Indiana Repertory Theatre’s show asks: who has the right to tell whose story?

Original artwork by Tasha Beckwith.

Indiana Repertory Theatre’s show asks: who has the right to tell whose story?
INclusion Series continues with a look at storytelling, truth, and memory
 
Indianapolis, Ind.— The Indiana Repertory Theatre continues its 2020-2021 virtual season with the second show in this season’s INclusion Series, which celebrates diverse storytelling, Mrs. Harrison. Written by R. Eric Thomas and directed by Mikael Burke, the play raises the question, who has the right to tell whose story? The first show this season filmed in the IRT Upperstage Theatre, this simmering confrontation and winding look at truth and storytelling will stream May 6 – 30, 2021.
 
In Mrs. Harrison, two women meet at their ten-year college reunion. Aisha is a successful Black playwright, and Holly is a struggling White comedian and storyteller. As they dredge up shared memories and past confidences, audiences begin to wonder—which one is misremembering? Or lying? Or are they both?
 
“When I talk about Mrs. Harrison, I always come back around to the idea that I don’t know the whole story any more than you,” Playwright R. Eric Thomas said. “I mean, I know what happens. I’ve seen this play. But what you’re seeing is one story, what you’re experiencing is another story, and what Holly and Aisha are living is two more stories. At least. Mrs. Harrison is a story about storytelling and the way the past looks different from various vantage points.”
 
R. Eric Thomas is a Barrymore Award-winning playwright, author, long-running host of The Moth in Philadelphia and Washington DC, former senior staff writer for Elle.com, and television writer. Leading the cast in the development of his play is Director Mikael Burke, who directed The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 last season on the IRT Upperstage. Burke is a graduate of Butler and is known for his work around the Indianapolis theatre community.
 
Both actors in the production are Chicago-based and making their IRT debut: Celeste M. Cooper playing Aisha and Mary Williamson playing Holly. These two women will bring to life a story where wry humor clashes with long-suppressed grudges all fueled by the power of memory and truth.   
 
“It’s very difficult to know exactly where truth lies in this play, and that’s a huge part of its appeal,” IRT’s Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director said. “Why do we each remember the past so differently? How is memory filtered by what comes after? Or even by what came before?”
 
Virtual tickets for Mrs. Harrison are now available for $30 and streaming begins May 6. To learn more about the entire season and purchase virtual tickets, please visit irtlive.com.


DETAILS

WHERE: Streaming online via irtlive.com.

RUN DATES:  Streaming May 6 – 30, 2021. Mrs. Harrison  is approximately 65 minutes, with no intermission. Tickets and information at irtlive.com.  

TICKETS: Virtual tickets start at $30. Click to buy.
 
CAST & CREATIVE TEAM:


CELESTE M. COOPER | Aisha
MARY WILLIAMSON | Holly
 
MIKAEL BURKE | Director
REGINA GARCÍA | Scenic Designer
ALEXIS CARRIE | Costume Designer
ERIC WATKINS | Lighting Designer
MELANIE CHEN COLE | Sound Designer
RICHARD J ROBERTS | Dramaturg
ERIN ROBSON-SMITH | Production Coordinator
CAT LOVEJOY | Production Assistant
 
SPECIAL EVENTS:

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SPONSORED BY FAEGRE DRINKER: Authenticity and Ownership: Who Has the Right to Tell Whose Story? 
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 | Event at 6 PM | Zoom Room
Storytelling, one of the oldest art forms, is often open to interpretation and creative authorship. Defining authorship and who has the right to tell whose story is at the heart of the debate of Mrs. Harrison. Join the IRT for a virtual conversation about authentic storytelling moderated by Rebecca Hutton, IRT Board member and President & CEO, Leadership Indianapolis.

Panelists include Deborah Asante, Artistic Director, Asante Art Institute of Indianapolis; Tamara Winfrey-Harris, Vice President of Community Leadership and Effective Philanthropy, Central Indiana Community Foundation; Jennifer Blackmer, Professor, Department of Theatre & Dance, and Director of Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Ball State University; and Christina Cheeks, Service Line Administrator, Eskenazi Health.

To attend this free community conversation, please sign up here. This program will also be shared live on IRT’s Facebook page.
 

​COMMUNITY CONVERSATION SPONSORED BY FAEGRE DRINKER: Building Authentic Relationships Across Race
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 | Event at 6 PM | Zoom Room
Join the IRT for a virtual conversation about the role of race and how it impacts relationships, especially those among women, moderated by Tammara D. Avant, IRT Board Member & Senior Legal Counsel, American Electric Power.

Panelists include Dr. Terri Jett, Professor – Political Science and Peace and Conflict Studies Department, Faculty Director of the Hub for Black Affairs and Community Engagement, and Special Assistant to the President, Butler University; Amy Waggoner, IRT Board Member and Senior Director, State & Local Government Affairs, Eastern U.S., Salesforce; Leslie Bowles, Senior Director of Philanthropy & Community Engagement, Women's Fund of Central Indiana, a CICF Fund; Ebony Chappel, Program & Communications Manager, Leadership Indianapolis; and Allison Barkel, Offscript Advisory Council Liaison to the IRT Board and Content Development Specialist, Professional Development, Project Lead The Way. 
 
To attend this free community conversation, please sign up here. This program will also be shared live on IRT’s Facebook page.
 
 
For more information contact Kerry Barmann, Marketing Communications Manager, at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.
 
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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.

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