A.K. Payne's Blackburn Prize-Winning Furlough's Paradise Will Play Yale Rep

A.K. Payne's Blackburn Prize-Winning Furlough's Paradise Will Play Yale Rep

Abigail jean-baptiste is directing the production, starring Lauren F. Walker and Tiffany McLarty.

March 13, 2026 By Logan Culwell-Block

A.k. payne's Furlough's Paradise will be staged at Yale Repertory Theatre, running April 24-May 16 at the Connecticut venue. Abigail jean-baptiste is directing the production.

The work, which premiered at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre in 2024, follows two cousins raised like sisters who return to their hometown for the funeral of their mother and aunt. As the two make sense of their grief, home, love, and kinship, the play explores the experience of being a Black woman in today's America.

Yale Rep's staging will star Lauren F. Walker as Sade and Tiffany McLarty as Mina. Understudies Brittany Antoinette Davis and Mik/ayla Johnson will round out the company. Casting is by Calleri Jensen Davis.

The work was the 2025 winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the largest and oldest award recognizing women+ playwrights; and has also won the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and the National Theatre Conference's Stavis Playwriting Award.

The Connecticut production will feature scenic design by Anthony Robles, costume design by Rea J. Brown, lighting design by Alan C. Edwards, sound design by Constant Dzah, projection design by Wiktor Freifeld, hair and wig design by Nikiya Mathis, and choreography by Ogemdi Ude. The creative team also includes production dramaturg Ashley M. Thomas, technical director Shannon Dodson, fight and intimacy director Kelsey Rainwater, vocal coach Julie Foh, and stage manager ty ruwe.

Tickets are at YaleRep.org.