Danai Gurira’s powerful new play, “The Convert,” which was commissioned by Center Theatre Group, will be presented at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, April 17 through May 19, 2012. The opening is scheduled for April 19. The world premiere production of “The Convert,” a co-production with McCarter Theatre Center and Goodman Theatre, is directed by Emily Mann.
The entire cast from McCarter Theatre Center will continue on to the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The cast includes (in alphabetical order) Pascale Armand, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Zainab Jah, Kevin Mambo, LeRoy McClain, Warner Joseph Miller and Harold Surratt.
Set design is by Daniel Ostling, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design by Lap Chi Chu, sound design by Darron L West, fight direction by J. Steven White and dialect and vocal coaching by Beth McGuire.
Set amid the colonial scramble for southern Africa in 1895, “The Convert” tells the tale of Jekesai, a young girl who escapes a forced marriage arrangement by becoming the newest convert of a well-meaning black catechist for the Catholic Church. But when an anti-colonial uprising erupts she is torn by her loyalties to her family and her culture and is forced to decide which side of the conflict she will choose – and where her heart truly belongs.
With Gurira’s characteristic insight, vigor and humor, “The Convert” explores the cultural and religious collisions caused by British colonization in what is now called Zimbabwe, and the reverberating effects still felt in the region today.
Danai Gurira co-created and performed in the award-winning play “In the Continuum,” for which she won an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award, among other awards, which was presented in the 2006-2007 season at the Douglas. The West Coast premiere of her next play, “Eclipsed,” was presented at the Douglas in the 2009-2010 season. She co-starred in the Academy Award-nominated film “The Visitor” and on Broadway in the Lincoln Center Theater production of “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” Born in the United States to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe, she has an MFA in Acting from New York University.
Tickets for “The Convert” are available by calling (213) 628-2772, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre or two hours prior to performances at the Kirk Douglas Theatre box office. The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
Photo Credit: T. Charles Erickson
