Absurdism Meets Afro-Futurism Meets Rap Concert in Provocative, Fresh Show Running October 12 - November 11, 2023; Tickets On Sale August 15
CHICAGO, Illinois (July 24, 2023) – Refracted Theatre Company today announced the cast and production team for TAMBO & BONES, Dave Harris’s genre-defying play that transcends time and usurps cliché, directed by Mikael Burke. TAMBO & BONES runs October 12 - November 11, 2023, with previews October 5 - 8 at the Bookspan Theatre at The Den (1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.). Tickets ($25) go on sale August 15, 2023 at https://www.refractedco.com/tambo-bones.
Tambo and Bones find themselves in a tricky situation: they are trapped in a minstrel show. How do you get out of that? Might have to attack the playwright who put you there. Might need to become a famous rap legend. Might need to start something. Def need to let them know you’re a real person. You’re a real person. You’re a real person? From the fearlessly defiant, fresh American voice of playwright Dave Harris, Tambo & Bones is a dark comedy (and a rap concert) that pulls back the curtain on every theater experience the audience has had before.
The cast features William Anthony Sebastian Rose II as “Tambo” and Patrick Newson Jr. as “Bones,” with Timothy Bernard Felton, Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden, and understudies Jordan David Wallace and Bryson Howard.
“TAMBO & BONES is a rare theatrical tornado: you feel it in the air first, it gathers force, and then it picks you up without warning and drops you where you never expected to be,” said Refracted Co-Artistic Directors Graham Millerand Tova Wolff. “This is the power of theatre that we, the artistic directors, want people to think of when they think ‘Refracted.’ You walk in with a set of expectations and notions, and leave with those preconceived ideas totally upended, with a paradigm shift around something you thought you understood. Through a supreme combination of absurdity, comedy, and sheer force, TAMBO & BONES redefines how theatre works and feels in order to illuminate what keeps all of us trapped. We can’t imagine a more perfect director than Mikael Burke to guide this production to the Chicago stage for the very first time in its history.”
Mikael Burke, Director of TAMBO & BONES, expressed his views on the production, stating, “We all know America’s got problems. She’s got a race problem, she’s got a greed problem, and too many of us are trapped. But how do we get out? How do we fix what’s broken? How do we escape this oppression and get free? Well, Tambo and Bones have some ideas. When they discover they’re trapped in a live minstrel show, hilarity and audacity ensues as they perform a daring escape for freedom that threatens to upend the world as we know it. A wildly theatrical mash-up of sketch comedy, hip-hop lyricism, and live performance, TAMBO & BONES is a time-traveling, genre-bending, modern-day-Vaudeville romp, putting the power and potential of Black art and activism on dazzling display as everything we’ve ever believed about solving America’s problems is called into question.”
The production team includes Lorenzo Blackett (Production Manager), Joel Willison (Assistant Director), Kenya Ann Hall (Dramaturg), Sydney Lynne (Scenic Design); Ethan Korvne (Sound Designer/Composer); Eric Watkins (Lighting Designer); Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer); Michael Corrie (Props); Ashton Goren (Stage Manager); Carli Shapiro (Assistant Stage Manager); Becca Venable (Technical Director); Gregory Geffrard (Fight Choreographer), Kāti Quezada (Assistant Fight Choreographer) and Megan E. Pirtle (Hair & Makeup Consultant).
TAMBO & BONES runs October 12 - November 11, 2023 with previews October 5 - 8, 2023 at the Bookspan Theatre at the Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. with performances Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets go on sale August 15, and are $25, with artist and senior discounts available.
FACT SHEET:
TAMBO & BONES
Title: TAMBO & BONES
Written By: Dave Harris
Directed By: Mikael Burke
Cast: William Anthony Sebastian Rose II (Tambo), Patrick Newson Jr. (Bones), with Timothy Bernard Felton and Michael-Ellen (Mikey) Walden; Jordan David Wallace (understudy), Bryson Howard (understudy)
Production Team: Lorenzo Blackett (Production Manager), Joel Willison (Assistant Director), Kenya Ann Hall(Dramaturg), Sydney Lynne (Scenic Design); Ethan Korvne (Sound Designer/Composer); Eric Watkins (Lighting Designer); Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer); Michael Corrie (Props); Ashton Goren (Stage Manager); Carli Shapiro (Assistant Stage Manager); Becca Venable (Technical Director); Gregory Geffrard (Fight Choreographer), Kāti Quezada (Assistant Fight Choreographer) and Megan E. Pirtle (Hair & Makeup Consultant)
Dates: Previews October 5 - 8, 2023; Performances October 12 - November 11, 2023
Press Opening: October 12, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.
Schedule: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m.
Location: The Bookspan Theatre at The Den, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Tickets: General Admission: $25; discounts available for artists and seniors.
Box Office: Tickets go on sale August 15, 2023 at https://www.refractedco.com/tambo-bones
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