Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta officially opens its New York premiere Off-Broadway at The Public Theater's Anspacher Theater December 5 after beginning previews November 16. The extended run will continue through December 23. Laurie Woolery is at the helm.
The work follows a young Native woman who reconnects with her ancestral Lenape homeland after moving from Oklahoma to New York for a banking job in 2008. The piece was written as part of The Public's Emerging Writers Group, and returns to The Public for a full production following earlier runs at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre.
READ: For Native American Playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle, the Past Is Present
The cast includes Rainbow Dickerson as Toosh-ki-pa-kwis-i and Debra, Elizabeth Frances as Le-le-wa'-you and Jane, David Kelly as Jonas Michaelius and Michael, Jeffrey King as Peter Minuit and Dick, Enrico Nassi as Se-ket-tu-may-qua and Luke, Joe Tapper as Jakob and Joe, and Sheila Tousey as Mother and Bobbie. Jessica Ranville and Rex Young round out the company as understudies.
The production features scenic design by Marcelo Martínez García, costume design by Lux Haac, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, sound design and composition by Paul James Prendergast, hair and wig design by Younghawk Bautista, fight and intimacy direction by Kelsey Rainwater, and movement direction by Ty Defoe. Amanda Nita Luke-Sayed serves as production stage manager, and Janelle Caso is stage manager. Lenape Center Executive Director and Co-founder Joe Baker is serving as cultural consultant.
Visit PublicTheater.org.