Sunday Performance is almost sold out.
Call box office for ticket availability. (413) 542-3750
Tickets still available for Sunday performance.
Fri. & Sat. July 7 –8 at 8pm, Sun. July 9 at 4pm.
by TALVIN WILKS
Performed by HARTBEAT ENSEMBLE
Developed by playwright Talvin Wilks through research and in collaboration with HartBeat Ensemble members, this play is a meditation on the American political climate of the late ’50s and early ’60s through the lens of two significant artists and social activists of the time. James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry were firebrands who helped to forge an image of a true America, an inclusive America, one that debunked all notions of a second-class citizenship.
Significant speeches, television interviews, and political debates all served as fodder for this investigation. The result is a piece that gives a view of the personal lives of the two artists, exploring key relationships that navigate the challenging terrain of race, class, sexuality, and friendship while holding up a mirror to America’s history and shedding light on the issues of race, art and politics in an ever-changing multicultural society.
James Baldwin taught locally at Hampshire College and UMASS. We hope that post-show discussions will feature recollections by his colleagues.
HartBeat’s performances at Ko are supported, in part, by the the New England States Touring Programs of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program and the 6 New England state arts agencies.
“Simply put, this seemingly modest gem is one of the best plays of the year…” —Frank Rizzo, Hartford Courant
Jimmy & Lorraine was nominated for the 2015 Best New Play award by the American Theater Critics Circle.
TALVIN WILKS (playwright), also a director and dramaturg, is no stranger to the Pioneer Valley, having both taught at UMASS/Amherst and having served as the Interim Director of New WORLD Theater (2002-2004). At Ko, he co-led the Ping Chong & Company Summer Training Institute in the summer of 2012. Last year at UMASS he co-conceived, wrote and directed COLLIDESCOPE 2.0: Adventures In Pre And Post Racial America
BRIAN JENNINGS (Director) has been part of HartBeat Ensemble since 2006. He developed and performed the role of Nick Carter Flipside and directed multiple productions of Ebeneeza: A Hartford Holiday Carol. He collaborated with Talvin Wilks to create Harlem on my Mind at the Wadsworth Atheneum. A Hartford-based theater artist and teacher, he serves on the faculty at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and the Hartt School Theatre Division. His adaptation, RAVE: The Bacchae of Euripides – Remixed was performed at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. From 1993-2001, he worked with the National Theater of the Deaf as a voicing actor and playwright. He performed on the national tours of Under Milk Wood, An Italian Straw Hat and Curiouser and Curiouser. Other acting credits include productions for major regional theaters, Off Broadway, and television. He has played the roles of Oberon, Malvolio and Macbeth as part of Artfarm’s Shakespeare in the Grove. He has participated as a teaching artist in exchange programs in Cape Verde and South Africa. He holds degrees from Princeton University and the National Theater Conservatory. In 2004, Brian was named Teacher of the Year by the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools. He was the recipient of a National Teaching Artist Fellowship in 2005 and the Gordon C. Ramsay Award for Sustained Creative Achievement at the University of Hartford in 2012. He lives in Bolton, CT, with his wife, Eileen, and their border collie, Hannah.
CHINAZA UCHE (James Baldwin) is a New York-based, Nigerian American, actor/performer/writer. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and lived in London, England, until he immigrated to the US at the age of 14. He has a BFA in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. While at Tisch, he studied at the Experimental Theatre Wing and the Classical Studio. His film and TV credits include: Ricki and the Flash (starring Meryl Streep), Mother Of George (Sundance, starring Isaach De Bankole and Danai Gurira), Terry Richardson’s Last Hours (Cannes) and episodes on Golden Boy (CBS), Deception (NBC) and Blue Bloods (CBS). In New York he has worked with The Transport Group, Playwright’s Realm, LAByrinth Theater Company, La MaMa, The National Black Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop. He has also worked regionally at Seattle Repertory Theatre () and the Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, MD. He also hosts wild dance shows with The Dance Cartel, and is a member of HartBeat Ensemble and Flux Theatre Ensemble. 
VANESSA BUTLER (Lorraine Hansberry) received her actor training from California Institute of the Arts, where she graduated in 2012 with an MFA. She has performed roles from Shakespeare to Suzan-Lori Parks in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Connecticut. A few of her most recent credits are: Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) with Capitol Classics Theater, Freedom: in 3 Acts with Bated Breath Theater Company, Higgins In Harlem (Clara Hill), 2 Theater Uncut Festivals with Playhouse on Park, Khalas (Sierra) with Collective Consciousness Theater, Queens for a Day at Hartford Stage, and multiple HartBeat Ensemble original performances for social change.
NEAL MOELLER (Bobby Kennedy, etc.) made his Hartbeat Ensemble debut with Jimmy & Lorraine. While living in the midwest he played Orsino in Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); the title role in Macbeth (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); and Prince Henry in Henry IV Part 1 & 2 (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival). New York credits include Prospero in The Tempest (Theater 54); Pinocchio’s Ashes (Theater for the New City) and Macheath in Threepenny Opera (Riverside Theater). Other notable roles include Brick in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Cheviot Hill in Engaged; Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest (LA and NY); and Ned Weeks in Normal Heart. Film credits include Manna From Heaven. Neal received a MFA in Acting from University of Illinois.
