Wine In The Wilderness

Playwright Alice Childress was perhaps better known for her young adult novels — you might remember her A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ But a Sandwich. Her 1969 play Wine in the Wilderness brings together the race riots of the mid-1960s and the oft-contentious theme of the relationships between Black men and Black women. Painter Bill Jameson is working on a large-scale work depicting his vision of Black womanhood; Tommy, his new model, who’s lost her home in the rioting, brings unexpected changes to the project. Tickets are available by calling 608-265-2787, via artsticketing.wisc.edu or at the Mitchell Theatre Lobby Box Office one hour prior to performances. Shows are in Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, March 7-17.

3/7-17, Vilas Hall-Mitchell Theatre, at 7:30 pm Thursday-Friday, 2 & 7:30 pm Saturday and 2 pm Sunday. $26.

media release: Written by Alice Childress; directed by Mark H.

It’s 1964. As race riots blaze on the streets outside his Harlem home, painter Bill Jameson works feverishly to complete a triptych depicting his vision of Black womanhood. While he struggles to find his final muse — the “messed up chick” — his friends discover the perfect model in Tommy, a woman they meet at a bar after she’s been burned out of her home in the riots. However, Tommy is more than she seems, and her presence changes everything. Celebrated writer Alice Childress offers an intimate and raw study of race, gender, and class that explores how the Black community perceives, defines, and affirms itself from within.

Department of Theatre and Drama faculty member Mark H. directs Micah Mekelle Anderson, Christian Carter, DeOnna Garrison, Allie Rappel, Quanda Johnson, Jnae Thompson, Sophia Whitehead, and Byron Yanzapanta with Joseph Bolden, Mikayla Brown, and Jayquan Jaeger as understudies.

Lily Z. Shell is the dramaturg Jyreika Guest is the intimacy director, Neil Mills is the scenic designer, Harri Horsley is the costume designer, Noah Englerth is the lighting designer, Ethan White is the sound designer, Rob Wagner is the technical director, assisted by Sophia Whitehead, and Lucy Cowen is the stage manager, assisted by Nayeh Zouhon.

Content Advisory: This play contains mature content and language including racial epithets.

For more information visit https://theatre.wisc.edu/

This production is made possible through generous support from the Anonymous Block Grant.

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