Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Lynn Nottage's memory play of growing up in post-World War II New York City, begins performances at Seattle's Intiman Theatre June 9 for a run through July 1. Opening night is set for June 14.
Crumbs, told as the coming of age story of Ernestine Crump in 1950s Brooklyn, chronicles the changes of an African American family as they move from the racist South to the North. While Ernestine and her sister Ermina fall under the spell of their sexually and politically open minded Aunt Lily, their widower father, Godfrey, falls in love with the German immigrant, Gerte Shulte.
A NAACP nominee for Crumbs, Nottage is the author of Mud, River Stone, Por'knockers and Poof!, a Heideman Award winner. Her newest play, Las Meninas, about the scandalous affair between Louis XIV's Queen and her African servant, was read in Seattle in May.
Jacqueline Moscou (Black Nativity, Keepers of the Dream) directs. Robyne Walker stars as Ernestine with Lisa Estridge-Gray as her sister and Timothy McCeun Piggee as her father. Cynthia Jones is Lily Ann Green and Liz McCarthy is Gerte.
The design team includes Karen Gjesteen (sets), Sarah Nash Gates (costumes) and Greg Sullivan (lighting). J.R. Welden is the stage manager. Tickets for performances are $42-$23.50. The Intiman Theatre is located at 201 Mercer Street. For tickets, call the box office at (206) 269-1900. The Intiman Theatre is on the web at http://www.intiman.org.
-- By Christine Ehren
