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Program Guide
May 24, 2022 - June 19, 2022

Fairview

By Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by Christopher Windom

PLEASE NOTE: THIS SHOW’S RUN HAS ENDED.

Boldly challenging perceptions

In Act 1 of this seemingly typical American family play, it’s Grandma’s birthday, and Beverly needs the party to be perfect. However, the Frasier family is either of no help or non-existent. Then Act 2 brings Beverly’s plights into a whole new, bright white light. And Act 3 is, well – you’re going to have to buy a ticket to find out. Brown University alumna Jackie Sibblies Drury’s 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “challenges playgoers to think about how the different backgrounds and assumptions they bring to the theater may produce vastly different results once inside” (New York Times). Fairview is an interactive theatrical experience lauded by the New York Times for being dazzling and ruthless…you must see it.

We will be holding post-show discussions of “Fairview” on Saturday, June 18 at 4:00 pm on Zoom and on Monday, June 20 at 6:30 pm at the theater. Click here to register for the Zoom discussion. There is no registration required for the in-person discussion, but proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test is required. Click here to learn more about our safety precautions.

Click here to read the content advisories for the 2021-22 Season shows.

Buzz
Spoiler Alert!

Synopsis

Below is a synopsis of the show. You've been warned.

Beverly Frasier, a Black, suburban, middle-class mom, is preparing a family dinner for her Mama’s birthday party. Beverly wants everything to be perfect and gets stressed, out, although her husband Dayton and sister Jasmine assure her everything will be just fine.

Yet several stresses threaten to ruin the perfect family dinner. Beverly’s teenage daughter Keisha wants to take a gap year between high school and college, but Beverly doesn’t like this idea when Jasmine brings it up. Beverly receives a call from her brother Tyrone, a lawyer, telling her he might not make the dinner because his flight got rerouted. When Jasmine goes to see Mama, Mama doesn’t come downstairs and locks herself in the bathroom. And when Keisha gets a phone call from her “friend” Erika asking to drop something off at the house, Beverly warns her that her grandma doesn’t like Erika or her relationship with Keisha. Beverly grows more and more stressed, and when she realizes the cake in the oven burnt, she passes out.

After this, the play takes a surprising direction that explores the white gaze, racial stereotypes, and life as a Black person in a white supremacist society in a daringly theatrical way. We dare not spoil how this all plays out – see this Pulitzer-Prize winner for yourself!

Cast & Creative

Cast
Aizhaneya '23
Keisha
Jackie Davis
Jasmine
Mia Ellis '12
Beverly
Joe Wilson, Jr.
Dayton

Additional Cast

JaQuan Jones
Understudy
G. Momah
Understudy
David Mattar Merten
Understudy
Sophie Zmorrod Laruelle
Understudy

Creative

Christopher Windom
Director
JaMario Stills
Assistant Director
Lex Liang
Set Designer
Kate Field
Assistant Set Designer
Kenisha Kelly
Costume Designer
Jason Lynch
Lighting Designer
Jonah Schnell
Assistant Lighting Designer
Peter Sasha Hurowitz
Sound Designer
Amanda Brackett
Stage Manager
Polly Feliciano
Assistant Stage Manager
R. Christopher Maxwell
Assistant Stage Manager
Cherie Corinne Rice
Dialect Coach
Andrew Gombas '21
Fight Consultant

Sponsors

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