Public Presentation
Sweetwater: The Gospel Of Iman
June 26 - 29, 2025
Sweetwater: The Gospel of Iman delves into the strength of chosen family and honors the forgotten through the eyes of Umar, a young gay black writer residing in New York City during the AIDS epidemic. Umar and his closest female friend, Charlie, conjure the spirits of the lives lost by evoking the power of love, friendship, and magic.
Written by Nathan Yungerberg (Soul Series LAB Resident)
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
delves into the
strength of chosen
family!
Leading Artists
NATHAN YUNGERBERG
Playwright
Nathan Yungerberg is a storyteller and Afrosurrealist who writes for TV, scripted podcasts, and theater. Nathan is a freelance writer for Sesame Street and head writer for Live from Mount Olympus, a podcast co-directed by Zhailon Levingston and Tony award-winner Rachel Chavkin. He also worked as script editor for Cultureverse, a podcast on TRAX by PRX, narrated by Yara Shahidi and Kelly Marie Tran. Nathan’s plays have been developed or featured by New York Theatre Workshop, The Cherry Lane Theatre, JAG Productions, LAByrinth Theater, The Apollo Theater, The National Black Theatre, Alliance Theatre, The Fire This Time Festival, 48 Hours in Harlem, Blackboard, The Brooklyn Generator, The Lark, Roundabout Theatre Company, The Playwrights’ Center, American Blues Theater, Crowded Fire Theater, Climate Change Theatre Action, Northern Stage and The Bushwick Starr. He was commissioned by The New Black Fest for HANDS UP: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments, published by Concord Theatricals and adapted by BBC radio afternoon drama. Nathan’s play Esai’s Table was featured in The Cherry Lane Theatre’s Mentor Project (Mentored by Stephen Adly Guirgis and directed by Danya Taymor). Highlights: 2021-2024 Playwrights’ Center Core Writer, 2021-2022 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, 2021 National Black Theatre of Harlem I AM SOUL residency, Blue Ink Playwriting Award (Finalist), and a 2019 Djerassi Resident Artist.
(Soul Series LAB Resident: I Am SOUL Playwright Residency)
ZHAILON LEVINSTON
Director
Zhailon Levingston is a Louisiana-raised storyteller, director, and activist. He is a Board Member for the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, which he co-created, and teaches the Theatre of Change course at Columbia University. He is a Music Mentor Fellow and has done work with Idina Menzel’s A Broader Way Foundation. His directing credits include: Neptune (Dixon Place, Brooklyn Museum), The Years That Went Wrong (Lark, MCC), The Exonerated (Columbia Law School), Chariot Part 2 (Soho Rep., for The Movement Theatre Company), Mother of Pearl (LaGuardia Performing Arts Center). He is the associate director of Primer for a Failed Superpower with Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin, and Runaways at The Public Theater with Sam Pinkleton. Most recently, he directed CATS:”The Jellicle Ball” which premiered at Perelman Performing Arts Center. Along with Chicken & Biscuits which premiered on Broadway in 2021 and Patience which premiered at Second Stage UPTOWN Summer of 2022. Zhailon is also the former resident director at Tina: The Tina Turner Musical on Broadway and the associate director of Hadestown in South Korea.