Ezekiel is a Black teenager with a secret that threatens to destroy his already broken home. He’s haunted by the ghosts of racism, homophobia, and toxic masculinity—the same ghosts that have plagued men in Georgia for generations, including his emotionally distant father. But when he discovers a trove of forbidden love letters among his late grandfather’s belongings, Ezekiel begins to believe that the only way to fight these multi-generational ghosts is to burn everything to the ground. THE MAGNOLIA BALLET is a Southern Gothic fable that melds high drama, dance, poetry, and spectacle to explore masculinity, racism, and the love between a queer kid and his father.
A National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, this beautifully poetic magical new play will be produced in the same season in Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Williamston, Michigan.
THE MAGNOLIA BALLET runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.
PLEASE NOTE NEW DATES.
Pay What You Can Previews: Sept 18 at 5pm
Opening Night: September 20
Industry Night: September 27 (Meet playwright Terry Guest at this performance)
Afternoon Matinee: September 24
THE MAGNOLIA BALLET is produced at Alleyway Theatre as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other Partner Theaters are Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre (Indiana) and Williamston Theatre (Michigan). For more information, please visit nnpn.org
Match these colors to the calendar to help guide your performance choice!
Green dates are Pay What You Can PREVIEW PERFORMANCES.
Blue is OPENING NIGHT
Yellow is INDUSTRY MONDAY
Red is CLOSING NIGHT
Arts Access tickets are only valid during Pay What You Can Preview Performances
Explorer and Pioneer tickets are not available for Preview Performances.
Terry Guest is an award winning Playwright, Actor, Producer, Poet and Teaching Artist based in Chicago , IL. His play At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen has been workshopped, read and performed all over the country and was the 2018 recipient of Out Front Theatre's Spectrum Series Grant. Other plays include: The Magnolia Ballet (National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere), Marie Antionette and the Magical Negros, Andy Warhol Presents: The Cocaine Play, The Madness of Mary Todd, Michael Jackson and the Devil's Book. As an actor Terry has worked at regional theaters around the country including Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Goodman Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Actors Express, and others. Terry is a Governing Ensemble Member at The Story Theatre and is signed by DDO Chicago. Inspired by: Whitney Houston, Stephen Sondheim, My grandma in the kitchen, Spike Lee, Tennessee Williams, Black Queer people, Black Women, Bob Mackie costumes, Kerry James Marshall, Liza Minelli and the creativity and resilience of Black people around the world.
As a rule, Alleyway Theatre does not issue content or trigger warnings for any of our individual productions. If you have questions about show content, or request more information about production elements like fog or strobes, or age-appropriateness, please call the box office at 716-852-2600.
Alleyway Theatre is a member of the National New Play Network, Theatre Communications Group, Theatre District Association of Western New York, and Theatre Alliance of Buffalo.
1 Curtain Up Alley, Buffalo, NY 14202 | 716-852-2600
Alleyway Theatre, Inc. is a 501c3 organization. EIN: 22-2779994
