Lorraine Hansberry Theatre At Magic Theatre: African Stew By Lisa B. Thompson

Tickets AFRICAN STEW BY LISA B. THOMPSON PRESENTED BY LORRAIN HANSBERRY THEATRE AT MAGIC THEATRE Lorraine Hansberry Theatre presents African Stew, a satirical new comedy by nationally acclaimed, award-winning playwright Lisa B. Thompson, at Magic Theatre in Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture. EVENT DETAILS When an African American woman and a Nigerian man announce their engagement after a swift courtship, their families gather for a meal in Oakland, CA – and what begins as a celebration soon simmers with tension as cultural differences, familial expectations, and questions of identity bubble to the surface. At a time when so much centers on who belongs and who doesn’t, this deeply human comedy asks what it actually takes to build a family across class, across culture, and across generations, and highlights the pleasures and dangers of loving and misunderstanding in the Black Diaspora. ABOUT THE ARTISTS & PERFORMERS Lisa B. Thompson’s satirical comedies, poignant dramas, and insightful criticism explode stereotypes about Black life in the U.S., particularly the experiences of the Black middle class. Her award-winning plays Single Black Female, Underground, Monroe, The Mamalogues and The Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body have been produced Off-Broadway, throughout the U.S., and internationally. Thompson’s creative and scholarly work has received support from institutions such as Hedgebrook, MacDowell, Millay Arts, National Performance Network, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Clayman Institute for Gender Research, American Council of Learned Societies, W. E. B. DuBois Research Institute at the Hutchins Center, Fusebox Festival, and Texas Performing Arts. Her publications include Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class as well as articles in Theatre Journal, Criterion Collection, Journal of American Drama, NPR, Theatre Survey, and The Washington Post. Thompson also co-hosts and co-produces Black Austin Matters, an NPR podcast that explores Black life, culture, and politics in Central Texas. The San Francisco native currently serves as the Bobby and Sherri Patton Endowed Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and the interim associate dean of graduate education and academic affairs for the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. Margo Hall is Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT)’s Artistic Director and an African Stew cast member. Hall is an award-winning actor, director, playwright, and educator. Hall was recently awarded the 2021 Kenneth Rainin Fellowship in Theater and listed as one of the YBCA 100 honorees for 2020. She was last seen onstage in Josephine’s Feast by Star Finch for Campo Santo and Magic Theatre. Other acting credits include Black Odyssey, Fences, Twelfth Night, A Raisin in the Sun, A Winter’s Tale, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose, and SPUNK for the California Shakespeare Theater; JAZZ, Skeleton Crew, Gem of the Ocean, Fences, and Seven Guitars for Marin Theater Company; Ah! Wilderness, Once in a Lifetime, and Marcus or the Secret of Sweet at American Conservatory Theater; Exit Strategy and Trouble in Mind at the Aurora Theater; and Marcus Gardley’s A World in a Woman’s Hands for Shotgun Players; Barbecue (also directed), and MotherF**ker with the Hat at SF Playhouse. Some of her acting credits for Campo Santo include Dennis Johnson’s Nobody Move, Chinaka Hodges’ Mirrors in Every Corner, Jessica Hagedorn’s Fe in the Desert and Stairway to Heaven, and Naomi Iizuka’s Hamlet: Blood in the Brain, 17 Reasons (Why), and Polaroid Stories. Hall recently directed FLEX, FAT HAM, and Nollywood Dreams for SF Playhouse, and Garuda’s Wing for Campo Santo. Hieroglyph, by Erika Dickerson-Despenza, was a co-production of LHT and SF Playhouse. Other LHT credits include Black Feminist Guide to the Human Body, Sunset Baby, In the Evening by the Moonlight, Soulful Christmas, Thurgood, and Rejoice! Other directing credits include How I Lea…