Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre will present the Chicago premiere of AMERICAN SON, by Christopher Demos-Brown from October 29 - November 13, 2022. Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre Artistic Director Tim Rhoze will direct the drama, which had a successful run on Broadway in the 2018-19 season and was in 2019 adapted as an Emmy Award-nominated Netflix film. AMERICAN SON concerns a Florida bi-racial couple whose teenage son has disappeared and may have been arrested. The estranged parents meet up at the local police station trying to find answers, and in the process confront issues in their troubled marriage and their experiences raising a biracial son in a privileged community. Press opening is Sunday, October 30 at 3 pm at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston.
Leading Rhoze’s cast as the mother, Kendra, will be Alexandria Moorman. Moorman will be appearing soon in the remount of Congo Square Theatre's In-Residence Jeff-nominated production OF WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN at Lookingglass Theatre, playing September 24th through October 16. Playing Kendra’s estranged husband Scott will be Martin Andrews, who has recently played Claudius in HAMLET with Nebraska Shakespeare Festival and Leontes in A WINTER’S TALE with Riverside Shakespeare Festival in Iowa City. Darren Jones, who in the past year has played Polonius in Invictus Theatre Company’s HAMLET and returns to Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, where he began his acting career and has performed in over 10 productions, has been cast as Detective Stokes. Jeff Award nominated Michael Manocchio (for 2015’s MIKE AND SETH by the side project) returns to Chicago from an illustrious career in the Washington D.C. area to play Officer Larkin.
Click here to access all images.
L-R: Alexandria Moorman, Martin Andrews, Darren Jones, Michael Manocchio.
The production team for AMERICAN SON, in addition to Rhoze, who is co-set designer as well as stage director; includes Evan Sposato (Technical Director, Co-Set Designer), David Goodman-Edburg (Lighting Designer), David Goode (Sound Designer), Lynn Baber (Costume Designer), Erin-Nicole Eggers (Production Stage Manager), and Bria Walker (Dramaturg).
Performances will be Saturdays at 7:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm, at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Evanston. Tickets for AMERICAN SON are $30.00. For a limited time use the code: FJT when purchasing tickets online for a $10.00 discount per ticket. Tickets are on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com.
LISTING INFORMATION
AMERICAN SON
by Christopher Demos-Brown
Directed by Tim Rhoze
October 29 - November 13, 2022
Saturdays at 7 pm, Sundays at 3 pm
Press opening Sunday, October 30 at 3 pm
Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes Ave., Evanston
Tickets $30.00 – For a limited time use the code: FJT when purchasing tickets online for a $10.00 discount per ticket. Tickets on sale now at www.fjtheatre.com.
Phone 847-866-5914
An estranged bi-racial couple must confront their feelings about race and bias after their son is detained by the local police following a traffic stop incident. Their disparate histories and backgrounds inform their assumptions as they try to find out what happened to their son. Chicago Premiere of the 2019 Broadway play.
BIOS
TIM RHOZE (Director/Co-Set Designer) Tim Rhoze has been the Producing Artistic Director of Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre since 2010. His directing credits include: HOME, TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992, THE MEETING, FIRES IN THE MIRROR, BLACK BALLERINA (co-writer), NUTCRACKER(ISH), CROWNS, HAVING OUR SAY, FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, WOZA ALBERT!, GOING TO ST. IVES, SINGLE BLACK FEMALE, A SONG FOR CORETTA, YELLOWMAN, SWEET, LADY DAY AT EMERSON BAR & GRILL, BEAR COUNTRY, NOBODY, FENCES, PIANO LESSON, AIN'T MISBEHAVIN, K2, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, et. al. Tim is also the writer/director of WHY NOT ME? A SAMMY DAVIS JR. STORY, and MAYA’S LAST POEM, both produced at FJT; and BLACK BALLERINA, produced at FJT and Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He was co-writer and director of A HOME ON THE LAKE, co-produced with the Piven Theatre Workshop.
CHRISTOPHER DEMOS-BROWN (Playwright) Christopher Demos-Brown has written over a dozen full-length plays and screenplays. His honors include the Laurents/Hatcher Award, a Steinberg Citation from The American Theatre Critics Association, and multiple regional theatre awards (including two Carbonell Awards, multiple Silver Palms and the inaugural Berkshire Theatre Award for Outstanding New Work). His plays include AMERICAN HERO, CAPTIVA, STRIPPED, and WHEN THE SUN SHONE BRIGHTER. Chris is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds graduate degrees from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and The University of Geneva. He is also a practicing trial lawyer and former prosecutor. Chris and his wife, Stephanie, are co-founders of Zoetic Stage, an award-winning theatre in residence at The Adrienne Arsht Center for the performing Arts in Miami, Florida. They also practice law together in Miami.
ABOUT FLEETWOOD-JOURDAIN THEATRE
Founded in 1979, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is a professional, award-winning theatre company that has been thrilling audiences with over four decades of unique, inspirational, and invigorating African American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. The company has been honored in the Black Theatre Alliance/Ira Aldridge Awards. From original plays to the best of Broadway, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre has remained committed to supplying the very best in theatre. "Umoja!! …. Working Together in Unity" is the foundation from which FJT began and continues to thrive!
It is our mission to present powerful, thought-provoking, Theater Arts programming with a commitment to diversity and creative excellence. We are dedicated to providing a nurturing and creative environment for directors, playwrights, actors, set, light, and costume designers. In this positive environment, they can further develop their creative skills and share their artistic expressions. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre is funded by the City of Evanston and in part by the Illinois Arts Council, A State Agency.