Chiaroscuro: A Light and Dark Skin Comedy

May 28, 2025 - June 22, 2025

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Join six Black singles aboard the S.S. Chiaroscuro for a chocolate singles cruise to…. nowhere! Guided by the wise and mischievous Paul Paul Legba, this “love boat” ultimately explodes into a dark comedy. Aboard, everyone wrestles with their own pursuit of love, desire, and need to be seen. Written by Black Arts Movement writer Aishah Rahman, the play is named after an Italian artistic term referring to a stark contrast between dark and light. A play crafted in a world struggling to battle isolation, we invite you to join us on the journey to finding love.

Performances will be held at The Flea Theater, 20 Thomas Street, NY NY 10007

Please note: There is NO LATE SEATING for performances of Chiaroscuro.

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE FLEA

*Captioning is being provided, in part, by a grant from NYSCA/TDF TAP Plus.*

PRODUCTION PHOTOS

Aishah Rahman

Playwright

Aishah Rahman was a pioneering playwright, author, and professor. A graduate of Howard University and Goddard College, Rahman was active in the 1960’s Black Arts Movement. She described her writing as adhering to a “jazz aesthetic,” and was the author of numerous plays, including dramas such as “Unfinished Women Cry In No Man’s Land While a Bird Dies in Gilded Cage,” “The Mojo And The Sayso,” and musicals such as Lady Day A Musical Tragedy and The Tale of Madame Zora. Her plays were produced at theaters and universities across the United States including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Public Theater and The Ensemble Studio Theater. Rahman was also a professor of Literary Arts at Brown University, where she mentored many students. She also served as director of playwriting at the New Federal Theater in New York. Among her numerous fellowships, grants and awards are a special citation from the Rockefeller Foundation of the Arts for dedication to playwriting in the American Theater. Rahman released her memoir, Chewed Water in 2001 about her coming of age in Harlem. In its review, The New York Times Book Review wrote that Rahman “elegantly captures mid-20th-century Harlem in all its dwindling glory” and writes as if she is telling “ a familiar American coming-of-age story for the very first time.”

abigail jean-baptiste

Director

abigail jean-baptiste is a theater maker born & based in New York City with roots in Haiti and the American South. guided by questions around blackness, femininity, and kinship, abigail’s work uses fragmented language, repeatable gestures, and found objects in a search to build nonsensical ways of being.

previously: 2023-24 BOLD Resident Director (Northern Stage), FY2023 NYSCA Grantee (Playwrights Horizons), Cycle 9 Audrey Resident (New Georges), 2023 JACK Radical Acts Artist, I AM SOUL Directing Residency (National Black Theater), 2021 Project Number One Artist (Soho Rep.), 2021 Bushwick Starr Reading Series Playwright, Roundabout Directors Group Cohort 2, and 2018 Lilly Award Winner.

upcoming: KING JAMES by Rajiv Joseph (Northern Stage) and TI-JEAN AND HIS BROTHERS by Derek Walcott (Princeton University), CHIAROSCURO by Aishah Rahman (NBT, The Flea). www.abigailjeanbaptiste.org @abigailrosejb

CAST

Sidney DuPont

Sidney DuPont is a 2022 Tony Award nominee and Chita Rivera Award nominee, originating the role of Washington Henry in Paradise Square at the Barrymore Theater. He made his Broadway debut in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and continued with the 1st National Tour and Australian Company. National Tours: Memphis: the Musical and A Chorus Line. Regional: Hippest Trip: Soul Train Musical (A.C.T), Paradise Square at Berkeley Repertory Theatre (TBA nomination), Man of La Mancha (The Shakespeare Theater), In the Heights (The Geva Theater), and Gypsy (NCT). Television/Commercial: FBI: Most Wanted (CBS) & Cartier. @sidneydupont

Paige Gilbert

Paige Gilbert is an actor, spiritualist, and healer through many forms. Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth(Lincoln Center) The Rose Tattoo (Roundabout) Off Broadway:The Welkin (Atlantic) A Raisin in the Sun (Public Theater) Demons (Bushwick Starr) BLKSand School Girls; or The African Mean Girls Play (MCC). TV/Film: Netflix series Russian Doll, HBO’s The Deuce. Mindy Kaling’s Late Night. Check out Sage The House Down podcast on Audible for some healing conversations. IG: @glitteringgold

Ebony Marshall-Oliver

Ebony Marshall-Oliver: NBT debut! Ebony is an actor, singer, storyteller. Her Broadway credits include Ain't No Mo' (Passenger 4), Chicken & Biscuits (Beverly); Off Broadway- Public Theater (Merry Wives, Ain't No Mo), Waterwell (7 Minutes), Clubbed Thumb (Bodies They Ritual); Select Regional-Huntington Theatre/Alliance Theater (Fat Ham), Dallas Theater Center (Dreamgirls), Theatre3Dallas (Memphis), Ever Blue Arts (Sister Act), Jubilee Theatre (Color Purple); She can be seen as Mildred on The Ms. Pat Show on BET+. Other Film/TV credits: Regarding Us (AppleTV), Evil (Paramount+) AMDA-NY Alum. @ebonym_o

Abenaa Quïïn

Abenaa Quïïn (La Honda Deja Vue) Abenaa is a multifaceted actress, singer-songwriter, and producer hailing from New Jersey. On stage, Abenaa originated the role of Adenikeh in Nollywood Dreams at MCC Theater, earning a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play. She portrayed Anne Page in the Public Theater’s Merry Wives at the Delacorte for Shakespeare in the Park, filmed for PBS’ Great Performances. Her work as Nana in School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play has been seen Off-Broadway and regionally, contributing to a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Regional credits include Goddess (Berkeley Rep), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (ZACH Theatre), Ragtime on Ellis, Avenue Q, Ain’t Misbehavin, Hairspray, and Disney Cruise Line. TV: “Orange is the New Black”,“Daredevil”(Netflix); “The Other Two”(Comedy Central/Max); “FBI”(CBS); “Theater Close-Up”,“Great Performances”(PBS); “#Stressed”(BronxNet); “Reopening Night”(HBO/Max); “Poker Face”(Peacock). Thank you to NBT, The Flea, my Stewart Talent team, and Rob Kolker. TGBTG. Isaiah 40:31. IG/TT: @abenaadryl

Gayle Samuels

Gayle Samuels recently appeared on Broadway in Ohio State Murders. She received a Best Supporting Actress Award for the indie film American Wisper and a Best Actress nomination from the Connecticut Critics Circle for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. Other Broadway credits include Children of a Lesser God, Sunset Boulevard, Grind, Dancin’ and she just returned from Australia playing Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at The Sydney Theatre Company. Her Off- Broadway credits include Demons, Sistas, MsTrial, Little Shop of Horrors and as Josephine Baker in The Dark Star from Harlem. Gayle has toured the world with Harry Belafonte as a featured vocalist and was thrilled to work alongside Peter Dinklage in Goodspeed’s Cyrano originating the role of the Chaperone. Regionally, she won rave reviews for her portrayal of Rose in Fences and Louise in Seven Guitars. Gayle’s television and film credits include Bull, The Equalizer, Girls5Eva, Queens, The Flight Attendant, Blue Bloods, Madam Secretary, The Americans, Black Nativity and Bound. @gayle.samuels

TL Thompson

TL was a series regular on the 4400 reboot and most recently co starred in the short Long Pork by Iris Dukatt and Holding Back The Tide featured at NYC Doc Fest. TL is the narrator in the first and second season of Unlicensed by Joseph Fink and Jeffery Cramer, Ponyboy by Eliot Duncan (Audible), and Are You Listening - an animated series aimed at helping teens navigate conflict. Broadway: Straight White Men. Off Broadway: Orlando (Signature) Is This A Room? (Vineyard and International Tour); Lessons in Survival (Vineyard); Nervous System (BAM). Webseries: THESE/THEMS (OutFest/Youtube); Dinette Season 2 (NewFest). Short Films: Wolf Tone, Flu$h,Friday Afternoon (NYC Independent Film Festival), Miles Away (Chronic Insanity Edinburgh Fringe).Audiobooks: Thrust, Four Hundred Souls, Filthy Animals, This Book Is Not for You, Unpopular Vote. TLThompsonactor.com. @tlthompsonofficial

Lance Coadie Williams

Lance made his New York theater debut and won an Obie Award for his performance in the critically acclaimed production of Robert O'Hara's BOOTY CANDY at Playwrights Horizon. Following a roaringly hilarious appearance opposite Patti Lupone in SHOWS FOR DAYS and WAR at Lincoln Center, he appeared on Broadway in the Tony Nominated, Pulitzer Prize winning play, SWEAT and in the Tony Nominated revival of KISS ME KATE at Roundabout Theatre. He starred as numerous characters in BLACK ODYSSEY at Classic Stage Company and as Stage manager in OUR TOWN at Baltimore Center Stage both directed by Stevie Walker Webb. His most recent performance was in FAT HAM at The Old Globe and as the Robust role "" Dax"" in the world premier of THE REFUGE PLAYS at The Roundabout Theatre. His regional theatre credits include The Studio Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Ford Theatre, Everyman Theatre, The Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Shakespeare Theatre and The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival.

Lance had a recurring role in HBO’s THE WIRE and has guest starred in numerous episodics including HIGH MAINTENANCE, ELEMENTARY and THE GOOD FIGHT. He received his BFA at Purchase College Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film and he is a graduate of The Baltimore School for the Arts. He is a true powerhouse actor with incredible versatility to transform and breathe life into a range of different characters.

Creative Team

Jungah Han

SCENIC DESIGNER

Jungah Han is a New York-based freelance set designer working across Theatre, Film, and Television. Her recent design credits include The Duat (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Disinform (American Opera House), A Little Night Music(Power Center), Grand Horizon and The Chinese Lady (Tipping Point Theatre), and L’incoronazione di Poppea(Brockman Hall for Opera). Other projects include Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville, The House That Will Not Stand, and Grounds, an environmental opera installation. Her work has been presented at venues including the Juilliard School, Le Petit Theatre, Yale Iseman Theatre, and Cygnet Theatre.

Han has also served as associate and assistant set designer on major Broadway and international productions, including Lempicka (Longacre Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse), Sally and Tom (The Public), The Thanksgiving Play (Helen Hayes Theatre), Jagged Little Pill (National Tour), Once On This Island (Broadway & Tour), Derren Brown: Secret, and several opera and ballet productions in France, Germany, and the U.S. She holds an MFA from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and is currently on the faculty at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. To learn more, visit www.jungahhan.com.

Nissy Aya

DRAMATURGE

Nissy Aya (nissy; she/ze/we) is a Black Femme from the Bronx telling stories and tall tales – while helping others to do the same. Nissy is an artist and cultural worker committed to healing justice, rehearsing the revolution (quiet, world-ending and otherwise), and practices of feeling good. Dramaturgical credits include: FAT HAM (OSF), Gatsby (A.R.T.), Ife Olujobi's JORDANS (The Public), Obehi Janice's NOVA (Pemberley, Royal Lyceum), Diane Exavier's Bernarda's Daughters (TNG, NBT), Erika Dickerson-Despenza's shadow/land (The Public), a.k. payne's AMANI (NBT), Charly Evon Simpson's sandblasted (WP, Vineyard Theatre), Whitney White's SEMBLANCE (NYTW), James Ijames's TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever (JACK), and in-house dramaturgy at the former play development center, The Lark. @nissyiam

Maruti Evans

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Maruti Evans (he/ him) – Fat Ham (Broadway + Public Theater + RSC), Good Bones (Public Theater), Angels in America (Arena Stage), Real Enemies (BAM), Elsewhere (BAM), At the Wedding (Lincoln Center Theatre), DAPHNE (Lincoln Center Theater), Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theater) Amani (National Black Theater), and The Ring Cycle (Opera Australia). Awards: Fat Ham (Ensemble and Creative Team Obie Award), Tiny Dynamite (Drama Desk), Pilo Family Circus (Drama Desk). Drama Desk nominations: Peculiar Patriot, Kill Move Paradise, Deliverance, In the Heat of the Night, Slaughterhouse 5, and Blindness. Henry Hewes Design Awards nomination: Amani (National Black Theater).

Bailey Trierweiler

SOUND DESIGNER

Bailey Trierweiler (he/him) is a New York based sound designer. Select design credits include Becoming Eve (NYTW); On The Evolutionary Function of Shame (Second Stage); Breaking the Binary Festival - 2024; Blood of the Lamb (59E59); Dangerous Days (Miami New Drama); already there (The REACH at the Kennedy Center), Riverside (IndyShakes), among others. Select associate design credits include Liberation (Roundabout Theater Co); The Blood Quilt (Lincoln Center Theatre); Valour: A Drag Spectacular (La Jolla Playhouse); The Welkin (Atlantic Theater Co); The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre Company); among others. M.F.A - Yale School of Drama. @baileytrierweiler

Azalea Fairley

COSTUME DESIGN

Azalea Fairley (she/they) is a New Orleans born NYC based costume designer and is thrilled to work with NBT! Broadway: Associate designer A Strange Loop; Assistant Designer Hamilton. Off-Broadway: Shadow/Land (The Public); TJ Loves Sally 4Ever (Jack Theater); What Lies Beneath (On Site Opera NYC). Regional: After Midnight (Paper Mill Playhouse); King James, Clyde’s (George st Playhouse NJ); Fabulations (Chautauqua Theater Company); Eternal Life Pt1 (Wilma Theater, PA); Detroit ’67, Schoolgirls (TheaterSquared AR), Blood Knot (Flat Rock Playhouse NC), By the Way Meet Vera Stark (Colorado Fine Arts Ctr), 10×10 Play Fest (Barrington Stage MA), Film: “Murderer” and “The Rainbow Experiment.” Awards: Nominations for Outstanding Costume Design for the Audelco Awards, the Barrymore Awards, and The Henry Awards. Member USA 829 Azalea-Fairley.com Azalea-Fairley.com @ziggybombastic

Juliana Suaide

PROPS DESIGNER

Juliana is a Brazilian actress, producer and all-things-art-department based in NY. Juliana graduated in classical ballet by The Royal Academy of Dance and acting by The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Besides the acting credits, Juliana's art department credits have included the Brazilian tv show "Rainha da Cocada" GNT - Season 2 and 3 (Prop Master & Set Dressing) , Diabolical – Discovery ID Series (Art Director), FOX Stick Figures - Pilot (Production Designer), Lies That Bind – Discovery ID Series (Art Director) , "Out Of Water" - Musical (Scenic Designer & Prop Master), and others. Most recent Props credits include: “Amid Falling Walls” - NYTF (Props Designer), “How To Defend Yourself” - NYTW (Props Supervisor) , “Half God of Rainfall” - NYTW (Props Supervisor) , “ “WolfPlay” - MCC (Props Associate), “You Will Get Sick” - Roundabout Theatre (Props Associate),” Montag” - Soho Rep. (Props Associate), "Notes on Killing" - Soho Rep. (Props Associate), “Ulysses” - ERS (Props Associate), “Eva Luna” - Repertorio Español (Props Associate) and others. Juliana believes in creating intelligent, educational and inspiring work for both theater and film. @jusuaide

Alfreda "Fre" Howard

HAIR AND MAKEUP DESIGN

Alfreda “Fre” Howard is an IATSE union member with locals 798, 799, 917 and is an Adjunct Professor at Wagner College and the resident Wig and Makeup Designer. Fre designed and built all wigs and makeup for the 2024-2025 Main Stage season which includes; “Once Upon a Mattress” and “City of Angels”. Fre was the Makeup and Wig Designer for Paper Mill Playhouse’s “After Midnight” , George Street Playhouse’s “Clyde’s” while also working on HBO’s Series “Task”, “Raising Kanan” S1,2 and 3, Apple-Tv’s “Lady in the Lake”, and “Mr. Crocket”on Hulu. Fre was also the Hair, Makeup and groomer for the upcoming Music Video for Myles Smith and Department Head for an upcoming Horror Film “White Meat”. Fre owns Faces By Fre,LLC Makeup Artistry that provides Makeup, Hair, Wigs, Special FX, etc. Faces By Fre, LLC employs over four artists and is a Certified WBENC “Women-Owned” business. Fre is from Michigan, travels the world for work and resides in Philadelphia and has two grown children (Von and Vala). Fre enjoys Cigars,Bourbon,Yachts and long walks on the beach! @facesbyfre

Ogemdi Ude

MOVEMENT COORDINATOR

Ogemdi Ude is a dance, theater, and interdisciplinary artist and educator based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. Her work has been presented at The Kitchen, Gibney, Harlem Stage, Danspace Project, Abrons Arts Center, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, Recess Art, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Center for Performance Research, and for BAM's DanceAfrica festival. As an educator, she has taught at The New School, Princeton University, Sarah Lawrence College, and University of the Arts. She is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, 2024-2025 Leslie-Lohman Artist Fellow, 2024 NEFA National Dance Project Production Grant recipient, a Live Feed Residency Artist at New York Live Arts, and a 2024/2025 BAX Artist-in-Residence. She has been a 2022-2024 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence, 2021 danceWEB Scholar, 2021 Laundromat Project Create Change Artist-in-Residence, and a 2019-2020 Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Resident Fellow. In January 2022 she appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine for their annual “25 to Watch” issue. Most recently, she has published a book Watch Me in a collection edited by Thomas DeFrantz and Annie-B Parson: Dance History(s): Imagination as a Form of Study published by Dancing Foxes Press and Wesleyan University Press. @gemgemdi

Samantha Estrella

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

samantha estrella (she/hers) is a director, dramaturg, big sister, and student of abolition whose home & heart are in queens, ny. her artistry prioritizes the question, “what happens when we make the time to revere one another and every thing, to regard?” and muses levity and land in its play. samantha has supported, staged, and celebrated work with institutions such as Atlantic Theatre Company, Atlantic Acting School, National Black Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Theatre for a New Audience, Watermark Productions, CLASSIX, NAMT, and Teatro Latea. she was one of the two directing mentees of Wingspace Theatrical’s 2022-2023 Design Fellowship, and a member of Mercury Store's inaugural Directing Technique Intensive cohort. samantha is a project manager with CLASSIX, and is the assistant to playwright, cultural worker, (and yes, our dramaturg!) Nissy Aya. BFA: University of Michigan, Theatre Direction. For Grace. @sammiestrella

Victoria Whooper

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Victoria is an educator, scholar, stage manager, and artist from Chicago, IL. Victoria's work as both an educator and freelance stage manager centers around uplifting the voices of the global majority and reframing ways we approach stage management and arts education. Victoria has worked regionally, on and off Broadway as well as in academic theater. Victoria is currently the head of Management Training at Tisch Drama. I dedicate this show to my ancestors, my parents and my fiance. @hotel_lizzo

Genevieve Ortiz

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Genevieve Ortiz (Stage Manager) Off-Broadway: The Blood Quilt; Six Characters; Daphne (Lincoln Center Theatre/LCT3); On The Evolutionary Function of Shame; Toros; Patience (Second Stage); Catch As Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons); Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members; Is God Is (Soho Rep); 7 Minutes (Waterwell); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons, BAM, Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T.); Hercules (The Public); Regional: A Thousand Maids; Living and Breathing (Two River Theater); The Christians (Baltimore Center Stage).

Erica A. Hart, CSA

CASTING DIRECTOR

Erica A. Hart, CSA. Casting Director. NBT: 125TH AND FREEDOM, BAYANO: MY ODISEA, WILDFLOWER, MONDO TRAGIC, Broadway: CHICKEN & BISCUITS, PASS OVER, DEATH OF A SALESMAN, JAJA'S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING. TV/Streaming: BLACK MIRROR (SEASON 6 US CASTING), A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW (SEASON 4), THAT DAMN MICHAEL CHE, JODIE, BUST DOWN, THE GIRLS ON THE BUS, THE EQUALIZER (SEASON 4 & SEASON 5) and SURVIVAL OF THE THICKEST (SEASON 2). FILM (Selected): FUCKTOYS (SXSW), WE STRANGERS (SXSW), VEO VEO A FAMILY (TRIBECA), THE SURROGATE (SXSW), LAPSIS (SXSW), CUPIDS (TRIBECA), and NATIVES (SXSW). OFF-BROADWAY: SATURDAY CHURCH (NYTW), OLD FOOLS, HOW TO DEFEND YOURSELF (NYTW), SCARLETT DREAMS (MIDNIGHT THEATRICALS). Regional: EL COQUI (LONG WHARF THEATRE). MUSIC VIDEOS: FIGHT FOR YOU (H.E.R. - OSCAR WINNING SONG) and GET SOME (GHOSTED - PREMIERED AT SXSW). Thank you NBT, Flea, and the entire Chiaroscuro family. For Mom + Dad. Nanie + Alison. Always. @elove67