'Sunset Baby' Kicks-Off Dobama's Season

From Dobama Theatre: Dobama Theatre opens its 17/18 Mainstage Season with the Ohio Premiere of SUNSET BABY, running September 7- 30, directed by Justin Emeka.

Nina, a tough, independent woman in Brooklyn, is visited by her estranged father, a former revolutionary in the Black Liberation Movement who seeks to mend their broken relationship. As father and daughter circle one another, deep-rooted wounds are discovered, generational differences exposed, and burning truths laid bare.

A smart, entertaining, and moving story about family, survival, and the nature of liberation that is both engrossing and explosive.

SUNSET BABY features
Mary-Francis Miller +, Ananias J. Dixon* and Greg White
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association
+ Equity Membership Candidate

About the Playwright:
DOMINIQUE MORISSEAU is the author of THE DETROIT PROJECT (A 3-Play Cycle) which includes the following plays: SKELETON CREW (Atlantic Theater Company), PARADISE BLUE (Signature Theatre), and DETROIT ‘67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: PIPELINE (Lincoln Center Theatre), SUNSET BABY (LAByrinth Theatre); BLOOD AT THE ROOT (National Black Theatre) and FOLLOW ME TO NELLIE’S (Premiere Stages). She is also the book writer on the new musical AIN’T TOO PROUD – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Dominique is an alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Women’s Project Lab, and Lark Playwrights Workshop and has developed work at Sundance Lab, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Her work has been commissioned by Steppenwolf Theater, Women’s Project, South Coast Rep, People’s Light and Theatre, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Penumbra Theatre. She most recently served as Co-Producer on the Showtime series Shameless. Awards include: Spirit of Detroit Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky-Cooper Prize, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, OBIE Award, Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, and being named one of Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18.

About the Director:
JUSTIN EMEKA is a director, writer, actor and teacher who uses artistic and cultural innovation to create high quality, thoughtful, entertaining theatre-specializing in new approaches to "classic” texts, as well as imaginative staging of popular and emerging playwrights. Off- Broadway credits include A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and ROMEO AND JULIET at Classical Theatre of Harlem; Regional theatre productions include: STICK FLY at Intiman Theatre in Seattle; DETROIT ’67 and JULIUS X at Karamu House; A RAISIN IN THE SUN at ArtsWest Theatre.

At Oberlin College he directed DEATH OF A SALESMAN starring Avery Brooks; FOLLOW ME TO NELLIE’S; MACBETH; WEDDING BAND; and Gabriel Emeka's THE COMPROMISE. At the University of Washington Ethnic Cultural Theatre he directed THE GLASS MENAGERIE; Amiri Baraka's DUTCHMAN; and Aishah Rahman's UNFINISHED WOMEN CRY IN NO MAN’S LAND WHILE A BIRD DIES IN A GUILDED CAGE. At Yale Repertory Theater he served as the movement coordinator and performed in a unique African-American production of KING LEAR (Edgar) starring Avery Brooks. At the Oberlin Summer Theater Festival he directed and/or performed in A RAISIN IN THE SUN, CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY, and THE GLASS MENAGERIE. As a writer he received awards in playwriting from the Seattle Arts Commission, and screenwriting from the Washington State Film Commission. He recently published an essay “Seeing Shakespeare Through Brown Eyes” in the book Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches. Mr. Emeka received his MFA in directing from the University of Washington, is a Drama League Fellow, and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Currently, he is a tenured professor of Theatre (Directing & Acting) and Africana Studies at Oberlin College.

Tickets are $29-$35. Senior, Student & Military discounts available.
Call the Box Office at 216.932.3396. Walk up box office hours: Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm;
Saturday noon-4pm during performance weeks and one hour before all performances.
Sunday, September 9 is a Pay-As-You-Can Performance. In an effort to remove economic barriers
and to make Dobama’s productions accessible to everyone, the first Sunday of every production is
a 7:30pm Pay-As-You-Can Performance.

Show dates and times:
Wednesday, September 5 at 7:30 pm - Preview Performance, all tickets $15
Thursday, September 6 at 7:30 pm - Preview Performance, all tickets $15
Friday, September 7 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 8 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 9 at 7:30 pm - Pay-As-You-Can Performance
Thursday, September 13 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 14 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 15 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 16 at 2:30 pm
Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 21 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 22 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 23 at 2:30 pm
Thursday, September 27 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 28 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 29 at 8:00 pm
Sunday, September 30 at 2:30 pm

For information on our Audience Engagement events, visit dobama.org At the Heights Library, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118. Please mention any accessibility needs at time of reservation. Assisted Listening Devices are available upon request. Dobama Theatre thanks its 2018/19 Season Sponsor
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff Dobama Theatre is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this organization with state tax dollars designated to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Dobama Theatre is also generously supported by many individual donors and the following foundations: The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Harry K. and Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation, The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation, Music and Drama Club, The David and Inez Myers Foundation, the Kulas Foundation and the William M. Weiss Foundation.

Dobama Theatre’s mission is to premiere the best contemporary plays by established and emerging playwrights in professional productions of the highest quality. Through educational and outreach programming, Dobama Theatre nurtures the development of theatre artists and builds new audiences for the arts while provoking an examination of our contemporary world.

Image via Dobama Theatre