[hieroglyph] by Erika Dickerson-Despenza

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March 13 – April 3, 2021

Tickets: $15 – $100

Closed April 3, 2021
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Run time: 90 minutes.

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[hieroglyph]

By Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Directed by Margo Hall

Co-produced by San Francisco Playhouse and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

“Such strong acting and direction, and a crack design team” – SF Examiner

“Doesn’t pull its punches in its authenticity” – Broadway World

“One of the most effective pandemic productions I’ve seen” – Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs

“Filmed onstage at San Francisco Playhouse, Hall’s gripping production is captured onscreen so as to feel as much like live theater as possible … It’s a strong play, powerfully performed” – Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News

PLAY DETAILS

Involuntarily displaced in Chicago two months post-Katrina, 13-year-old Davis wrestles with the cultural landscape of a new city and school community while secretly coping with the PTSD of an assault at the Superdome. With her mother still in New Orleans committed to the fight for Black land ownership and her father committed to starting a new life in the Midwest, divorce threatens to further separate a family already torn apart. Will Davis be left hanging in the balance? [hieroglyph] traverses the intersection of environmental racism, sexual violence, and displacement, examining the psychological effects of a state-sanctioned man-made disaster on the most vulnerable members of the Katrina diaspora.

THE ARTISTS

Jamella Cross
davis despenza hayes
Safiya Fredericks
ms. t.
Khary L. Moye
ernest hayes
Anna Marie Sharpe
leah
Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Playwright
Margo Hall
Director

Content Advisory

[hieroglyph] contains depictions of violence and sexual abuse, which could be disturbing to some viewers. If you can help or if you need to talk, click here for suggested resources.

PHOTOS

Davis Despenza Hayes (Jamella Cross*) and her father Ernest Hayes (Khary L. Moye*) meet in the classroom of her new school.

Ernest Hayes (Khary L. Moye*) discusses his daughter’s artwork with her art teacher, Ms. T. (Safiya Fredericks*).

Leah (Anna Marie Sharpe) helps Davis (Jamella Cross*) study for an algebra test.

Leah (Anna Marie Sharpe, right) helps Davis (Jamella Cross*) study for an algebra test.

Davis Despenza Hayes (Jamella Cross*) and her father Ernest Hayes (Khary L. Moye*) talk about Davis’s grades at her new school.

Ernest (Khary L. Moye*) and Davis (Jamella Cross*) share a father-daughter moment.

Leah (Anna Marie Sharpe), Davis’s classmate in school.

Davis (Jamella Cross*) talks about the strange symbol on her artwork with her teacher Ms. T. (Safiya Fredericks*).

Ernest (Khary L. Moye) and Ms. T. (Safiya Fredericks) get to know one another.

Ernest (Khary L. Moye*, right) scolds his daughter Davis (Jamella Cross*) for going to a party.

Davis (Jamella Cross*) explains herself to Ms. T. (Safiya Fredericks*) after an altercation in the classroom.

Ernest (Khary L. Moye*, left) and Ms. T. (Safiya Fredericks*, right) argue over how best to help Davis (Jamella Cross*).

Davis (Jamella Cross*) explains the meaning of her artwork to her father Ernest (Khary L. Moye*).

Khary L. Moye*, Anna Marie Sharpe, Safiya Fredericks*, Jamella Cross*, and Emi the theatre dog.

: The cast of [hieroglyph] (L-R): Safiya Fredericks*, Khary L. Moye*, Jamella Cross*, and Anna Marie Sharpe.

Playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza with the cast of [hieroglyph] at the San Francisco Playhouse mainstage.

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*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association. Photos by Jessica Palopoli.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Erika Dickerson-Despenza is a Blk feminist poet-playwright, cultural worker, educator and grassroots organizer from Chicago, Illinois. One of America’s most in-demand rising playwrights, her recognition includes: Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist (2021), Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award (2020), Thom Thomas Award (2020), Lilly Award (2020), Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award (2020), Grist 50 Fixer (2020), and the Princess Grace Award in Playwrighting/Fellowship at New Dramatists (2019). Her residencies and fellowships include Tow Playwright-in-Residence at The Public Theater (2019-2020), U.S. Water Alliance National Arts & Culture Delegate (2019), New York Stage and Film Fellow-in-Residence (2019), New Harmony Project Writer-in Residence (2019), Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow (2018-2019), The Lark Van Lier New Voices Fellow (2018). Memberships include BYP100 Squad, Ars Nova Play Group (2019-2021), and Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Obie-winning Youngblood collective, and her work has been commissioned by The Public Theater, Studio Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Dickerson-Despenza ‘s work has been developed at The Lark, Vineyard Arts Project, New York Stage and Film, Public Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, Fault Line Theatre and Jackalope Theatre. Her plays include ocean’s lip/ heavn’s shore, took/tied, hung/split, and shadow/land. Her work cullud wattah, following intergenerational women impacted by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, was scheduled to premiere at New York’s Public Theater in 2020 (postponed due to the pandemic). Both shadow/land and [hieroglyph] were named in 2019 to Kilroys List, the playwrights/producers/directors industry recognition of excellent new plays by women, trans, and non-binary playwrights.

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