IN THE EVENING
BY THE MOONLIGHT
a new play written by Traci Tolmaire and co-created & directed by Margo Hall
EXTENDED BY POPULAR DEMAND!
Now playing thru July 9th
Young Performer's Theatre located in the
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture
Running Time: 90 Minutes* (No Intermission)
*Subject to change
"A great accomplishment... Broadway ready"
"IN THE EVENING BY THE MOONLIGHT SHINES"
"90 brisk minutes that buzz with righteous indignation, fierce intelligence and grateful camaraderie."
Bay Area Reporter
We're thrilled to present the world premiere of IN THE EVENING BY THE MOONLIGHT, a new play uplifting the revolutionary playwright behind our company’s name. Set in her Waverly Place flat in New York, legendary writer Lorraine Hansberry shares a rowdy, scotch-filled evening debating, confronting fears, and celebrating the hope of revolution with the incomparable musician Nina Simone and the prolific writer James Baldwin.
Advance reservations required, walk-up sales not available.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Filmed by Peakbound Studios
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
Production Photo Credits: Alejandro Ramos
TECH REHEARSAL PHOTOS
REHEARSAL PHOTOS
LIVE! IN THE BAY INTERVIEW
with Margo Hall and Traci Tolmaire
“The idea of producing a new work honoring the memory of our theatre’s namesake came early on in my tenure,” says LHT Artistic Director MARGO HALL. “Most associate Lorraine with A Raisin in the Sun, but how many know Lorraine, the activist? The intellectual? We placed this artist at the center of our new play, and put her in dialogue with two other icons of American thought, activism, and artistry. It’s a revelation!”
Based on biographies, interviews, documentaries, FBI records, and the Lorraine Hansberry and James Baldwin archives housed at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, IN THE EVENING BY THE MOONLIGHT reimagines a magical moment in the life of Hansberry at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
"At a time when books, art, culture, and Black history are being banned or altered, bringing forth this piece with co-creator Margo Hall about Lorraine Hansberry and her two close friends Nina Simone and James (Jimmy) Baldwin, feels intensely urgent," says writer TRACI TOLMAIRE. "Not only as a theatrical piece but as a glimpse into their humanity and friendship."
QUESTIONS?
Interested in booking a group order?
Have questions about accessibility, show times, or parking?
Contact us at boxoffice@lhtsf.org
IN THE EVENING BY THE MOONLIGHT cast members Rotimi Agbabiaka (L), Traci Tolmaire (C), Ryan Nicole Austin (R) perform a reading of the new play at the Museum of African Diaspora on April 8, 2023
CAST & CREATIVE TEAM
Written by Traci Tolmaire
Co-Created & Directed By Margo Hall
Rotimi Agbabiaka
as James Baldwin
Traci Tolmaire
as Lorraine Hansberry
Ryan Nicole Austin
as Nina Simone
Set Designer: Carlos Aceves
Props Designer: Heidi Button
Costume Designer: Jan Hunter
Wardrobe Assistant: Mallory McDaniel
Lighting Designer: Kevin Myrick
Sound Designer: Ray Archie
Dramaturg: Lindsay A. Jenkins
Stage Manager: Taylor Mendez
Production Manager/Graphic Designer: Julius Rea
TRACI TOLMAIRE
Multidisciplinary artist and south side Chicago native TRACI TOLMAIRE has a career spanning over 15 years collaborating with groundbreaking theater makers including Hana Sharif, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Michael John Garcés, and Campo Santo. She received a BA in Theatre from Spelman College with studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and trained in dance at various institutions including Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre, Lou Conte, Mark Morris, ODC, and Atlanta Ballet. Performance credits include Jelly’s Last Jam (Le Petit Theatre); Cherchez La Femme (La MaMa ETC); Dancing On Eggshells (The Billie Holiday Theatre); Plenty of Time (New Federal Theatre); Mirrors In Every Corner (Intersection for the Arts/Campo Santo); Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Fulton Opera House); and Trouble in Mind (Actor's Express). Choreography credits include Jelly’s Last Jam; Gee's Bend (Hartford Stage); and Dancing On Eggshells. Driven and inspired by new, collaborative work, she has been a company member of Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s The Living Word project for ten years and performed in the national tours of red, black, & GREEN: a blues and /peh-LO-tah/ which premiered at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco with additional performances at The Kennedy Center, MCA Chicago, and BAM in New York. In the Evening By the Moonlight is Traci’s debut as a playwright. Her second full length play CHI-BOY is currently in development and scheduled to premiere in 2024.
MARGO HALL
An award winning actor, director, educator, and Artistic Director of the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Margo Hall has graced Bay Area stages for over 30 years as a performer and director and was awarded the Kenneth Rainin Fellowship in 2021 for Theater. She can be seen on the TV show BLINDSPOTTING on Starz. She recently appeared in the films BLINDSPOTTING and All Day and a Night. She directed How I Learned What I Learned at Marin Theatre Company, BARBECUE (which she also starred in) and Red Velvet for SF Playhouse and Brownsville, b-side for tray for Shotgun Players, In The Red and Brown Water and Polaroid Stories UC Berkeley. Acting credits include: Exit Strategy at The Aurora Theater. Marin Theater Company- JAZZ, Skeleton Crew, Gem of the Ocean, Fences and Seven Guitars. California Shakespeare Theater- God Person of Szechwan, Black Odyssey, Fences, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Raisin in the Sun, A Winter’s Tale, American Night: the Ballad of Juan Jose and SPUNK. American Conservatory Theater- Ah, Wilderness!, Once in a Lifetime and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet. Aurora Theater- Trouble in Mind. Shotgun Players- A World in a Woman’s Hands, Writing credits: The People’s Temple at Berkeley Repertory Theater, which won the Glickman award for best new play in the Bay Area for 2005, and, Be Bop Baby, a Musical Memoir, a semi-autobiographical piece at Z Space. She is a founding member of Campo Santo, a multicultural San Francisco theater company and has directed, performed and collaborated on several new plays with artists such as Naomi Iizuka, Phillip Kan Gotanda, Sean San Jose, Octavio Solis Luis Saguar, and Jessica Hagedorn. She is also a professor at UC Berkeley and Chabot College in the Theater Department.
ROTIMI AGBABIAKA
Rotimi Agbabiaka is an actor, writer, director, and teacher. Most recently, Rotimi played Theseus and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Folger Theatre, DC) and originated the roles of Aladdin in The Magic Lamp (Presidio Theatre), Salima in House of Joy (CalShakes) and Cellphone/Narrator in If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons, Off Broadway). Other acting credits include roles at American Conservatory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Magic Theatre, and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Rotimi penned the solo shows Type/Caste (TBA award) and MANIFESTO; co-wrote the musical, Seeing Red; co-directed the world premiere of The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera at Z Space; dazzles nightlife stages (as alter-ego Miss Cleo Patois); and teaches acting and solo performance at Stanford University. www.rotimionline.com
RYAN NICOLE AUSTIN
2022 Rainin Foundation Fellow Ryan Nicole Austin’s most fulfilling experiences intersect art and activism, using her career in music and media to empower community. Ryan, a proud member of the YBCA 100, is a featured artist on a GRAMMY-nominated project, featured on TEDx San Francisco, ESPN’s NBA Christmas, & has performed for such notable figures as President Barack Obama. The California State Assembly-recognized artist is the Founder of The HAVEN Project – a cultural media housing justice initiative & FITTRIP – a travel fitness & wellness guide. She was Executive Director of Youth Movement Records, where she supported the aspirations of thousands of young people seeking careers in the arts, guiding their expressions towards justice. Ryan has been a playwright-in-residence at New York’s Public Theater through the BARS workshop, and has been selected to present original works for the National Performance Network & National American Musical Theater Festival. Ryan is the co-writer of ACT-commissioned musical in development CoFounders and is engaged with several ongoing film and theater productions both as an actress and writer. Ryan is a proud mother and wife, and resides in her hometown of Oakland, CA.
CARLOS ACEVES
Carlos is a Bay Area based designer and theatre maker whose practice centers on new works and social justice theatre. Selected scenic and media design credits include: The Displaced, Crowded Fire Theatre; Walls, San Francisco Mime Troupe; Prep Play or Blue Parachute, New Conservatory Theatre Center; Long Day's Journey into Night, Eugene O'Neill Festival of Theatre in Ireland; Justice, Marin Theatre Company; Dream Hou$e, Shotgun Players, and Cyrano, Aurora Theatre Company.
HEIDI BUTTON
Heidi is currently studying technical theatre at San Francisco State University, where she is also happily working as a student assistant in the SFSU Prop Shop for Devon Labelle. Last semester, she designed the set for the production of Dealing Dreams written by Jeffrey Lo. For 9 years prior, Heidi worked at the non-profit school Circus Center in San Francisco, teaching Circus Arts, producing and organizing in house school productions, workshops and programs. In Spring 2022, Heidi earned an Associate Degree in Supervision and management from City College of San Francisco, graduating with honors.
JAN HUNTER
JAN HUNTER is an actress, director, and retired theatre educator of forty years. She was the performing arts director at Skyline High School for twenty-four years, where she directed and produced four productions a year. Jan directed The Vagina Monologues for Bay Area Women Against Rape (BAWAR) in 2018. She recently performed in Cinderella, A Streetcar Named Desire, and For Colored Girls... (TBA Award finalist for outstanding ensemble) at African-American Shakespeare Company. Jan has acted in Oedipus, School for Scandal, and Pygmalion. She is a member of the board of directors at Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Jan earned a BA in drama, and MA in education, and an MA in teacher of the arts.
MALLORY MCDANIEL
Mallory is thrilled to be working with LHT for the second time. She graduated from California College of the Arts in 2019, with a degree in Fashion Design. Her previous costume credits include - Private ( SFBATCO ), Halie: the Mahalia Jackson Story ( LHT), Don Quixote ( Island City Opera), and Annie ( SF Players). When not costuming, she works as a textiles jeweler at Stella Fluorescent and teaches art workshops with K-12.
KEVIN MYRICK
KEVIN MYRICK is an artist and technologist, one of the first to combine video projection and personal computers, stream video online, and pioneer community television. Most recently, he has designed for Black Eagles and Othello (African- American Shakespeare Company), The Last Sermon of Sister Imani (TheatreFIRST), Caroline, or Change (Ray of Light Theatre), Batboy and Rent (Youth Musical Theater Company), Single Black Female (Lorraine Hansberry Theatre), and [hieroglyph] and Twelfth Night (San Francisco Playhouse).
RAY ARCHIE
RAY ARCHIE is the executive director of Notes to the Soul and head engineer of Brooklyn Sound Lab. Ray plays cello, bass, and piano, and has performed internationally with Leonard Bernstein, Michael Tilson-Thomas, London Symphony Orchestra, and San Francisco Symphony. Ray is an award-winning engineer and producer who has worked in television and radio for over twenty years. He regularly presents Audio Engineering Society and European Broadcast Union conventions and has recorded more than thirty albums, over twenty-five audiobooks, and hundreds of journalism pieces for the major publishers.
LINDSAY A. JENKINS
Lindsay A. Jenkins is a dramaturg and producer based in Los Angeles by way of Dallas, TX. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Theatre from California State University, Northridge. Her specific area of research is Black performance heritage, connecting past performances to contemporary experiences. Her recent dramaturgical work includes The First Deep Breath at Geffen Playhouse and Twilight at the Mark Taper Forum. She has also supported productions with Critical Mass Performance Group, Cornerstone Theatre Company, The Playwrights Foundation, and several universities. L.J. can be found in the anthology "Rhetoric, Politics, and Hamilton: An American Musical" where she co-authored a chapter on “the eye” of history with Dr. Jade C. Huell. In addition to her theatre work, L.J. has had various behind the scenes roles in the film and television industry. Her film credits include I Just Wanna Dance With Somebody and Judas and the Black Messiah. Her television credits include America’s Got Talent and Astronomy Club. Passionate about audio production, she was chosen by Spotify to participate in Sound Up, a podcast production training program for Women of Color. Lindsay is the Founder of Maroon Arts and Culture, a nonprofit organization dedicated to education and empowerment through performance. www.LindsayAJenkins.com
TAYLOR MENDEZ
Taylor first fell in love with theater her junior year of high school while attending Holy Names High School (Oakland, CA). She then moved on to complete her 4 years of study and obtained her BFA in Theater with a focus on Stage Management. After graduating, she spent some time working in the Behavior and Mental Health field until 2022 when she made the choice to become a full time independent artist. Since then she has held the titles, Director of Production and Facilities, Stage Manager , and Technical Director. Taylor is overjoyed to continue her artistic journey with LHT."