Marcus
by University of Texas Theatre & Dance
Feb. 26 - Mar. 08, 2020
Marcus is sixteen and "sweet." Days before Hurricane Katrina strikes the housing projects of Louisiana, the currents of his life converge, overflowing into his close-knit community and launching the search for his sexual and personal identity on a cultural landscape infused with mysterious family creeds. The provocative, poignant and fiercely humorous coming-of-age story of a young gay man in the South, Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet is the stirring conclusion of The Brother/Sister Plays by Academy Award-winning playwright and screenwriter, Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight).
Described as "one of the most startling new voices to emerge in the American theatre," McCraney's plays often embody the voices of those historically silenced to weave multidimensional stories infused with mythology, poetry and ritual. "I lived in the other America, the America that doesn't always get depicted in the cinema. The America that we are told to pretend isn't there," shares McCraney. "In an attempt to create theater that told untold stories, that gave voice to another half of America, I created The Brother/Sister Plays."
Directed by Charles O. Anderson and Robert Ramirez
About the playwright. Tarell Alvin McCraney's plays include Wig Out! (developed at Sundance Theatre Lab, produced in New York by the Vanguard Theatre and in London by the Royal Court) and the trilogy entitled The Brother/Sister Plays, including: The Brothers Size (simultaneously premiered in New York at the Public Theater and in London at the Young Vic where it was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement at an Affiliated Theatre); In the Red and Brown Water (winner of the Kindeda Graduate Playwriting Competition, produced at the Alliance Theatre and the Young Vic) and Marcus, or the Secret of Sweet. His other plays include Without/Sinand Run, Mourner, Run (adapted from Randall Kenan's short story), both of which premiered at Yale Cabaret.
McCraney received a B.F.A. in Acting from DePaul University and is a 2007 graduate of the Yale School of Drama's playwriting program, headed by Richard Nelson, where he also received the Cole Porter Playwriting Award upon graduation. He is the Royal Shakespeare Company's international writer in residence, the 2009 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, the recipient of the 2007 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award and the 2007 Whiting Award. In 2008, McCraney was the recipient of the London Evening Standard's Award for Most Promising Playwright.
About the directors. Charles O. Anderson, a native of Richmond, Virginia, is head of the dance program and producing director of the B.F.A. dance company, Dance Repertory Theatre at The University of Texas at Austin as well as artistic director of the critically-acclaimed afro-contemporary dance theatre company, dance theatre X (founded in 2003). He received his M.F.A. in Dance from Temple University (2002) in Philadelphia. Among his achievements in afro-contemporary choreography and dance theatre, Anderson was selected as one of "25 Artists to Watch" by Dance Magazine and is a Pew Fellowship in the Arts recipient. His choreography, set upon undergraduate students, has been nationally showcased twice at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through the American College Dance Association and he has also been recognized for outstanding achievement in experimental dance theatre by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Robert Ramirez is the head of the acting program at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance. He has served as a voice and text director for numerous theatres and university productions including the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, the Krannert Center for the Arts, Austin Shakespeare and American Players Theatre. He has performed as an actor with the New York, Utah, Great River, Illinois, Alabama, Baltimore and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festivals as well as numerous theatres in New York City. Most recently, he served as the voice and text director for the world premiere of The River Bride at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has been an award-winning voice artist and narrator of audio books for the past 19 years and is a long-time member of the Recorded Books Repertory Company in New York City. Ramirez received his M.F.A. in Acting from the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware and is a proud member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association.
Marcus
by Tarell Alvin McCraney
University of Texas Theatre & Dance
Preview: February 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening: February 27 at 7:30 p.m.
Additional Performances: February 28–29, March 3–7 at 7:30 p.m. and February 29, March 1, 8 at 2:00 p.m.
