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Go behind-the-scenes on The Half-God of Rainfall and Fires in the Mirror
Dive into Philly's winter theater scene with interviews featuring the Wilma's Suli Holum and BRT's Phyllis Johnson
Darnelle Radford
In his conversation with actor and Hothouse head of professional training Suli Holum, Darnelle gets into how the Wilma's company responded to their very first read of The Half-God of Rainfall and why they instantly knew they wanted to stage it. They talk about the evolution of the Wilma's Hothouse company and expanding opportunities for all levels of theater artists to train there. And they get into the play, by Nigerian-born British poet and playwright Inua Ellams, which mixes Yoruba and Greek myths to imagine a demigod who becomes a basketball star, "explor[ing] the intersection of patriarchy, imperialism, and American basketball." Wilma co-artistic director Lindsay Smiling directs. It runs February 11 through March 2, 2025. Get your tickets.
In his conversation with award-winning theater, film, TV, and voice-over actor Phyllis Johnson, Darnelle hears about her longtime love for Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror, and how close to home the story hits because of her Brooklyn roots. Johnson has wanted to perform this challenging documentary-style play since its 1992 premiere, and she's excited to have the chance at Bristol Riverside Theatre. She talks about that new-theater smell of the company's updated space, and how theater ceases to exist if it's not relevant to us.
Fires in the Mirror is based on real-life interviews in the immediate aftermath of a car crash that injured two children in New York's Crown Heights. The car's driver was a Hasidic Jew, and the crash victims were Black children. The incident caused more violence as an already tense neighborhood boiled over: "In the chaos, some saw anti-Black police bias. Others saw violent anti-Semitism. But playwright Anna Deavere Smith heard the honest voices of a divided national narrative."
Know before you go: this play contains strong language and references to racism, slavery, lynching, antisemitism, sexual violence, and the Holocaust.
Fires in the Mirror runs February 4-23, 2025. Get your tickets.
Listen to both of these podcasts above or subscribe on Apple podcasts.
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