The till trilogy

Ifa Bayeza is an award-winning playwright, director, novelist, and educator. Described as “breathtaking,” “staggering,” “extraordinarily lyrical,” and “triumphant,” her literary style and transcendent themes veer from the intimate to the mythic and compel us to re-examine the deeply embedded ideas we attach to race and gender. Plays include The Till Trilogy (The Ballad of Emmett Till, That Summer in Sumner, and Benevolence), reimagining the saga of 1955 Civil Rights icon Emmett Till; String Theory, on the 1839 Amistad slave ship survivors; Welcome to Wandaland, a childhood memoir; and Infants of the Spring, adapted from the classic Harlem Renaissance novel. She has written three musicals: the World War I love story Charleston Olio, a Fred Ebb Award finalist; Bunk Johnson, a blues poem on the legendary Jazz originalist, commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation; and KID ZERO, a theater for young audiences hip-hop operetta. Her novel Some Sing, Some Cry was co-authored with her sister, Ntozake Shange. A 2022 MacDowell fellow, Bayeza was a finalist for the 2020 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre and for the 2020 Francesca Primus Prize. In 2018, she was the inaugural Humanist-in-Residence at the National Endowment for the Humanities. Honors for The Ballad of Emmett Till include the Edgar Award, the Backstage Garland Award, and fellowships from the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and Brown University. A graduate of Harvard University, Bayeza received her MFA in Theater from University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Till Trilogy marks her debut in the nation’s capital and at Mosaic Theater Company.

Talvin Wilks is a playwright, director, and dramaturg based in Minneapolis and New York City. His plays include Tod, the boy, Tod, The Trial of Uncle S&M, Bread of Heaven, An American Triptych, Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing, and As I Remember It with Carmen de Lavallade. Directing credits include: The White Card, This Bitter Earth, Benevolence, The Ballad of Emmett Till (Penumbra Theatre), The Peculiar Patriot (National Black Theatre/Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), Parks (History Theatre), Cannabis: A Viper Vaudeville (HERE Arts Center/La MaMa), and The Till Trilogy (Mosaic Theater Company). Dramaturgy credits include: for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enough (Broadway revival/Tony nominated); Dreaming Zenzile (New York Theater Workshop); Between the World and Me (The Apollo Theater); Scat! and Walking with ‘Trane (Urban Bush Women); ink, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, Mr. TOL E. RAncE (Camille A. Brown and Dancers); and In a Rhythm, A History, Necessary Beauty, Landing/Place, and Verge (Bebe Miller Company). He is a newly-tenured Associate Professor in the Theatre Arts & Dance Department, University of Minnesota/Twin Cities and is a 2020 McKnight Theater Artist Fellow and a 2022 McKnight Presidential Fellow. Special thanks to Sanford Moore, Sarah Bellamy/Penumbra Theatre, Millie Reid, Katie Willer, and the Theatre Arts & Dance Department, University of Minnesota/Twin Cities.

Jason Bowen’s previous Broadway credits include: The Play That Goes Wrong. Off-Broadway credits include: Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Audible Theater), Native Son (The Acting Company), If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka (Playwrights Horizons), Alternating Currents (Working Theater), My Mañana Comes (Playwrights Realm). Regional credits include: Native Son (Yale Rep), Skeleton Crew (Studio Theatre), Jazz (Baltimore Center Stage), As You Like It and Black Odyssey (Denver Center Theatre Company), June Moon (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Ruined (La Jolla Playhouse), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (IRNE Award for Best Actor - Drama) (Huntington Theatre). TV/Film credits include: Orange is the New Black (Netflix); Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, Elementary, and Braindead (CBS); Law & Order: SVU (NBC); and The Good Fight (Paramount Plus), as well as Mother/Android, The Upside, and What's Your Number?

Chris Genebach’s local theater credits include: A Human Being Died that Night and Ulysses on Bottles (Mosaic Theater Company); Singin’ in the Rain, The Royale, Mary Stuart, Oil, The Crucible, My Fair Lady, Carousel, and Awake & Sing! at Olney Theatre Center; Billy Elliot at Signature Theatre; Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, Measure for Measure, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar, Cymbeline, King Lear, and Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Mr. Burns, A Post Electric Play at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; William Davenant’s Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, Henry V, Othello, Cyrano, and Orestes: A Tragic Romp at Folger Theatre; and The Big Meal, Superior Donuts, and Shining City at Studio Theatre. Broadway credits include: Shining City at Manhattan Theatre Club. Off-Broadway credits include Rose Rage (adaptation of Henry VI Parts 1, 2, and 3) at The Duke, and The Other Side at Manhattan Theatre Club). Regional credits include: Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, and An Inspector Calls at Everyman Theatre; King Lear at the Goodman Theatre; Rose Rage, King John, and the Short Shakespeare! productions of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Romeo & Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

For four decades, Rolonda Watts’ name, face, and distinctive voice have been known by audiences everywhere, thanks to her many award-winning works in television, radio, film, theater, digital media, stand-up comedy, motivational speaking, and as the author of Destiny Lingers, her award-winning romance suspense novel. Most know her by one name, Rolonda, under which she launched her own internationally syndicated talk show (1994-1998). Years before her talk show, Rolonda was an Emmy-nominated investigative news reporter, anchorwoman, and producer. She also co-hosted the talk show Attitudes on Lifetime TV. Rolonda just made her Off-Broadway debut in Sandblasted at The Vineyard Theatre. In TV and film, Rolonda stars in the new MC Lyte sitcom Partners in Rhyme on ALLBLK. She can also be seen in Bull and Criminal Minds on CBS and the BET movie Due Season. Rolonda has also done extensive voiceover work, including being announcer of the new “Sherri” talk show. Rolonda teaches a Voice Acting Master Class. More at rolonda.com

Antonio Michael Woodard is honored to make his debut with Mosaic Theater Company. Off-Broadway credits include: Macbeth at Classic Stage Company (director: John Doyle). Regional credits include: Need Your Love at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (director: K.J. Sanchez); The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company (director: Whitney White); A Human Being, of a Sort at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (director: Whitney White); Ragtime Trinity Rep (director: Curt Columbus); The Amen Corner and Mississippi Goddamn at Pyramid Theatre Company (director: Ken-Matt Martin). Television credits include: Evil (CBS; director: Peter Sollett). Awards include: Cloris Leachman Best Actor nominee (The Amen Corner) and Irene Ryan Best Actor finalist, Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region IV. He received his MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep and graduated from Alabama State University with a BA in Theatre Arts. I dedicate my performance to my Lord and Savior, my parents, my entire family, and to every young black boy in America.