Center Theatre Group has announced a Black Out for the Friday, February 11, 2022, 8 p.m. performance of “Slave Play” at the Mark Taper Forum. Playwright Jeremy O. Harris and Los Angeles-born artist Martine Syms will welcome the audience to this special performance with a pre-show address. In order to continue the conversation and celebration of Black artists, the performance will be followed by a reception on the Music Center Plaza featuring live music.
The first Black Out was created by Jeremy O. Harris in 2019 during the Broadway engagement of “Slave Play” to provide a freeing environment for Black-identifying audience members to experience the unflinching new work free from the white gaze. Based on the success of the first Black Out, “Slave Play” hosted a second in January of 2020, to bookend its first Broadway run and Black Out performances were incorporated into the second Broadway run of “Slave Play.” Other Broadway and regional productions have also adopted the practice.
The Black Out is an invite-only event with all tickets paid for by WarnerMedia.
Hailed as “the single most daring thing I’ve seen in a theater in a long time” by Wesley Morris of The New York Times and “a fascinating explosive-device of a play” by Peter Marks of The Washington Post, “Slave Play” takes place at the MacGregor Plantation, where nothing is as it seems, and yet everything is as it seems. It’s an antebellum fever-dream as three interracial couples converge to rip open history at the intersection of race, love, sex and sexuality in 21st century America.”
Two-time NAACP and Obie Award winner and the recipient of Center Theatre Group’s inaugural Sherwood Award, Robert O’Hara returns to direct “Slave Play,” which earned a record 12 Tony nominations, the most for any play in the history of those awards. The original creative team from the Broadway engagement will bring the acclaimed new work to Los Angeles direct from Broadway for its first production outside of New York.
The cast of “Slave Play” features Broadway company members Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, Jonathan Higginbotham, Devin Kawaoka, Chalia La Tour, Irene Sofia Lucio, Paul Alexander Nolan, Jakeem Dante Powell and Elizabeth Stahlmann. Understudies include Jordan Lis Cooper, Rashaad Hall, Kineta Kunutu, James Patrick Nelson and Galen J. Williams.
The West Coast premiere of “Slave Play” begins previews on February 9, opens February 16 and continues through March 13, 2022. Tickets for the full run of “Slave Play” are currently on sale at Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum and start at $30. They are available through CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office (at the Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012).
Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director/CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics and circumstance to serve Los Angeles.
Center Theatre Group requires all guests to wear a mask and provide proof of full vaccination, along with a government or education issued photo ID upon arrival. Per the guidelines set by the CDC, “full vaccination” means that at least 14 days have passed since receiving the second dose of an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine. Booster shots are highly recommended and will be required beginning February 1 for anyone who is eligible. Unvaccinated guests, including children or those with a medical or religious reason, must provide proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken no more than 48 hours prior to attending an indoor performance, or a negative rapid antigen test taken no more than 24 hours prior to attending an indoor performance.
Center Theatre Group will continue working closely with The Music Center and L.A. County officials to ensure they are following all applicable health and safety protocols. More information regarding safety updates as well as audience vaccination, testing and mask requirements is available at CenterTheatreGroup.org/Safety.
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