Genealogy

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Steve Noll

Donavon Armbruster, Jamie England, Jackson Rosenberry, Quanda Johnson and Atticus Cain (from left) in the Broom Street Theater and Knowledge Workings Theater co-production "Genealogy."

The taping of a podcast on family ancestry becomes a consideration of modern-day responsibility for America's history of white supremacy in Genealogy, the return to in-person performances by Broom Street Theater. Produced in collaboration with Knowledge Workings Theater, the play is the premiere of a new work written by that company's founders, T.J. Elliott and Joe Queenan. Directed by Dana Pellebon, the cast includes Donavon Armbruster, Atticus Cain, Jamie England, Quanda Johnson and Jackson Rosenberry. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.

media release: Broom Street Theater and Knowledge Workings present a new play by T.J. Elliott and Joe Queenan. The playwriting team’s third and latest effort, Genealogy, explores how a shocking ancestral connection revealed during the taping of a reality podcast which incites a series of surprising negotiations and unanticipated antics among its participants. 

The host of “Chasing the Dead” is Glenn Weber, a former “influencer” and erstwhile MTV emcee who attempts to finesse his guests - two high-profile, straight married couples, one black and one white - while wrestling with the demands of unseen supervisors in the Control Room. When Mosiah Wilson, a former all-star pro football player and his wife, professor and activist Aaliyah Levin-Wilson, meet home-maker and former prosecutor, ‘Muggs’ Moriarty Hunt and her husband, Hamilton Hunt, a high-profile lawyer whose presumably illustrious family tree is under scrutiny, a power struggle ensues. Individual allegiances seem to sway and shift over culpability for the legacy of slavery and the debate over reparations. 

For director and co-producer Dana Pellebon, “The play, while a comedy, doesn't shy away from issues of history, trauma, and paths moving forward. We need more conversations on reparations. We need to voice the pain caused by slavery and how to repair the enormous damage of the current and past history of white supremacy. Art is an important outlet to start conversations. Genealogy does just that."

Genealogy stars Donavon Armbruster, Atticus Cain, Jamie England, Quanda Johnson, and Jackson Rosenberry. 

Genealogy runs for three consecutive weekends: November 5, 6; November 11-13; November 18-20.

Performances begin at 8pm. Tickets are $22 online, or Pay-What-You-Can at the door. 

Tickets available at: https://genealogy.brownpapertickets.com/

More information at www.knowledgeworkings.com and https://bstonline.org

This is the first performance at Broom Street Theater since the start of the pandemic. Audience members will be required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination at the door and remain masked at all times while in the building.

Dana Pellebon has acted, directed, written, and produced for a variety of community and professional theatrical troupes in the Madison area since 2001. She performs in/produces the Madison-based Caburlesque troupe, Foxy Veronica’s Peach Pies. She also produced three shows for the New York International Fringe Festival and is a co-founder of the Loud ‘N Unchained (LNU) Black Theater Festival. In 2021, she co-founded LNU Black Theater Festival and directed Good Bad People for LNU Black Theater Festival, directed 2 pieces in “Network Playwright 10 Play Festival” for Chicago Dramatists, and directed in Forward Theater’s Monologue Festival “Within These Walls”.  She produces LGBTQ+ events for OutReach and other local not for profits. This is Dana’s first show with Knowledge Working Theater Company.

About Knowledge Workings Theater: Joe Queenan and T.J. Elliott formed Knowledge Workings in order to write and self-produce their 'problem comedies’: theatrical works that explore difficult issues in a humanistic and entertaining fashion. Through their collaboration with actors, directors, theater professionals, and audience members, they seek to provoke discussion and understanding of issues and ideas critical to our time such as race, religion, and polarization. Their first Off-Broadway Equity showcase, Alms, enjoyed a sold-out run at TheaterLab in NYC. Knowledge Workings is a member of Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York. Faced with the unique challenges posed to stage works by the pandemic, we are committed to #maketheaterlive Therefore, the founders take no compensation for their work and give 2% of any publishing rights or further profits from their plays to the actors and crews of the original productions.