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Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s Pass Over to Play Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre

May 4th, 2021 | By Caitlin Moynihan

Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s acclaimed play Pass Over is set to make its Broadway debut. Directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor (Heroes of the Fourth Turning), Pass Over will reopen Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre for a limited engagement. This marks the Broadway debut of both Nwandu and Taymor. Casting and exact dates are to be announced.

Playwright Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu (Photo courtesy of Matt Ross PR)
 

Pass Over draws inspiration from Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story and is placed on a city street corner. Moses and Kitch are the stars as they stand around talking shit, passing the time and hoping that maybe today will be different. As they dream of their promised land, a stranger wanders into their space and disrupts their plans.

“Though much about Pass Over remains a lament over the lives of Black people stolen too soon, I am happy to confirm that my team and I, along with our producers, are presenting a new version that centers the health, hope and joy of our audiences, especially Black people,” said Nwandu in a statement. “We are reuniting to envision this play again, to tell a version of the story on Broadway where Moses and Kitch both survive their encounter with white oppression.”

The drama premiered at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater in 2017. Spike Lee then filmed the staged play for Amazon Prime and played it at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and SXSW. Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 produced a revised version in 2018 that received the 2019 Lortel Award for Outstanding Play.

The production reunites the full design team from the Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 production. It features set design by Wilson Chin, costume design by Sarafina Bush, lighting design by Marcus Doshi and sound design by Justin Ellington.

Pass Over will be produced on Broadway by Matt Ross, Jujamcyn Theaters, Lincoln Center Theater, Concord Theatricals, Renee Montgomery, Blair Underwood, Madeleine Foster Bersin and Nwandu.

 

Read original article on broadway.com