Second Thought Theatre presents “Mlima’s Tale” on Feb. 19-Mar. 14. The area premiere focuses on an ancient African elephant. Lynn Nottage wrote the play, Tiana Kaye Blair directs it. Previews start Feb. 19 at Bryant Hall, on the Dallas Theater campus at 3400 Blackburn Street.
Plot Synopsis: Legendary African elephant Mlima is struck down, and his massive tusks taken as trophies. His ever-present ghost watches as the tusks change hands. They travel from Kenya to Vietnam, and on to Beijing. The play’s background is the black market ivory trade. Nottage, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, examines global consumerism, ancestral history, and human greed.
“Mlima’s Tale” Set in Eastern Hemisphere
“Mlima’s Tale offers a rare chance to present a play that takes place entirely in the Eastern Hemisphere. The play bounces between various locales across Africa and Asia, offering brief glimpses into cultures we rarely see represented on American stages. It challenges audiences to consider the cost of our culture of consumerism, while cleverly reminding us that we are all complicit in it to some degree,” says STT Artistic Director, Alex Organ. “We are also thrilled to welcome many new faces to the STT stage and to have the play led by one of the most exciting talents in our community, Tiana Kaye Blair. In addition to raising challenging moral and ethical questions, the play is also a celebration of the transformative and detailed work of the actor.”
The cast includes Kristen D’Sha, McClendon “Mickey” Giles, Christopher Lew, and Sam Henderson. The four-person ensemble cast portrays nearly twenty characters.
Illegal Ivory Trade
Director Blair says, “This timely piece by Lynn Nottage takes us on a journey of the illegal ivory trade from the perspective of the hunted. Every underground global economy—from the trading of ivory, to the blood diamond trade, to the transatlantic slave trade—has a funding source that keeps it thriving and is likely thousands of miles away. Nottage brings that contention right to our doorstep and allows us a look into the varying levels of complicity within the syndicate.”
STT Artistic Associate Aaron Johansen will design lights. Mason York is sound designer and Amy Poe is costume designer, while Jocelyn Girigorie returns as set designer.
Previews of “Mlima’s Tale” are Feb. 19 and 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Bryant Hall on Kalita Humphreys Campus. Opening night is Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. Pay What You Can (PWYC) performances are Feb. 19, 20, and 24, and March 2 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for PWYC are available at the box office one hour prior to performance, and are subject to availability. Tickets are $25, on sale now at secondthoughttheatre.com.