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Signature's NEC Season Continues with Samm-Art Williams' Home
Signature Theatre Company's season-long tribute to the historic Negro Ensemble Company continues with Samm-Art Williams' Home. The play was first presented by the NEC at the St. Marks Playhouse in December 1979 under the direction of Dean Irby and starring Charles Brown, L. Scott Caldwell, and Michele Shay. The production also included production stage manager Horacena J. Taylor, stage manager Ron Nguvu, and designers Felix E. Cochren (sets), Alvin B. Perry (costumes), and William H. Grant, III (lights). The play subsequently ran on Broadway with the original cast and lighting designer Martin Aronstein under the direction of Douglas Turner Ward, NEC Artistic Director, from May 1980 to January 1981. Home received numerous accolades including Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play (Charles Brown), Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Actor in a Play, and the AUDELCO Award for Best Play. Williams also received an Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Playwriting Award. After its Broadway run, Home toured nationally and internationally with Samuel L. Jackson as Cephus Miles, Elain Graham as Woman One/Pattie Mae Wells, and S. Epatha Merkerson as Woman Two.
Signature is excited to welcome Ron OJ Parson as director of Home. Parson, a Chicago-based director, has previously directed Home at the Madison Repertory Company in Wisconsin, as well as many other plays from the classic NEC repertoire, including Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer at Chicago's Court Theatre and Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence. Joining Parson are several Signature alumni, including cast members Kevin T. Carroll (Adrienne Kennedy's Sleep Deprivation Chamber, August Wilson's Seven Guitars) and January La Voy (August Wilson's Two Trains Running), along with costume designer Ilona Somogyi (Paula Vogel's Hot 'n' Throbbing). Lighting designer William H. Grant, III is new to Signature, but returns to Home, having designed the original production at NEC. New to Signature is actor Tracey Bonner, set designer Shaun Motley, and soundscape and vocal arranger Kathryn Bostic. Signature is thrilled to welcome all new and returning cast and creative team as we continue our journey with the NEC this season.
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