Bulrusher

BY EISA DAVIS
DIRECTED BY NICOLE A. WATSON
A CO-PRODUCTION WITH MCCARTER THEATRE CENTER
PEET’S THEATRE

OCT 27–DEC 3, 2023

Glitters like Boonville’s Navarro River….The script devises an idiom so resplendent, so discerning, that it induces chills and shudders…. [The] cast members buff the text to a high gleam. An all-around beautiful play!

San Francisco Chronicle

Gorgeous and moving…Director Nicole A. Watson and her glorious cast find beauty and power in the lives of ordinary country people who are unafraid to expose their emotions, even at the risk of rejection.

Chad Jones’ Theater Dogs

An entertaining and enlightening glimpse at a not-well-known corner of California.

SFist

Berkeley native Eisa Davis’ lyrical coming-of-age story follows a multiracial girl found as an infant floating in a basket on the Navarro River in Mendocino County. It’s 1955, and Bulrusher is 18 and restless, with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the eccentric, dialect speaking folks of her predominantly white enclave of Boonville. When a mysterious young Black woman from Birmingham comes to town, Bulrusher discovers new facets of her identity — and uncovers her place in the world. A Pulitzer Prize finalist called “captivating and lushly poetic” by the LA Times, Bulrusher is infused with rhythmic language, passion, and down-home humor.

Production Information

Runtime: Approximately two hours and 15 minutes plus one 15-minute intermission

Stage effects advisory: None

Content advisory: Adult themes and reference to sexual assault

Cast
(in alphabetical order)

Vera | Cyndii Johnson*

Boy | Rob Kellogg*

Schoolch | Jamie LaVerdiere*

Madame | Shyla Lefner*

Bulrusher | Jordan Tyson*

Logger | Jeorge Bennett Watson*

Creative team

Scenic Design | Lawrence E. Moten III

Costume Design | Valerie St. Pierre Smith

Lighting Design | Sherrice Mojgani

Sound Design & Additional Compositions | Kate Marvin

Projection Design | Katherine Freer

Hair, Wigs, and Makeup Design | Tommy Kurzman

Original Music | Eisa Davis

Movement Director | Paloma McGregor

Dramaturg | Faye M. Price

Casting | The Telsey Office, Destiny Lilly, CSA

Fight & Intimacy Coordinator | Rocío Mendez

Dialect & Vocal Coach | Nathan C. Crocker

Production Stage Manager | Elisa Guthertz*

Assistant Stage Manager | Christina Hogan*

* Indicates a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional stage actors and stage managers in the United States