“Head of Passes” Debuts at the Berkeley Rep - Running through May 24th

On Friday, April, 17th every seat at Berkeley’s Repertory Theatre (BRT) Thrust Stage was occupied when the West Coast premiere of the play “Head of Passes” debuted.  The theatre was absolutely packed and the audience was mesmerized.

Head of Passes, written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by writer Tina Landau, both ensemble members at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, together, gave the crowd more than they expected, which included an array of emotions ranging from despair, angst, sadness, and surprisingly, a good dose of laughter.

McCraney, a MacArthur “Genius” Award winner, told a poignant and poetic story about the journey of family, faith, trials and tribulations. “It is a story about someone’s personal faith and how they use it as an aperture or a guide to try and understand the many, sometimes fraught, sometimes beautiful, often chaotic events in our lives,” said McCraney.

BRT’s Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone acknowledged that Tarell is a wonderful writer ‘who we’ve been yearning to work with for a long time’. Head of Passes chronicles a day in the life of this African American family that has to endure an unbearable amount of suffering,” said Taccone.  “It’s not about insurmountable loss but incomprehensible loss and unrelenting faith.”

What captivated the audience more than the play itself was the compelling and stellar performance by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, who played Shelah in the production.  “Shelah’s family gathers on a stormy night for her birthday, bringing ghosts and secrets of the past with them.”

“As her roof buckles under the weight of the rain, Shelah’s convictions begin to wash away, leaving her to excavate the truths buried below.” Bruce solely completed the last 30 minutes of Head of Passes as she poured out the pain, agony, and unyielding faith of her family’s lives.

At its world premiere in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune raved that “McCraney writes the richest dialogue of any scribe of his generation…it is the well-worth-seeing, must-be supported work of a extraordinary gifted and ambitious writer.  And the Chicago Now lauded Head of Passes as ‘a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring experience’.

McCraney’s plays include The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus: Or the Secret of Sweet.  His other plays include Choir Boy and Wig Out!

Other cast members in Head of Passes are Francois Battiste (Aubrey), Johnathan Burke (Crier), James Carpenter (Dr. Anderson), Brian Tyree Henry (Spencer), Sullivan Jones (The Angel), Nikkole Salter (Cookie), Kimberly Scott (Mae) and Michael A. Sheppard (Creaker).

Head of Passes runs through Sunday, May 24, 2015. Individual tickets start at $29 and can be purchased by phone at (510) 647-2949 or online at berkeleyrep.org.

Written by: C.L. Williams