Tag Archives: Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati

April 9 – May 7, 2022

(Cincinnati, OH) Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) is thrilled to present two one-act productions with the newly commissioned world premiere of I Shall Not Be Moved followed by the return of Your Negro Tour Guide, which has been revamped since it last appeared on ETC’s stage in 2010. Rooted in the lived experience of Black women in America, these productions narrate powerful stories of the battle for equity and equality. Playing back-to-back April 9-May 7, 2022, I Shall Not Be Moved is directed by Torie Wiggins and Your Negro Tour Guide is directed by Jeff Griffin.

The riveting play I Shall Not Be Moved is by Cincinnati native and emerging young playwright Isaiah Reaves, who drew inspiration from his grandmother’s diaries for this new work. This one-woman show thrillingly recounts the story of Reaves’s grandmother, nationally recognized Civil Rights pioneer Betty Daniels Rosemond, and her horrifying and trailblazing journey through the American South as one of the first Freedom Riders during the 1960s. Audiences far and wide will experience the internal conflicts and joys of a dark-skinned Black woman’s fearless battle for equity and equality.

The updated one-woman stage adaptation of Your Negro Tour Guide draws heavily from columns and National Public Radio commentaries collected in Kathy Y. Wilson’s book, Your Negro Tour Guide: Truths in Black & White, based on her former CityBeat column. Throwing a glaring light on misguided notions of natural Black beauty, Black homophobia, intra-racial bigotry, and other cultural stereotypes, this play allows us, once and for all, to laugh at every secret we’ve held against and sideways glance we’ve cast at “The Other,” whoever they happen to be.

Please note: These productions are performed back-to-back with one intermission in between. No additional ticket is required.

“I am both personally and professional grateful to have an opportunity at Ensemble to bring these two playwrights together and their vision of what was and what can be for our country and our world,” says Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “I have the utmost respect for what Kathy Y. Wilson has done in her career to enhance our vision, to strengthen the connections between people, and to call it the way it is. She’s uncompromising, and that’s what I always want Ensemble to be. Isaiah Reaves is an inspiration. It’s amazing how he wrote his grandmother’s story using her words and his influence as a young Black man in this world. Having these shows to look forward to during the dark days of the pandemic always kept light shining at ETC.”

About the Cast
Samantha Russell (Betty, I Shall Not Be Moved) was a member of the 2016–2017 Professional Acting Apprenticeship Program at Ensemble Theatre, where she was last seen in the streamed reading of I Shall Not Be Moved in 2021, as well as The Dancing Princesses, Cinderella: After Ever After, and ANTIGONE (born against). Some of her other credits include Coretta Scott King and the Fight for Freedom, Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati; The Color Purple, Cincinnati Black Theatre Company; and Marian: Or The True Tale of Robin Hood, Know Theatre of Cincinnati. Samantha holds a master’s in acting from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England, where she currently resides. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she received a bachelor’s in sociology, a bachelor’s in marketing, and an associate’s degree in business.

Torie Wiggins (Tour Guide, Your Negro Tour Guide) is a multi-hyphenate artist whose Cincinnati theatre credits include Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Harry and the Thief, Know Theatre of Cincinnati; Mame, Crowns, and The Revolutionists, Human Race Theatre Company; To Kill a Mockingbird, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; To Kill a Mockingbird, Oliver Twist, A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; and Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 by Anna Deveare Smith, Diogenes Theatre Company. Torie’s Ensemble Theatre credits include The Mountaintop, Violet, Alice in Wonderland, Around the World in 80 Days, Cinderella, Cinderella: After Ever After, and His Eye is on The Sparrow. Her directing credits include We Are Proud to Present… and Good Kids, Miami University’s Department of Theatre; Dreamgirls and Proof, The Carnegie Theater; and Blues for an Alabama Sky, Falcon Theatre. 

Production team: Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer), Daryl L. Harris (Costume Designer), Derek A. Graham (Sound Designer), Becca Schall (Video Designer), Nigel Mask (Wig Designer), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Curator & Design Assistant), and Jack Murphy (Technical Director). Production Stage Manager is Margot Whitney. Assistant Stage Manager is Lexi Muller. 

COVID-19 Safety Information

For full health and safety policy information, visit our website at www.ensemblecincinnati.org/health-safety.

Performance Information
Performances Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 pm; Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 pm. Performances vary. A complete calendar of performances is available www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Ticket Prices
Tickets start at $35 for adults; student tickets are $28; and children are $24. Half-Price Rush Tickets: All remaining tickets for the current day’s performance(s) are available two hours prior to each show time for half-price (discount only applies to adult tickets) when purchasing by phone or in person. $15 Student Rush Tickets: Students may purchase up to two $15 student rush tickets two hours prior to show time with valid student I.D. Available in person only.

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2021-2022 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati Presents regional premiere QUEEN,
February 19 – March 19, 2022

(Cincinnati, OH) Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) kicks off the new year with the regional premiere drama Queen by award-winning playwright Madhuri Shekar. A new play that’s created quite a buzz, Queen is a provocative portrayal of brilliant women confronting inconvenient truths. This high-stakes story of integrity, bioethics, friendship, and the survival of bee populations comes to the ETC stage February 19-March 19, 2022. Directed by Bridget Leak.­­

PhD candidates Sanam and Ariel have spent the better part of the last decade exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon an error in their calculations, which could cause catastrophic damage to their reputations, careers, and friendship. Now, Sanam is confronted with an impossible choice: look the other way or stand by her principles and accept the consequences?

“It was very important to me to do a play not only about the ethics of science and academia, but also ethics in honesty. Not only does Queen combine these ideas, but it does so in a very personal way,” says Producing Artistic Director D. Lynn Meyers. “Queen shows audiences that every decision we make should be an ethical one. Whether we’re fighting COVID-19, or we’re fighting to save our planet, or we’re fighting to do what is true to ourselves, ethics is import. I hope we can look at this play as a community to celebrate the important mission we need to undertake to save the bees and our world.”

Mask and Vaccination Requirements
ETC requires all patrons and visitors to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test certification and to wear face masks at all times while on the premises. For full health and safety policy information, visit our website at www.ensemblecincinnati.org/health-safety.

About the Cast

• Ryan Wesley Gilreath (Dr. Philip Hayes) finished his eighth year playing Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol with Playhouse in the Park. He was seen in the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron, and in The Food that Built America for The History Channel. His other TV and film credits include TURN: Washington’s Spies, AMC American Genius, National Geographic; Gold Fever, Discovery Channel; and the pilot Guilty (opposite Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Fox. His theatre credits include Burning Desire (alongside Lou Diamond Phillips), Seven Angels Theatre; Ripcord, Tribes, Other Desert Cities, Next Fall, 33 Variations, and Mary’s Wedding, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati; the national tour of Echoes of Ireland, Ears on a Beatle, Human Race Theatre; and Deathtrap, Florida Repertory Theatre.
• Saiyam Kumar (Arvind Patel) makes his Ensemble Theatre debut with this production. Saiyam is a graduate of NYU and an actor based in New York City. He’s appeared on several television shows such as The Sinner, Blue Bloods, FBI: Most Wanted, and The Hunt with John Walsh and has worked on many short films. Saiyam is also a dancer with a background in hip-hop, Bollywood fusion, and bhangra. He’s passionate about diverse storytelling that highlights the voices of immigrants and people of color.
• Gauravi Shah (Sanam Shah) make her Ensemble Theatre debut with this production. She is an engineer, improviser, and sketch comedienne from Toronto, Canada. Gauravi graduated from the Second City Conservatory, directed Elfish, It is a Holiday Show, and Hot Mic: Cincinnati’s Improvised Musical for Improv Cincinnati, and recently directed Troof & Sketchconciliation as part of an ArtsWave diversity grant. She is passionate about amplifying minority voices and aims to do that through inclusion efforts within the Cincinnati comedy and theatre communities.
• Jordan Trovillion (Ariel Spiegel) is an actor based in Covington, Kentucky—the endpoint of her southerly drift from her home state of Michigan. Her recent theatre credits include All’s Faire (Johnson) and The Absentee (The Operator) with Know Theatre of Cincinnati and You Will Live Under the Sea with Queen City Flash at the 2021 Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Some of her favorite credits include Puffs (Susie Bones track), Know Theatre; Zoinks! (Nolan), Queen City Flash; and Baskerville (Actress), Falcon Theater. Jordan is a member of SAG/AFTRA and has performed in various films and television shows, such as The Old Man and the Gun, My Days of Mercy, and Comedy Central’s Detroiters.

Production team: Brian c. Mehring (Resident Scenic and Lighting Designer), Niki Hernandez-Adams (Costume Designer), Matt Callahan (Sound Designer), Sam Womelsdorf (Projection Designer), Shannon Rae Lutz (Properties Master & Design Assistant), Matthew Hollstegge (Production Manager), and Jack Murphy (Technical Director). Production Stage Manager is Margot Whitney. Assistant Stage Manager is Lexi Muller.

Performance Information
Performances Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 pm; Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 pm. Performances vary. A complete calendar of performances is available www.ensemblecincinnati.org.

Ticket Prices
Tickets start at $35 for adults; student tickets are $28; and children are $24. Half-Price Rush Tickets: All remaining tickets for the current day’s performance(s) are available two hours prior to each show time for half-price (discount only applies to adult tickets) when purchasing by phone or in person. $15 Student Rush Tickets: Students may purchase up to two $15 student rush tickets two hours prior to show time with valid student I.D. Available in person only.

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2021-2022 Season Presenting Sponsor is the Otto M. Budig Family Foundation.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is supported, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.

The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati also receives funding from the Shubert Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati is a professional theatre dedicated to producing world and regional premieres of works that often explore compelling social issues. We fulfill our mission through our stage productions and educational outreach programs that enlighten, enliven, enrich and inspire our audiences.