KNOW THEATRE KICKS OFF AN ACTION-PACKED MAINSTAGE SEASON WITH
HARRY & THE THIEF
by Sigrid Gilmer
directed by Holly L. Derr
Travel back in time. Find Harriet Tubman. Don’t f*** it up.
Jeremy has a PhD in physics from Harvard. And a time machine. And a plan. Jeremy’s plan is to send Mimi, his petty-thief cousin, back in time to 1863 to find Harriet Tubman. And give Ms. Tubman lots and lots of guns. In order to start a revolution.
HARRY AND THE THIEF is an epic summer blockbuster; a socially conscious riot of a play that mashes up Civil-War-era melodrama with an over-the-top action movie to tell a story full of adventure, social relevance, and answering the call of destiny. It runs August 8-30 on Know Theatre’s MainStage.
Directed by guest artist Holly L. Derr, this social-political comedy will have audiences laughing, squirming, and questioning everything they’ve been taught about Harriet Tubman.
HARRY AND THE THIEF brings to Know Theatre an all-star cast of local favorites. Returning to Know are
Torie Wiggins (Mimi), Piper Davis (Harry), Ken Early (Maddox), Burgess Byrd (Shilo), Darnell Benjamin (Knox), and Jon Kovach (Overseer Jones). Making their Know Theatre debuts, fresh from a year with Cincinnati Playhouse’s Intern acting company, are Rico Reid (Jeremy) and Meggy Hai Trang (Anita). Sola Thompson (Vivian) appears in her Know debut following a season with Ensemble Theatre’s intern company. And rounding out the cast is Cincinnati Shakespeare Company favorite Brent Vimtrup (Orry Main Scarlett) in his first outing on Know’s Stage.
Guest director Holly L. Derr is a Los Angeles based writer, director, and professor of theater specializing in the Viewpoints & Composition, the performance of gender, and applied theater history. Currently an Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College, Holly has also taught and directed at Marlboro College, Smith College, the American Repertory Theater, the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company Consortium, and CalArts.
Some of Holly’s favorite projects include Twelfth Night, American Medea, and The Front Page. Most recently she directed Romeo and Juliet at Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House. She is also a feminist media critic who has written for HowlRound, Ms. Magazine, and The Atlantic.
About Harry & The Thief, Director Holly L. Derr says:
“[Playwright Sigrid] Gilmer’s new play about one of the most famous African Americans in history draws on both history and cultural memory to depict Tubman as we’ve never seen her before. … I can’t wait to get started translating this play into a production that can provide audiences with the opportunity to dream and imagine a future on a scale as grand as Gilmer’s fictional one.”
Know Theatre Producing Artistic Director Andrew Hungerford says:
“This show is exciting on so many levels. It’s a hilarious, incisive show from an up-and-coming, bad ass American playwright; an exploration of race and power, using inherently theatrical techniques, that bends conventions of film and pop-culture to its will; and a fantastic opportunity to assemble a large cast of Cincinnati’s brilliant actors under a stellar guest director. It’s also going to be one hell of a good time.”
This surprising, funny, and action-packed regional premiere runs August 8-30 at Know Theatre. Audiences won’t see anything else like it in Cincinnati Theatre this season.
Cast
- Darnell Benjamin as Knox
- Burgess Byrd as Shiloh
- Piper Davis as Harry
- Ken Early* as Maddox
- Jon Kovach as Overseer Jones
- Rico Reid as Jeremy
- Meggy Hai Trang as Anita
- Sola Thompson as Vivian
- Brent Vimtrup* as Orry Main Scarlett
- Torie Wiggins* as Mimi
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, appearing under a Special Appearance Contract.
Production Team
- Director – Holly L. Derr
- Scenic & Lighting Design – Andrew Hungerford
- Costume Design – Noelle Wedig
- Sound Design – Doug Borntrager
- Video Design – Doug Borntrager and Andrew Hungerford
- Music by – James Allen
Note: This production has adult content and is recommended for mature audiences. We’ll say PG-13.
Calendar Listing
- Production: Harry & The Thief by Sigrid Gilmer
- When: 8:00pm August 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30
- 3:00pm August 10, 17, 24
- Where: Know Theatre of Cincinnati. 1120 Jackson Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202. In historic Over-the-Rhine.
- Tickets: $20 in advance
- $10 Rush tickets at the door 10 minutes prior to curtain (when available) FREE performances on Wednesday, August 13 & 20, as part of Know’s Welcome Experiment initiative.
- Tickets can be purchased by visiting knowtheatre.com or calling 513.300.5669 (KNOW).
- One-year sustaining memberships are available for $20/month or $240.
Since 1997, Know Theatre has been dedicated to creating explosive and evocative live entertainment. We value a playful artistic community where artists can collaborate and grow.
Know Theatre’s work is made possible, in part, by the generosity of community contributions to the ArtsWave Campaign.
The Ohio Arts Council helps fund Know Theatre with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. Know Theatre is also supported by The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile,
Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, helping to change our communities for the better through collaboration and innovation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, which provides a simple, powerful, and highly personal approach to giving.
Know Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group and an Associate member of the National New Play Network.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 