The Indiana Repertory Theatre will continue its virtual season with NO.6, with streaming M to begin Thursday, March 11, and continue through April 4. The regional theatre premiere for the play by T.J. Young is also the first production in this season’s INclusion Series celebrating diverse storytelling. NO.6 bears witness to the ongoing violence against Black citizens while reaching for the possibility of hope.
The cast of NO. 6 is composed of Milicent Wright, Lakesha Lorene, Jamaal McCray and Michael Stewart Allen.
Inspired by true events surrounding the killing of a young Black man in 2001 in Cincinnati by a White police officer, the story follows a Black family sheltering in their apartment above the small dry-cleaning business they own as city-wide riots approach their neighborhood. When they find themselves protecting an intoxicated White man from the street, tensions inside the apartment amplify and secrets are revealed.
“Our decision to produce T.J. Young’s intense family drama NO. 6 is a decision to use our art to reflect deeply on the human impact of racial injustice in our country,” said Artistic Director Janet Allen. “Art can help us see under the surface of the news headlines: past the sensational pictures and footage, past the bylines and statistics, and into the hearts of people who must live through these huge traumas.”
Director Dwandra Nickole Lampkin, who has acted on the IRT stages in Doubt and To Kill Mockingbird, is currently an associate professor of theater and director of multicultural theater at Western Michigan University. Lampkin led the team of actors from New York and Indianapolis and designers — both in the virtual realm and physical space — through the story’s layers, importance and relevance.
“NO. 6 provides us the opportunity to acknowledge the black and brown people who have lost their lives to police brutality, while simultaneously creating a space for us to reflect, re-examine, and recalibrate,” Lampkin said. “In light of current events, it is my hope that audiences will allow their anger, frustration, and confusion to shape their experience as they bear witness to this play. You must be willing to go through it to get to it.”
Virtual tickets for PNC presents NO.6 are now available for $30. Season packages are also available. The IRT recently announced the final two shows in its 2020-2021 season – Mrs. Harrison and James Still’s The House That Jack Built. To learn more and purchase virtual tickets, visit irtlive.com.
