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Hi Friend,
Welcome to the second of a series of emails in which we will highlight one of the cast/crew of New African Grove's production of August Wilson's King Hedley II. I will stand out of the way and let her speak for herself.
I first learned of New African Grove Theatre when meeting Keith Franklin at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival. I immediately went home, checked out the website, loved what they represented to the theater community, then quickly signed up for their email list. When I received the email blast with the casting notice for King Hedley II, I thought to myself, "God, if I can just audition for it I'll be satisfied." After I auditioned I thought, "God, if I could just get a callback I'd be satisfied." After the callback I thought, "Well God, I put everything I had into that audition. It's in your hands."
This will be my first August Wilson play and I couldn't think of a better cast or director that I'd rather share this moment with. I portray the role of Tonya and King is my husband. Tonya is so not me. As Shashone, I literally just want to hold King for the whole play and tell this black man I got his back. However, when our awesome and beautiful director, Natasha Young, sees me going soft on King she yells at me and occasionally throws a chair!! Just joking. But Natasha does challenge my choices and I love, need, and appreciate it. Because Tonya and I are so different, I must put aside my judgements and make her real to me. I'm exploring the physical life of her, little mannerisms she may do, how she sits and all sorts of things. When you come see this play, Tonya will be real. You may love her, you may hate her, but she is who she's going to be. No apologies!
I am so honored that I was chosen to breathe life into the amazing words created by August Wilson. Yes, you may have seen other August Wilson plays. You might have even seen this play. What makes our production different? You'll just have to come and see for yourself. I promise this production will be take you on a journey like never before. Every actor is coming with their A-game. Are you ready?
Get your ticket today because the annual August Wilson tribute is usually our
biggest seller of the season!
Peddling stolen refrigerators in the feeble hope of making enough money to open a video store, King Hedley, a man whose self worth is built on self delusion, is scraping in the dirt of an urban backyard trying to plant seeds where nothing will grow. Getting, spending, killing and dying in a world where getting is hard and killing is commonplace are threads woven into this 1980's installment in the author's renowned cycle of plays about the black experience in America. Drawing on characters established in
Seven Guitars
,
King Hedley II
shows the shadows of the past reaching into the present.
Strong Language!
Join New African Grove Theatre Company as it continues its journey through August Wilson's American Century Cycle. Don't miss this episode of the most amazing project in American Theatre history!
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