Acting alumna Kristin Dodson ’22 will star in Bernarda’s Daughters, a new play by Diane Exavier that premieres off-Broadway in May. Previews begin at The Pershing Square Signature Center on May 4, with an opening night scheduled for May 23, 2023. The limited run is scheduled to close on June 4, 2023.
Bernarda’s Daughters is directed by Dominique Rider and presented in co-production with The New Group and National Black Theatre. Exavier’s play is inspired by Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, and the story focuses on gentrification and social challenges in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The five Abellard sisters take refuge in their childhood home after the death of their father, only to find that Flatbush has been overrun by construction and demolition crews. Dodson plays Lena, one of the sisters. Arguments over the legacy of the sisters’ Haitian parents escalate as the siblings navigate grief for both their father and their changing neighborhood that every day feels less and less like home. Bernarda’s Daughters debuted as an audio play on Audible in March of 2022.
The New Group is an artist-driven theatrical production company with a commitment to producing powerful contemporary theatre. The company uses an ensemble approach to all its work and seeks out theatre that is stimulating, adventurous, and which serves as a forum for present-day culture. National Black Theatre (NBT) was the first revenue-generating Black arts complex in the United States. It aims to produce theatre that enhances African American cultural identity by telling authentic, multifaceted stories of the Black experience. Sade Lythcott and Jonathan McCrory of NBT expressed the importance of inclusivity and bringing Bernarda’s Daughters and other stories like it to the stage: “Through Bernarda’s Daughters, there is an opportunity for NBT and our producing partners at The New Group to welcome members of the Haitian community and many of our Caribbean kinfolk to the theatre to feel seen, celebrated, and uplifted.”
Kristin Dodson is a native Brooklynite and NYC-based actor. She starred in her breakout role as Zayna on Showtime’s Flatbush Misdemeanors. She is currently filming a Hulu/Onyx pilot entitled 1266. Her other credits include Amazon’s Cross series, Adult Swim’s The Shivering Truth, Roxanne Roxanne, and the Pulitzer-nominated Stew.
Tickets for Bernarda’s Daughters can be found here.
