GOD IS is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Company on behalf of Samuel French.
*member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers † member of the Rec Room Arts company
COMPANY
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Racine Anaia
JESSICA T. JOHNSON COMFORT IFEOMA KATCHY
She KIMBERLY HICKS Chuck Hall BRANDON MORGAN* Riley GRANT EASON Scotch JACKSON SWINTON Angie REYNA JANELLE Man JUSTIN WALKER
This play will be presented without an intermission.
Entry and re-entry to the theater after the performance begins is not guaranteed.
As a courtesy to everyone in the theater, please silence all electronics.
To help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread, it is recommended that patrons wear a face mask that covers their face and mouth in the theater.
Rec Room Arts is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for nonprofit professional theatre.
*member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers
CAST
Jessica T. Johnson Comfort Ifeoma Katchy Kimberly Hicks
Brandon Morgan Grant Eason Jackson Swinton
Reyna Janelle Justin Walker
