Producing Artists Lab

Directed by graduate directing students Kate Drummond and Nick O'Leary

The Producing Artist Laboratory is a recent development in the School of Drama's production structure. Our student-artists require many outlets to practice their craft from their first year to graduation. The Producing Artists Lab is an opportunity for us to share some of these exciting exploratory or developmental projects with the public. Audience members may see a wider range in the levels of production and often more vigorous artistic risk-taking in these Lab productions. 

IN THE BLOOD

I don’t think the world likes women much.

In this modern-day riff on The Scarlet Letter, Hester La Negrita, a homeless mother of five, lives with her kids on the tough streets of the inner city. Her eldest child is teaching her how to read and write, but the letter “A” is, so far, the only letter she knows. Her five kids: Jabber, Bully, Trouble, Beauty, and Baby are played by adult actors who double as five other people in Hester’s life: her ex-boyfriend, her social worker, her doctor, her best friend, and her minister. While Hester’s kids fill her life with joy—lovingly comical moments amid the harsh world of poverty—the adults with whom she comes into contact only hold her back.

By Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks,
Directed by Kate Drummond and Nick O'Leary
May 3 - May 7, 2023  
Preview April 29, 2023
Glenn Hughes Penthouse

Content Warning: The play contains mature subject matter and themes, including explicit language, violence, and sexual content.