We’re hitting the court in June with a powerful story of five young women in rural Arkansas. They are the members of the Lady Train high school basketball team, and they have big dreams. Not just making it to the State championship where the college scouts are. It is 1997, and the dawn of the WNBA has them dreaming of going pro and playing ball with Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes!
The Lady Train team members are talented, smart, funny and profane – filled with adrenaline but also anxiety. After all, their lives are not just about the game. They struggle on and off the court with complex decisions and the inevitable repercussions of those choices. In one act, divided into four quarters, FLEX richly illuminates the beautiful complexity of these women’s lives and the pressures of being young, Black and female in rural Arkansas.
Our playwright, Candrice Jones, is making her New York debut with FLEX for which she was awarded the 2023 Kesselring Prize. She has also had numerous prestigious residences including a Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony. We can’t wait to welcome back Tony Award-nominated director and our Resident Director, Lileana Blain-Cruz, (Pipeline, Marys Seacole, War, The Skin of Our Teeth) who will lead this production. The cast features Brittany Bellizeare, Renita Lewis, Erica Matthews, Ciara Monique, and Tamera Tomakili as the team, and Christiana Clark as their coach.
And yes, they’ll really be playing basketball down in the Mitzi!
Watch a teaser!
