Z Space

Word for Word presents

All Aunt Hagar’s Children

By Edward P Jones—a full production from Word for Word

November 16 - December 11, 2016 on Z Space's Main Stage

“Edward P. Jones bridges race, time at Word for Word..All "Aunt Hagar’s Children" Proves Black Lives Matter... a must-see this season."
—Daniel Lilly, Theatrius

“Impressive cast brings short story to vivid life....Bay Area theater: Please produce more plays like All Aunt Hagar’s Children…”
—Lily Janiak, SF Chronicle

“What you remember from Word for Word’s production of All Aunt Hagar’s Children...are the women. Such women. "
—Chad Jones, writing for Theatre Dogs

Set in 1950s Washington, D.C., this Noir tale spotlights a young Korean War vet who sets out to solve a murder and becomes entangled in a web of family history. Along the way, he is unsettled by another death—a young woman whose last words haunt him and his investigation. Edward P. Jones evokes a neighborhood of vivid characters, telling a story about the strength of family and the choices that shape our lives.

Directed by Stephanie Hunt | Assistant Director Margo Hall

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Running Time 1 hr. 45 min. No intermission.

Thursday, December 1st is Z Space's Gala:  It will feature a performance of All Aunt Hagar's Children, with a special appearance by Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward P. Jones in conversation with Belva Davis. Click Here For More Information.

VIDEO

Credits

Cast:
Sheila Balter*
Velina Brown*
Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe
Margo Hall*
Kehinde Koyejo*
Khary Moye
Joel Mullennix*
Jia Taylor

*Member, Actors Equity Association

Meet the artists at the heart of Word for Word’s production of All Aunt Hagar’s Children.

Edward P. Jones, Author

The New York Times bestselling author has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Lannan Literary Award for The Known World; he also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2004. His first collection of stories, Lost in the City, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was short listed for the National Book Award. His second collection, All Aunt Hagar’s Children, was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award. He has been an instructor of fiction writing at a range of universities, including Princeton. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Stephanie Hunt, Director and Charter Member of Word for Word

Stephanie is a director, actor, and teacher. For Word for Word, she directed the long-running, award-winning production of Tobias Wolff’s Bullet in the Brain and Lady’s Dream as well as Cornell Woolrich’s noir thriller Angel Face. At the University of San Francisco, she directed her adaptation of Alice Munro’s short story The View from Castle Rock. As an actor, she has originated roles in stories by Upton Sinclair, Angela Carter, Tobias Wolff, Andrew Sean Greer, Susan Glaspell, Virginia Woolf, and Colm Tóibín. In the Bay Area, Stephanie has acted at the Magic Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Encore Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Campo Santo, and was a founding member of the improv group Pulp Playhouse, which played at the Eureka Theatre. Stephanie holds an M.F.A. from American Conservatory Theater and a B.A. from San Francisco State University, but originally she studied and performed at the Back Alley Theater on F Street and 7th NW in Washington, DC.

Margo Hall, Assistant Director

Aunt Penny, Minnie Parsons

Margo is an award winning actor/director/playwright and is excited to be back as a performer with Word for Word where she has directed, acted, and taught. Most recently, she was seen onstage in Fences at California Shakespeare Theater, and directed Red Velvet for SF Playhouse. Other credits include Gem of the Ocean, Fences and Seven Guitars for Marin Theatre Company, Ah, Wilderness! and Marcus or the Secret of Sweet at American Conservatory Theater, The Motherf*#ker With the Hat for SF Playhouse, Twelfth Night, A Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Spunk for California Shakespeare Theater and Trouble in Mind at the Aurora Theatre . She is a founding member of Campo Santo, and has directed, performed and collaborated on several new plays with Naomi Iizuka, Jessica Hagedorn, Phillip Kan Gotanda, and Octavio Solis.

It takes a community of artists to stage a production set in 1950's Washington D.C.!

From discussions between Director and Word for Word Charter Member Stephanie Hunt and Set Designer Sean Riley, you’ll see curated material that inspired the design team’s vision for the Word for Word world of All Aunt Hagar’s Children.

All Aunt Hagar’s Children is above all a neighborhood story. The very real neighborhood in D.C. near the cross streets of 6th and M Streets NW, where the story takes place, is our first visual inspiration: the churches, the stone or brick row houses, Dunbar High School, the corner grocery store, and Howard University farther uptown. Windows also figure prominently in the story – actual windows and window as metaphor.

Additional inspiration: the paintings of Allan Rohan Crite, Ben Shahn, and Roy DeCarava’s photographic portraits. The first three photographs in the series above are from the private collection of Nadine Mozon, Dramaturg, All Aunt Hagar's Children.