Woolly Mammoth began assembling a Company of artists in , shortly after the theater’s establishment in Washington, DC. Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz sought out performers “committed to our culture of provocation,” who embraced plays that took risks with both style and content. Woolly’s Company, which now includes playwrights, directors, and designers, is a robust community of artists at the center of our investigation of new plays, from early script development and design concepts, through the community dialogue surrounding each production.
COMPANY MEMBERS
Colin K. Bills(he/him/his) is a Washington, DC, based Lighting and Set Designer. He is a Company Member and member of the EDI Working Group at Woolly Mammoth where has lit over fifty productions and designed several sets, including lighting for Fairview, Gloria, Botticelli in the Fire, An Octoroon, Black Side of the Moon (also set design), Stupid Fucking Bird, The Convert, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, A Bright New Boise, Oedipus el Rey, Clybourne Park, and Dead Man’s Cell Phone. As a Conspirator with the devised theater company dog & pony dc, he collaborated in the writing, direction
There is often such assured wisdom in the blues. Historically drawing inspiration from the pain of heartbreak—and often the desire to overcome some form of oppression—it’s the musical form that best communicates a narrative, distilling the songwriter’s story. That’s what comes to mind each time blues musician Memphis Gold (playing The Musician) is seen and heard in Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3). Gold narrates the journey of Hero, the aptly named protagonist in Pulitzer-Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks’ ambitiously epic Civil War trilogy.
The first three parts of Father, making their regional premiere here at Round House, are parts of a larger cycle of nine plays which seek to chronicle the collective story of African Americans, from the latter days of slavery to our contemporary struggles of externalized and internalized racism. The remaining plays have not yet premiered, but Parks’ larger work—notwithstanding any significant flaws—will be earn accolades for its sheer size and the scope of its ambition. Parks is a far different playwright than the esteemed August Wilson, but the addition of Father to her well-celebrated body of work puts
Regional Reviews: Washington, D.C.
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 and 3)
Round House Theatre
Review by Susan Berlin | Season Schedule
Also see Susan's reviews of The City of Conversation, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Between Riverside and Crazy and The Glass Menagerie and her announcement of the Helen Hayes Awards Nominations
Michael Kevin Darnall, JaBen Early, and Tim Getman Photo by Cheyenne Michaels |
The story, well staged by director Timothy Douglas and an accomplished cast of 10, follows the experiences of Hero (JaBen Early), a slave on a Texas plantation who accompanies his "boss-master" to the Civil War as a Confederate soldier in exchange for a promise of his freedom. Parks uses elements of Homer's "Odyssey" as Hero wrestles with whether to go to the war or remain behind with the
This Civil War recasting of the Ulysses tale humanizes the myth through characters that are flawed, loyal to (or betraying) all the wrong people, with the hero of the story, Hero (JaBen Early), carrying the weight of the most flaws and weaknesses.
The second part of the play deals most directly with the racial issues we still confront today, as Hero follows his master (Tim Getman)into battle on the promise that "boss-master" will free him for his service. It's pretty clear the despicable boss-master won't do it, so Hero's hope and loyalty--and ever-present Hamlet-like indecision about running away--are incomprehensible (at least until Part 3).
In this section Getman delivers a speech that made the largely white suburban audience (her own self included) very uncomfortable--it's the Southern Colonel slave-owner's confession to his Union captain prisoner (Michael Kevin Darnall) that he's thankful he is white. O
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