Jackson’s righthand man, attorney J.P. Madison, is freshly divorced and newly remarried. Madison’s new wife is the young, sweet Ann, while his ex-wife is the flamboyant Evie. “Evie is a spiritual and bohemian woman,” said Morris. At the start of the play, Evie has just returned to Atlanta from a period of self-discovery in Paris. “She went to Paris and learned to be free,” said Morris. In Paris, Evie discovers herself and her feelings for her ex-husband. To complicate matters of the heart even more, Madison’s new wife is more interested in Madison’s protégé, John, than in Madison.
This is not the first time the Ensemble has produced a Cleage play. “We know this artist. We like the enriched characters she creates,” said Morris. “She allows us to…be taken away for [a] moment and wrapped in myriad layers of love and safety…That’s the beauty of what Ms. Cleage does.”
“This play is very funny [and], even though it’s set in 1973, the issues are still current.” Morris added, “It has the stuff of a good scandal. Everyone loves scandal.”
Returning cast members include Kendrick “KayB” Brown, recently seen in Fly; Cynthia Brown Garcia, who was in The Ensemble’s premiere of Christmas with Great Aunt; Detria Ward, who won a Houston Theater Best Actress award for her performance in Cleage’s The Nacirema Society; and Mirron Willis, who recently performed in the Ensemble production of The Meeting. Yunina Barbour-Payne makes her Ensemble debut.
7:30 p.m. Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Through April 12. The Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main. For information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.com. $23.
Sundays, 3 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 & 8 p.m.; Fridays, 8 p.m.; Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Starts: March 19. Continues through April 12, 2015
