Written and performed by Nilaja Sun and captured on tape in the studios at the WNED PBS in Buffalo with the support of the Chautauqua Theater Company, No Child… is a breathtaking solo show exploring the New York City public school system. Sun fearlessly transforms herself with rapid-fire precision into the teachers, students, parents, janitors, security guards, and administrators of a New York City public high school. Sun demonstrates how one determined woman can change the lives of countless others in this tour de force, crackling with wit and wisdom and showing us the transformative power of art.
PARADISE BLUE
Sun demonstrates how one determined woman can change the lives of countless others in this tour de force, crackling with wit and wisdom and showing us the transformative power of art.
Previews: September 25 and 26
Opening Night: September 27
Closing: November 3, 2019
Meet The Cast
Brian Marable
Blue
Detroit Public Theatre: Detroit ‘67, Skeleton Crew, Pipeline; Baltimore Center Stage: Detroit ‘67; The Old Globe and People’s Light Theater: Skeleton Crew; Performance Network: The Mountaintop (Martin Luther King, Jr.), The Piano Lesson (Boy Willie); Purple Rose Theatre Company: Superior Donuts (Franco). Film/ TV—Have a Little Faith (Hallmark Movie), The Citizen (2012, Monterey Media), Low Winter Sun (AMC), Standing in the Shadows of Motown (James Jamerson). Education— Howard University, Wayne State University.
Carollette Phillips
Pumpkin
Carollette Phillips is proud to be a native Detroiter, MFA Acting graduate of the Hilberry Repertory Company at Wayne State University, and alum of Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. While her roots are in theatre, ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary works, Carollette has also appeared in films including “American Prophet” and “Do You Believe.” You may have also seen her in the recurring role of Rhonda Devereaux on the Comedy Central series, “Detroiters.” In addition to her love of acting, Carollette has an extensive background in dance. As the Artistic Director of the LSODance Company and Resident Choreographer of Mosaic, her work has been featured on stages across America and beyond. When Carollette is not acting, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Henri Franklin
P-Sam
HENRÍ FRANKLIN is an award winning SAG-AFTRA actor based out of Detroit, MI. After obtaining his Bachelors Degree from Wayne State Universityʼs Theater Program, he went on to work professionally in the fields of stage, film, television, commercials and voice over. Some of his notable career accomplishments include Days of Our Lives and Chicago P.D. on NBC, Detroiters on Comedy Central, Low Winter Sun on AMC, Batman Vs Superman for Warner Bros., commercial and voice work for Ford, Chevrolet, G.U.M., T. Rowe Price and many others plus productions of Dominique Morisseauʼs Pipeline, Detroit’ 67 and Paradise Blue. You can see him as Ahmed in Richard Wesley’s Black Terror (produced by Tina Knowles – Lawson and directed by Richard Lawson) coming soon. Henrí is honored to have been able to work with Detroit Public Theatre for several years now and looks forward to continuing to do work that continues to change people’s lives for the better! You can follow his journey at www.henrifranklin.com and @henrifranklin on social media platforms.
Andrea L. Patterson
Silver
Andrea L. Patterson is a Detroit native currently based in NYC. She is a SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory graduate with the following credits: TV- Blue Bloods (CBS), Manifest (NBC), and Jessica Jones (Netflix). Select stage credits include: Flyin’ West, Three Sisters, Hookin’ or Daughters of Jerusalem, Follow Me to Nellie’s, Bacchae, and The King Lear Project (w/ James Earl Jones). Andrea would like to thank her unrelenting support system and the people of Detroit. “I stand on your shoulders. I am who I am because I carry you in my heart. I am honored to return to my city, our city. My home, our home, to tell a piece of our story.”
Will Bryson
Corn
Will Bryson is excited to be making his debut with Detroit Public Theatre in this production. He received his Masters in Fine Arts from the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Acting at the George Washington University in Washington D.C. He was last seen as Othello in Shakespeare Royal Oak’s 2019 production of Othello.
Meet The Creative Team
Dominique Morisseau
Playwright
Dominique Morisseau is the author of The Detroit Project (A 3-Play Cycle) which includes the following plays: Skeleton Crew (Atlantic Theater Company), Paradise Blue (Signature Theatre), and Detroit ’67 (Public Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem and NBT). Additional plays include: Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theatre), Sunset Baby (LAByrinth Theatre); Blood at the Root (National Black Theatre) and Follow Me To Nellie’s (Premiere Stages). She is also the TONY nominated book writer on the new Broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations (Imperial Theatre). Dominique is alumna of The Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, Women’s Project Lab, and Lark Playwrights Workshop and has developed work at Sundance Lab, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Eugene O’Neil Playwrights Conference. She most recently served as Co-Producer on the Showtime series “Shameless” (3 seasons). Additional awards include: Spirit of Detroit Award, PoNY Fellowship, Sky-Cooper Prize, TEER Trailblazer Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Audelco Awards, NBFT August Wilson Playwriting Award, Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama, OBIE Award (2), Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellowship, Variety’s Women of Impact for 2017-18, and a recent MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow.
Goldie Patrick
Director
With passion as her pedagogy, Goldie E. Patrick is a Detroit native working, living, and building artistic collaborations in Washington, DC. Goldie is a spirited playwright, poet, performer, and teacher of hip-hop education and culture. A bold advocate for Black women and girls, Goldie has gained recognition for her work as Founder and Executive Director of F.R.E.S.H.H. Inc. (Females Representing Every Side of Hip-Hop), a burgeoning community-based organization of Black women that uses hip-hop-focused cultural analysis, intergenerational mentoring, and a Pan-African paradigm to reveal and resolve social adversities, and to advocate for policies that support, protect, and advance Black women and girls.
Most recently named one of the top 40 under 40 by the Envest Foundation, Goldie is a self-‐proclaimed “hip-hop womanist” inspired to create conversations and movements that empower and liberate the stories of Black women and girls. A graduate of Howard University’s Theatre Arts Department, Goldie has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center, the DC Hip-Hop Theater Festival, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As a playwright, some of Goldie’s award-winning works include “HERstory: Love Forever, Hip-‐Hop”, “Unpacked”, “Bite Me”, and most recently, “Feminine Folklore”. After writing, directing, and producing her original works, Deane, published her first book of poetry in 2012 titled, Soulatude. A professor of Hip-Hop History and Culture, Goldie divides her time and talents between creating art, facilitating workshops and speaking on a range of topics about culture, art, and education, and consulting with arts and youth-focused organizations of color.
Goldie has been a feature poet and performer at several poetry venues nationwide, and has led several creative writing workshops and presentations on hip-hop education and youth development in New York City, Charleston, South Carolina, Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Accra, Ghana. After successfully completing the Non-Profit Roundtable’s Future Executive Director Fellowship, Patrick has worked for various institutions, offering consulting for local grantmakers, foundations, agencies, and organizations to increase their community engagement, advocacy efforts, and cultural competency. Goldie has worked closely with the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities as a curator, in addition to being a recipient and alum of their Young Artists Fellowship; she is also a current fellow in the Mead Theatre Lab Program. Goldie will release her newest collection of poetry, Small Water Woman, in winter of 2017, and her newest one-woman play, Name Calling, is launching its spring tour in 2018.
Pegi Marshall
Props Design & Props Master
Mother of twins, Union Scenic Designer, props artisan, set builder, scenic painter, and advocate for green and sustainable theatre practices. Once upon a time, Pegi professed to students at such places as Baltimore School for the Arts, Morgan State University, Wayne State University, University of North Carolina and California Polytechnic State University. Nowadays, she is happy to get a full night of sleep and overjoyed that her children are growing up witness to her making art for the stage with her beloved Mike James!
Moníka Essen
Scenic Design
Moníka Essen is an award-winning, nationally recognized artist and designer. The recipient of the prestigious Lawrence DeVine Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre, she studied interior architecture and Environmental Design at Parsons School of Design NYC and received her MFA in scenography from the renowned Hilberry Repertory Co. Ms. Essen has designed countless productions in theatre, opera and film, and is currently the Resident Designer at the Michigan Opera Theatre, where she has just recently designed their highly acclaimed productions of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and “Frida”, which also just made its debut at the Florida Grand Opera, and will be traveling to The Atlanta Opera in October. Other local favorites include “The Foursome,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, and “The Impossibilty of Now” at Tipping Point Theatre, and “Murder Ballad” and “American Hero” here at Detroit Public Theatre. Additionally, she creates furniture, museum exhibits, interiors and full sensory, multimedia environments for residential and commercial clients, including the Detroit Zoo. All her design work can be viewed at www.studioepoque.com
Michaela Tanskley
Costume Design
Michaela Tanksley is a University of Michigan graduate. This is her first season with Detroit Public Theatre. U-M: Passing Strange (CD), Blood at the Root (Assoc. CD), Insurrection: Holding History (CD), Ah, Wilderness! (CD), and Henry IV Part I (ACD). Other: Water Works Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing (ACD),and Redhouse, I Do! I Do! (ACD).
Katherine Nelson
Production Stage Manager & Costume Designer
Katherine has been stage managing with Detroit Public Theatre since its inaugural season, with highlights including the coproduction of Detroit ’67 with Baltimore Center Stage and the world premiere of Birthday Candles. They have also stage managed with the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts and Chautauqua Theater Company. Additionally, Katherine is a costume designer. Recent Off-Broadway design at The New Victory Theatre (Riddle of the Trilobites). In addition to design credits with Detroit Public Theatre, regional designs include shows with Purple Rose Theatre Company, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint Repertory Theatre (Wilde Award nomination: Best Costume Design, Riddle of the Trilobites), Tipping Point Theatre, Williamston Theatre, and the Wharton Center. They are a graduate of the Purple Rose Theatre Company apprenticeship program. Katherine is a proud member and National Councilor of Actors’ Equity Association. www.knelsondesigns.com.
Jonathan Alexander
Lighting Design
John D. Alexander is excited to debut his work with DPT and would like to thank Goldie Patrick for this amazing opportunity! His recent designs include: Fabulation, or the Reeducation of Undine (Mosaic Theatre Co.); HERstory (John F. Kennedy Center); Topdog Underdog (Avant Bard); A Civil War Christmas (1st Stage) and Skeleton Crew (Theatre Squared). OFF-BROADWAY: Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence (New Victory Theater). Upcoming designs include: Royale (Theatre Squared); Airness (Keegan Theater & 1st Stage) and Drumfolk (New Victory Theater). He also serves as the lighting supervisor for Urban Bush Women’s national tour of Hair and Other Stories. He holds a BFA in Lighting Design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Mikaal Sulaiman
Sound Design
Off-Broadway: Continuity (Manhattan Theatre Club); Passage, Fairview (Soho Rep); Recent Alien Abductions, Time’s Journey Through a Room (Play Co.); Meet Vera Stark (Signature Theatre); Blue Ridge (Atlantic Theatre); The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons); Rags Parkland, Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (NYTW); Master (Foundry Theatre Co.); Skittles: The Broadway Musical. Regional: Berkeley Rep, The Alley, Woolly Mammoth, Trinity Rep, Pig Iron, Arden Theatre, Early Morning Opera. Lucille Lortel Award and Drama Desk Award nominations. www.mikaal.com
