Description
WRITTEN BY
Aleshea Harris
DIRECTED BY
Marti Gobel
PERFORMANCE RUN
April 6 – June 4, 2023 (extended from May 28)
SEASON
Season 30
Chicago Premiere!
When twins Racine and Anaia receive a letter from the mother they thought was dead, they swear to avenge her — and themselves — with blood. Their epic “mission from God” spans from the Dirty South to the California desert, from hip-hop to Afropunk, from ancient tragedy to the Spaghetti Western. Winner of the 2016 Relentless Award and the 2018 Obie Award for Playwriting, Is God Is asks us to consider the roots and futility of cyclical violence, and to question ourselves for wallowing so happily in stories that traffic in it.
CAST
Racine | Aja Singletary
Anaia | Ashli Rene Funches
She | Ensemble Member Karen Aldridge*
Chuck Hall | Sherman Edwards
Riley | Donovan Session
Scotch | Andrew Muwonge*
Angie | Rita Wicks
Man | Kevin Minor*
U/s Racine | Kayla Griffith
U/s Anaia | Whitney Dottery
U/s She & Angie | Charlique C. Rolle
U/s Chuck Hall / Man | Matty Robinson
U/s Riley | Gardy Gilbert
U/s Scotch | Jonathan Samuel Allsop
CREATIVE TEAM
Playwright | Aleshea Harris
Director | Marti Gobel*
Scenic Design | Sydney Lynne
Costume Design | Gregory Graham
Lighting Design | Levi Wilkins
Sound Design | Daniel Etti-Williams
Properties Design | Jennifer Wernau
Composer | Kemet Gobel
Fight & Intimacy Choreographer | Jyreika Guest
Technical Director | Tom Daniel
Carpenter/TD Assistant | James Cullinane
Stage Manager | Kathleen Dickinson*
Assistant Stage Manager | Tessa Huber
2nd Assistant Stage Manager | Faith Locke
Production Manager | Patrick Starner
Assistant Director | Detra Payne
Dramaturg | Martine Kai Green
Assistant Dramaturg | Peter Ruiz
Artistic Producer | Travis A. Knight*
Casting Assistant | Kyle Stoffers
Photography | Mike Hari / Fadeout Media
Original Art | L.M. Freebird
*denotes member of Actors Equity Association, Union of Professional Actors & Stage Managers
Jeff Recommended!
“…A familiar lullaby ominously recurs throughout the show, portending doom for the family at the center of this modern myth, which echoes elements of Greek and Shakespearean tragedies with a hearty dose of Biblical wrath.” -Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune (3 out of 4 stars!)
“Watching Aleshea Harris’ Is God Is play out in its fast and furious regional premiere at Old Town’s intimate A Red Orchid Theatre is akin to watching Aeschylus filtered through Kill Bill and sonically sprinkled with a dose of Spaghetti Western music landing like parmesan on blood.” -Catey Sullivan, Chicago Sun-Times (3.5 out of 4 stars!)
“This disturbing but hypnotic 100-minute play…combines elements of spaghetti westerns, Greek tragedy, and Jacobean revenge dramas… It’s a wild ride, but Harris roots it in painful questions about the legacy of violence in a society whose institutions too often fail to protect women and children.” -Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader (Reader Recommended!)
“It is an intoxicating and horrifying story that shows the darkest side of being human.” -Kathy D. Hey, Third Coast Review (4 out of 4 stars!)
“No one does thriller or horror like A Red Orchid Theatre, truly… Even now just the memory of Marti Gobel’s dexterous direction paired with the ingenious designs of her team including the eerie compositions of Kemet Gobel makes my skin crawl. These talented directors and designers take Harris’ already poetic, powerful and permeable text and transform it into a soul-stopping kaiju.” -Amanda Finn, NewCity Stage
“Directed by Marti Gobel, this is an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. Much as the content warnings suggest, Is God Is is not for the faint of heart. However, if you are one for stories that make you think and examine the systemic issues within our society, then this play is absolutely for you. Gobel’s powerhouse cast brings the story to terrifying life – and the audience’s close proximity to the stage makes it almost literally impossible to turn away from the violence that ensues. Phenomenal performances and a standout artistic team make Is God Is an experience for all the senses – with design that fully transports audiences in a way that this writer has rarely seen before.” -Lauren Katz, Picture This Post
“There is a challenging, stylish production at A Red Orchid Theatre entitled Is God Is, where violence is examined from the standpoint of families and their histories, in a kind of rebellious, yet bracing take by playwright Aleshea Harris… Directed in pointed and demanding strokes by the fine Milwaukee-based actor/director Marti Gobel, Is God Is tells the difficult story of a family unit wracked by domestic and criminal violence that uses a dose of dark humor to make the hard moments palatable for people to bear—and for an audience to follow in the story.” -Ronald Keaton, PicksInSix
“This play uses intense dialogue, visual effects, and the sounds of violence, similar to Hitchcock’s drama, that emotionally draws its audience into the production.” -Rick McCain, Let’s Play Theatrical Reviews
Sensory Content Warnings for Is God Is
Artificial blood, depictions of burns & injuries, sounds of retching & prop knives
Emotive Content Warnings for Is God Is
Onstage depictions of: Physical violence & assault, death & murder, fire, domestic violence, child endangerment, emotional abuse by a parent, profanity or strong language, suicide, prescription drug abuse & violence toward a pregnant person
Verbal references to: Animal death, child abuse & pregnancy
May 4: Choreographing Violence with fight choreographer Jyreika Guest & actor Kevin Minor
May 11: Open Discussion with assistant dramaturg & AROT Literary Coordinator Peter Ruiz
May 12: Black-Out Night Discussion with dramaturg Martine Kei Green & special guest dramaturg, director & scholar Dr. DeRon S. Williams
May 18: Movement & Ritual with actor Aja Singletary
May 25: Black Cowboys & The West with assistant director Detra Payne & assistant dramaturg Peter Ruiz
