Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play will return to Broadway, beginning performances at the August Wilson Theatre (currently home to Pass Over) November 23. It originally played Broadway's John Golden Theatre in the 2019–2020 season, closing two months before the COVID-19 shutdown.
The return engagement will officially open December 2; performances are currently scheduled through January 23, 2022.
The announcement comes on the heels of the 74th annual Tony awards, for which the production had received a record 12 nominations—the most of any play in history—including Best Play, Best Original Score (Lindsay Jones), and Best Direction of a Play (Robert O'Hara). Ultimately, it did not win in any category.
Ato Blankson-Wood, Chalia La Tour, and Annie McNamara—each Tony-nominated for their performances in the original Broadway run—will return, along with their former co-stars Irene Sofia Lucio and Paul Alexander Nolan. Antoinette Crowe-Legacy joins them as Kaneisha, a part she originated during the show's early stages while Harris was a student at Yale School of Drama. Additional casting will be announced later.
Harris' work, also previously seen at New York Theatre Workshop, takes place in an "antebellum fever-dream," with three interracial couples working through present day relationship troubles by visiting MacGregor Plantation, where the Old South lives on and nothing is as it seems, yet everything is as it seems.
The return of the play will also see the expansion of its accessibility ticketing initiative, making 10,400 seats available for $39 during the run. The production is also planning a return of "Black Out" shows, a program conceived by Harris for Black theatregoers to experience the play together in private, invitation-only performances.
The play is slated to make its West Coast debut at Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group; it was originally announced for a run in the 2020–2021 season; still no word on exact dates.
The production also features sets by Clint Ramos, costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Jiyoun Chang, sound design by Jones; rounding out the creative team are dramaturg Amauta Marston-Firmino, movement director Byron Easley, intimacy and fight directors Claire Warden and Teniece Divya Johnson, production counsel Doug Nevin, and casting director Taylor Williams.
