How to Get Away With Murder's Jack Falahee will star in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' upcoming production of Byhalia, Mississippi, a new play by Evan Linder exploring race, infidelity, and family. Directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced), performances will run June 7–July 7.
Winner of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work in 2016, Byhalia, Mississippi centers on Jim and Laurel, a couple who are broke, young, and deeply in love. When Laurel gives birth to their overdue child, the biracial baby is a surprise to everyone, especially her husband Jim, igniting a firestorm in their small southern town.
The production will also star Aimé Donna Kelly as Ayesha, Blake Anthony Morris as Karl, Joseph Jefferson Award–winning Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Caroline Neff as Laurel, and Joseph Jefferson Award winner Cecelia Wingate as Celeste.
“Byhalia is about seven miles south of where I grew up, and I know this region and these characters intimately. These are people who are not often reflected on American stages unless they are caricatures or the butt of a joke. To me, they are my home. They are family,” says playwright Linder. “I think we all have a desire to see the people and places we love the most become better, learn from past mistakes and move forward. For me, writing Byhalia, Mississippi sprang from that desire.”
Byhalia, Mississippi will feature scenic design by Cameron Anderson (The Niceties), lighting design by Jennifer Reiser, sound design by Mikhail Fiksel (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), and costume design by Jennifer Caprio (Falsettos).
Tickets are available through the Kennedy Center Box Office, Kennedy-center.org, or by calling (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324.
