PAST PRODUCTIONS
The Brothers Size
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Kathleen F. Conlin
Our Inaugural Production!
June 2012
Location:
Profiles Theatre
Cast
Ogun Size - Tyrone Phillips*
Oshoosi Size - Julian Parker*
Elegba - Mercedes White*
Production Team
Director - Kathleen F. Conlin
Choreographer - Mark Deler
Stage Manager - Josie Blough
Lighting Designer - Kevin Pelz
Asst. LD - Angie Jorgensen
Sound Designer - Joshua Willcox
Sound Board Op. - Alon Stotter
Scenic Designer - Kevin Grab
Scnenic Artist - Moon Jung Kim
Costume Designer- Jessica Turner*
Vocal Coach - Bri Sudia
Dramaturg - Peter Davis
Graphic Artists - Maya Koenig
Ami Koenig
House Managers - Deandria Kelley
Kalyn Rivers
About the Play
The Brothers Size places West African folklore in Louisiana and tells the story of two brothers, Ogun and Oshoosi Size, and Elegba, Oshoosi's former cellmate who re-enters his life post-incarceration with promises of an entirely new type of freedom.
Through heightened poeticized language, archetypical figures from Nigerian myth, and stylized movement and musical expression rooted in the chain-gang history of the American south, McCraney delivers a story that shows the extremity and complexities of fraternal love, and the true cost and meaning of redemption.
Fabulation
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Robert Quinlan
A Staged Reading
December 2012
Location:
Athenaeum Theatre
Cast
Undine - Jessica Dean Turner*
Flow - David Lawrence Hamilton
Mother/Allison - Deanna K. Reed
Richard/Addict - Kelson Michael McAuliffe*
Stephie/Devora - Aurora Adachi-Winter*
Grandma/Dr. Khdair - Tonya Simmons
Father/Gregory - Kenneth Johnson
Lance/Drug Dealer- Calvert Miles
Herve- Santiago Sosa
Production Team
Director - Robert Quinlan
Stage Manager - Robert Montgomery
Lighting Designer - Mitch Ost
Graphic Designer - Stephanie Kuo
About the Play
Fabulation, a “Witty Satire About the Black Bourgeoisie” by MacArthur Foundation Genius Award winner Lynn Nottage, is a “robustly entertaining comedy, the satiric tale of the humbling of a self-invented public relations diva. In charting the social fall and moral rise of Undine Barnes Calles, Fabulation subverts its comic and sentimental glibness with punchy social insights and the firecracker snap of unexpected humor.
Dutchman
By Amiri Baraka
Directed by Tyrone Phillips
December 12 - January 5
Location:
Collaboraction Theatre
Cast
Clay - Julian Parker*
Lula - Carley Cornelius
Young Man - Will Burton
Ensemble - Danielle Banks
Ayinde Cartman
Ryan Czerwonko
Megan Gotz
Cami Rene Philgreen
Mercedes White*
Production Team
Director - Tyrone Phillips
Artistic Consultant - Ron OJ Parson
Stage Manager - Ari Wartell
Choreographer - Leila Henry
Fight Choreographer - Sam Ashdown
Lighting Designer - Kevin Pelz
Sound Designer - Joshua Willcox
Scenic Designer - Moon Jung Kim*
Costume Designer- Samantha C. Jones
Vocal Coach - Jessica Turner*
Dramaturg - Anthony Mangini
Properties - Amanda Williams
About the Play
Clay and Lula are two people with agendas. Clay is a college-educated, aspiring poet who is targeted by Lula not for whom he says he is, but for whom she perceives him to be. Lula, or Lula the Hyena as she calls herself, seeks to prey on Clay and eat away at his gilded façade until his true nature is exposed. Dutchman is a play about beliefs and how the malevolent lens of perceptions can empower and destroy a personal sense of progress.
Dutchman asks the dubious question “Who do you think you are?” as two strangers on a train go back and forth in a heightened allegory about identity. Although Dutchman is set on a subway train in the 1960s and is named after the infamous phantom ghost ship of the same name, its examination of how intolerance of ambition and progress of folks who are not supposed to have it is on track with the ongoing struggles in our so-called post-racial society.
The Brothers Size
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Kathleen F. Conlin
In association with Illinois Theatre
May - June 2014
Location:
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Cast
Ogun Size - Tyrone Phillips*
Oshoosi Size - Julian Parker*
Elegba - Mercedes White*
Production Team
Director - Kathleen F. Conlin
Production Manager- Cynthia Kocher
Stage Manager - Bailey Rotenberry
Lighting Designer - Michelle Benda
Sound Designer - Joshua Willcox
Sound Board Op. - Cynthia Booker
Set Coordinator - Emily Lohrbach
Scenic Artist - Moon Jung Kim*
Costume Designer- Jessica Turner*
ME, Lightboard Op - Alon Stotter
Graphic Artists - Joe Mazza
About the Play
The Brothers Size places West African folklore in Louisiana and tells the story of two brothers, Ogun and Oshoosi Size, and Elegba, Oshoosi's former cellmate who re-enters his life post-incarceration with promises of an entirely new type of freedom.
Through heightened poeticized language, archetypical figures from Nigerian myth, and stylized movement and musical expression rooted in the chain-gang history of the American south, McCraney delivers a story that shows the extremity and complexities of fraternal love, and the true cost and meaning of redemption.
The New Short Play Festival
Directed by Julian Parker
Tyrone Phillips
Mercedes White
In association with Illinois Theatre
May - June 2014
Location:
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
Cast
Ryan Jenkins
Julian Parker*
Shawn Richard Pereira
Tyrone Phillips*
Sarah Ruggles
Christopher Terrell
Mercedes White*
Brian Zielnicki
*Denotes DTC ensemble member
Production Team
Production Manager- Cynthia Kocher
Stage Manager - Bailey Rotenberry
Lighting Designer - Michelle Benda
Sound Board Op. - Cynthia Booker
Set Coordinator - Emily Lohrbach
ME, Lightboard Op - Alon Stotter
The Plays
Evening News
By Aaron Carter
Tyrone Phillips, director
Pigeons, Sharks, and Vixens
By Matthew-Lee Erlbach
Julian Parker, director
Seward, Kansas
By Matthew-Lee Erlbach
Mercedes White, director
Stepping Out
By Damir Konjicija and Leah Williams
Mercedes White, director
Blackie’s Funeral
By Paco José Madden
Julian Parker, director
A Taurian Tale...
By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Tyrone Phillips, director
Just Suppose
By Tucker Rafferty
Tyrone Phillips, director
The Space behind Your Heart
By Steven Simoncic
Mercedes White, director
GENESIS
By Mercedes White
Directed by Alana Arenas
A WORLD PREMIERE!
Septemper 2014
Location:
The Den Theatre
Cast
Walter Sr. - Tyrone Phillips*
Lena - Mercedes White*
Yolanda - Tiffany Addison
Tiffany - Kiki Layne
Collin - Kelson Michael McAuliffe*
Red - Julian Parker*
*Denotes DTC ensemble member
Production Team
Director - Alana Arenas
Production Manager- Jennifer McClendon
Stage Manager - Kelsy Durkin
Asst. Director - Neel McNeill*
Lighting Designer -Eric Van Tassell
Sound Designer - Aaron Stephenson
Scnenic Designer - Moon Jung Kim*
Costume Designer- Megan Turner
Props Master - Kevin Qiu
Run Crew - Sharayah Outerbridge
Graphic Artist - Joe Mazza
House Manager - Aurora Adachi-Winter
Post-Show Facilitator - Leean Kim Torske
About the Play
1918. Chicago’s South Side. Hundreds of thousands of black workers have fled the rural south to seek newfound opportunities in the industrial north, and America’s involvement in the Great War is rapidly coming to an end. Walter Senior and his wife Lena are hoping to cash in on the American dream. Walt’s got himself a good job, and Elle is pregnant with their first child, but when tragedy strikes, Walt can’t help but lash out. Suddenly, all their hard work now teeters in the balance. Genesis is play about humanity and how we respond when we hit the wall and feel like we can no longer stand. A heartfelt story about family, solidarity and the ties that bind, Genesis takes us back to where it all began.
A Doll's House
Directed and adapted by
Michael Halberstam
April - May 2015
Location:
The Chopin Theatre
Theatre on the Lake Remount!
August 2015
Location: Berger Park
Cast
Torvald Helmer - Tyrone Phillips*
Nora Helmer - Miriam Lee
Dr. Rank - Yaw Agyeman
Christine Linde - Krystal Mosley
Nils Krogstad - Christopher Sheard*
Helen - Mercedes White*
Theatre on the Lake
Torvald Helmer - Tyrone Phillips*
Nora Helmer - Miriam Lee
Dr.Rank - Yaw Agyeman
Christine Linde - Carmen Molina
Nils Krogstad - Ryan Hallahan
Helen - Mercedes White*
*Denotes DTC ensemble member
About the Play
Nora and Torvald have all the trappings of a perfect suburban life: a beautiful home, two children, and enough money to finance their comfortable lifestyle. But when a terrible secret from Nora's past threatens to ruin all they've built, she is left with two options: deceive the man she loves, or face the truth and risk losing everything.
Production Team
Director - Michael Halberstam
Production Manager- Neel McNeill*
Stage Manager - Ari Wartell
Asst. Director - Mark Kosten
Lighting Designer -Claire Chrzan
Sound Designer - Matt Test
Scenic Designer - Moon Jung Kim*
Costume Designer- Kristy Leigh Hall
Props Master - Clyde C. Compton
ME - Slick Jorgensen*
Run Crew - Simon Gebremedhin
Movement - David Woolley
Scenic Carpenter - Anastasios Ketsios
Asst. Costume Desinger - Kotryna Hilko
Costume Assistant - Dianna Chung
Costume Assistant - Jovani Diaz
Zooman and the Sign
By Charles Fuller
Directed by Chuck Smith
A Staged Reading
November 2015
Location:
Victory Gardens Theatre
Cast
Zooman - Julian Parker**
Rachel - Ann Douglas*
Emmett - Robert Cornelius*
Reuben - Andre Teamer*
Victor - Tyran Freeman
Ash - TaRon Patton*
Donald - Trequon L. Tate
Rusell - Namir Smallwood
Grace - Tiffany Renee Johnson
**Denotes DTC ensemble member
*Member of AEA
Production Team
Director - Chuck Smith
Stage Manager - Ari Wartell
Asst. Director - Tyrone Phillips*
Lighting Designer -Slick Jorgensen*
Sound Designer - Andrew Rovner
About the Play
Zooman is a black teen in Philadelphia who senselessly terrorizes his community without regard to race. His most recent crime is the killing of a 12 year-old black girl on a street filled with witnesses all of whom are afraid to talk. The dead girl's bereaved father posts a sign accusing the entire community of cowardice in the face of the ever escalating violence. An incendiary drama by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Soldier's Play. Goodman Theatre resident director Chuck Smith joins Definition Theatre for this staged reading.
Byhalia, Mississippi
By Evan Linder
Directed by Tyrone Phillips
A World Premiere Conversation
January - February 2016
Location:
The Den Theatre
Cast
Laurel - Liz Sharpe
Celeste - Cecelia Wingate
Jim - Evan Linder
Karl - Jeffery Freelon
Ayesha - Kiki Layne*
*Denotes DTC ensemble member
Production Team
Director - Tyrone Phillips*
Production Manager- Sarah Collonge
Stage Manager - Clarissa Jugo
Asst. Director - Kristina Loy
Lighting Designer -Slick Jorgensen*
Scenic Designer - John Wilson
Sound Effects - Gary Tiedemann
Costume Supervisor - Kristy Leigh Hall*
Costume Designer- Kotryna Hilko
Props Master - Kira Lyon
Technical Director - Eli Grove
Scenic Carpenter - Anastasios Ketsios
Script Supervisor - Maria Privitera
Fight Choreographer - Will Bennett
Hair/Make-up - Liz Sharpe
About the Play
Jim and Laurel Parker are about to become new parents. They are broke. They are loud. They are "proud white trash." When Laurel gives birth to their long overdue child, she and Jim are faced with the biggest challenge of their lives. Byhalia, Mississippi explores a couple in the midst of turmoil and a town with a racially-charged past that finds its way into the present.
Byhalia, Mississippi received world premiere openings the weekend of January 8, 2016 in Chicago, Memphis, TN (Playhouse on the Square), Charleston, SC (Village Rep Co.) and Toronto, ON (Cue6 Productions). The following week, the drama will also received staged readings in Birmingham, AL (Theatre Downtown), Boulder, CO (square product theatre), and Los Angeles, CA (Sixth Avenue). Audiences in all seven cities came together for an online talkback on Monday, January 18 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) to discuss the play's impact on their local audiences. Follow the CONVERSATION at wpconvo.com