The Fires
written & directed by Raja Feather Kelly
May 8 - June 16
Fantasy, fiction, flirting and kissing, or fighting and fucking. Yâall need to get married and just die in each otherâs game playinâ arms.
In 1974, 1998, and 2021, three different men in a South Brooklyn railroad apartment write, read, fuck, flirt, eat, and fight at the same time.
The Fires is a surreal new play about being a somebody in a world of other somebodiesâwhile trying on love.
Cast
Beau Badu
Eli
Beau Badu (he/him). Soho Rep debut. Broadway: The Skin of Our Teeth. Off-Broadway/Regional: What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizon, BAM, The Public, A.R.T., Woolly Mammoth, The Movement Company); Reply All (Clubbed Thumb); A Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theater); Every 28 Hours (American Conservatory Theater); 7 Stories, The Taming of the Shrew, Black Orpheus, Macbeth, The Belleâs Stratagem, Richard III (A.C.T. MFA.) Education: Temple University BA, American Conservatory Theater MFA. bravobeau.com
Sheldon Best
Sam
Sheldon Best (he/him) last appeared onstage in the world premiere of The Hot Wing King (Signature Theatre). Other NYC credits include Sugar in Our Wounds (MTC); The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Atlantic Theater); Romeo & Juliet (Public Theater); Travisville (Ensemble Studio Theatre); brownsville song (Lincoln Center/LCT3); Romeo N Juliet (Classical Theatre of Harlem); the box: a black comedy (Foundry Theatre); A Midsummer Nightâs Dream (CTH); Freed (59E59 & Penguin Rep); Six Rounds of Vengeance, Alice in Slasherland, Geek (Vampire Cowboys); Soul Samurai (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys). He has performed at regional theaters including Baltimore Center Stage, the Denver Center, Cleveland Play House, the Geva Theatre, and the Studio Theatre of DC. His work on TV includes roles in âManifestâ (Netflix/NBC), âStep Up: Season 3â (Starz), âThe Good Wife,â âUnforgettable,” and âPerson of Interestâ (CBS). He has also appeared in the films Shortcomings, Ghost Light, and Last Ferry. www.SheldonBest.com.
Phillip James Brannon
Jay
Phillip James Brannon (he/him). Broadway: Macbeth (Longacre); JUNK (Lincoln Center). Off-Broadway: Merry Wives, Tiny Beautiful Things, ToasT (The Public); We Are Proud⊠(Soho Rep); Toni Stone (Roundabout); Log Cabin, BootyCandy (Playwright’s Horizons, Obie Award); The Antipodes (Signature); The City of Conversation (Lincoln Center); Nat Turner in Jerusalem, Love and Information, Belleville (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional: Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Williamstown, Sundance, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Court, Congo Square, Huntington, Kansas City Rep, The Wilma. TV/Film: Benny and James (Cannes and HollyShorts short film winner), Roscoe on âServantâ (Apple+), âThe Sinner,â âBlacklist,â âThe Good Fight,â âElementary,â âThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,â âLaw & Order: SVU,â Contagion. Training: DePaul University.
Janelle McDermoth
Rowan
Janelle McDermoth (she/her) is a multi-platform creator from The Bronx, New York and graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Broadway: A Bronx Tale. Off Broadway: Weâre Gonna Die (Lortel Nomination, Antonyo Nomination, Outer Critics Circle Honor), The Chronicles of Cardigan and Khente, Soul Doctor. Film: To All The Boys: Always and Forever, Daughter of the Bride, A Killer Romance. TV: âLaw & Order: SVU,â âBlue Bloods,â âBlindspot,â âHigh Maintenance.â Janelle has also been the voice over and narration talent for numerous national commercial campaigns as well as documentary shorts for ESPN and Hulu. Her original music combines the poetics that compel her, the hip hop that raised her, and her penchant for the aforementioned theatrics.
Ronald Peet
George / Sean / Kayne
Ronald Peet (he/him) is a Bahamian-born marathoner, meditator, and humanist. He’s collaborated on projects with The New Group, The Vineyard, Joe’s Pub, Lincoln Center, The Bushwick Starr, Clubbed Thumb, P73, The Playwright’s Realm, Atlantic Theater Co, Roundabout, Ars Nova, Miami New Drama, Barrington Stage, Williamstown Theater Festival, Two River Theater, MTC, Second Stage, Soho Rep, MCC, The American Shakespeare Center, Yale, NYU, Juilliard, and more. Upcoming: Apple TV+’s “Bad Monkey.” NYU Tisch and Emory Alum. EST Member.
Jon-Michael Reese
Maurice
Jon-Michael Reese (he/him). Soho Rep debut! Favorite Credits: Broadway: A Strange Loop. Off-Broadway: White Girl in Danger (Second Stage). Regional: James Baldwin, Jimmy and Lorraine (Pillsbury); This Bitter Earth (Penumbra); Theo (Two River); Marry Me a Little (New Ohio); Nikola Tesla Drops The Beat (ATF); Man of la Mancha, To Let Go and Fall (Theatre Latté Da); Lear (Exit Pursued By Bear); My Heart is the Drum (Village Theatre, Gregory Award: Outstanding Actor). Rep: SAKS&. @theJMRavatar
Jason Veasey
Billy / Reggie
Jason Veasey (he/him) created the role of âThought 5â in the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning musical A Strange Loop. Veasey is recognized for his multi-season arc as âJonathanâ on the hit Hulu series âOnly Murders in the Buildingâ, which garnered him a 2024 SAG Award nomination. TV: âLittle Voiceâ (Apple), âChicago Fireâ (NBC), âHigh Maintenanceâ (HBO), âFlatbush Misdemeanorsâ (Showtime), âBettyâ (HBO), âDash & Lilyâ (Netflix), and the Hulu pilot âOlga Dies Dreaming.â Film: Iâm Not Him, Home Free, and the upcoming Friendship (alongside Paul Rudd and Tim Robinson). @veaseyville
Michelle Wilson
Leslie
Michelle Wilsonâs recent stage credits include: the Lincoln Center Theater’s production of The Coast Starlight; the premiere production of Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates, at Signature Theater (Drama Desk and Drama League 2022 nominations). More theatre credits include: Cynthia (Tony Nomination) in SWEAT (Pulitzer Prize) at The Public Theatre/Studio 54 Broadway. The House That Will Not Stand. A Raisin in the Sun (Broadway), Detroit â67, Follow Me to Nellieâs, Fahrenheit 451, Two Trains Running, The People Before the Park. TV credits: “Amazing Stories”, “Signs of Life” episode; Evil, “Bull”, “The Good Fight”, “Blue Bloods”, and “Madame Secretary”. “Apollo Theater” (documentary), and Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Between the World and Me”. Film credits: Sarita in “Premature Sundance”; Pollok in “The True Adventures of Wolfboy”;Â the Adrien Brody led film, “Clean”; The 2022 Sudance film, “A Love Song”.
Creative Team
Raja Feather Kelly
Writer-Director
Raja Feather Kelly (he/him) is a choreographer and director, and the Artistic Director of the dance-theatre-media company the feath3r theory, for which he has created 18 premieres, most recently UGLY Part 3: BLUE (Chelsea Factory) and the forthcoming The Absolute Future (NYU Skirball). Kellyâs most recent works outside of TF3T are Teeth (Playwrights Horizons), White Girl in Danger (Second Stage), Bunny Bunny (UC San Diego), and Scenes for an Ending for the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company. He choreographed the Broadway musical A Strange Loop (Lyceum Theatre, premiered off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizon), winner of two Tony Awards, including Best Musical. His Off-Broadway collaborators include Lileana Blain-Cruz, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Sarah Benson, and Michael R. Jackson. His work has been seen at Playwrights Horizon, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Soho Rep, and New York Live Arts, among many other venues. Heâs worked on two Pulitzer Prize-winning productions and has received a Princeton Arts Fellowship, three Princess Grace Awards, an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle honor, and many others.
Emily Wells
Composer
Emily Wells (she/her/they). Forging a bridge between pop and chamber music, polymathic composer, producer, and video artist Emily Wells builds songs from deliberate strata of vocals, synths, drums, piano, string, and wind instruments. Wells has toured extensively throughout the world, including performances at the Guggenheim, Lincoln Center, Sundance Film Festival, and the National Gallery of Art. She is a 2022 NYU/CBA/National Sawdust Toulmin Fellow, and a 2020 NYFA grant recipient. Wellsâ evocative music (described as âthrillingâ by Pitchfork) and performances (called âquietly transfixingâ by The New York Times) impel listeners to be attuned. Her latest album, Regards to the End, explores the AIDS crisis and its lessons for climate action. A work of radical empathy, it foregrounds the power of art, critique, and care to connect and perhaps redeem us.
Dominique Rider
Dramaturg
Dominique Rider (Dominique) is a Brooklyn-based director and writer whose work seeks to answer the question: âWhat is a world unmade by slavery?â while attempting to analyze the layers of anti-blackness that maintain the world we live in. Deploying theatre and performance as tools of Afropessimism, Dominique has developed and staged work with Portland Stage, The Bushwick Starr, The New Group, The Park Avenue Armory, and more. Past fellowships/residencies include Playwrights Horizons, The Atlantic, Hi-Arts, The National Black Theatre, BRIC Arts, Roundabout, and NAMT. Currently, Dominique is a producer with CLASSIX, an artist in residence at Duke University, and a member of The Civilians R&D group.
Raphael Mishler
Scenic Designer
Raphael Mishler (he/him) creates visuals for live performance and has designed scenery for Winterworks, Dixon Place, ANTfest, HERE Arts Center, Amerinda, The Fires (upcoming Soho Rep), Is It Thursday Yet? (assoc.), Taylor Macâs Holiday Sauce (assoc.) 24 Decade History of Popular Music (tour assoc.) and numerous shows at UCSD and NYU. Puppet design credits include The Amateurs (Vineyard), Collectiv
Naoko Nagata
Costumer Co-Designer
Naoko Nagata (she/her) was born and raised in Kobe, Japan. She started her career as a biochemist; her evolution into costume making is a long story. She moved to New York in 1991 and with literally no formal training, she has been creating costumes for a diverse group of award-winning choreographers and dancers non-stop (Urban Bush Women, Kyle Abraham, Doug Elkins, David Dorfman, Ralph Lemon, amongst others). Never expecting this out of life, her costumes have been worn throughout the world. Her work with Enver for Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heelâs POWER has been placed in the permanent collection of Jacob’s Pillow. Working closely with collaborators, Naoko helps bring to life what she calls âthe creation of a shared dream.â This is her second theater project with Raja Feather Kelly. Endless thanks to Enver.
Enver Chakartash
Costume Co-Designer
Enver Chakartash. Broadway: Stereophonic, A Doll’s House, Is This A Room. Off-Broadway: Teeth (Playwright’s Horizons), Public Obscenities (Soho Rep.), Toros (Second Stage Theatre), The Trees (Playwright’s Horizons), Wolf Play (MCC/Soho Rep.), Catch as Catch Can (Playwright’s Horizons), English (Atlantic Theater Company/Roundabout Theatre Company). Film: Reality (HBO).
Bryan Ealey
Lighting Designer
Bryan Ealey is a New York-based designer from Houston, TX. He holds an MFA in Lighting Design from the University of California, San Diego, and is a Board Member for NobleMotion Dance Company (Houston). Throughout his career, Bryan has been a Resident Lighting Designer for River Pointe Church (Richmond, Texas), House of Blues – Houston, and Sam Houston State University – Dance Department. Heâs also been fortunate to design for several theater and dance companies, such as Main Street, Stages, The Landing Theatre Company, Houston Grand Opera, Unity, Horse Head, Classical Theatre Company, NobleMotion Dance, Open Dance Project, Social Movement Contemporary Dance, Houston Contemporary Dance, Urban Souls Dance, Von Ussar Danceworks, Creede Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Antaeus Theatre Company, and Cygnet Theatre. Bryanâs passion for lighting design is rooted in the fundamental ability to support, give focus, and elevate the performance to draw an emotional response from the audience.
Salvador Zamora
Sound Designer
Salvador âSuavecitoâ Zamora (he/him) is a sound designer, composer, and avid latin dancer born and raised in Southern California. He earned both his BA in the Interdisciplinary Computer and Arts Major and his MFA in Sound Design from the University of California, San Diego. He is a proud recipient of the 2023 Princess Grace Award and is ecstatic about making his NYC debut with The Fires. He’s passionate about his family and friends, Latinx culture, and the connection between sound and movement. Select designer credits: TaxilandiaSD (La Jolla Playhouse), Everybody (Antaeus Theatre Co.), Bunny Bunny, Machinal, Hells Canyon (UCSD). Select assistant credits: Here There Are Blueberries (NYTW, Shakespeare Theatre Company DC, LJP), Babbitt, Sumo, The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, Love All (LJP). Upcoming: Tick, Tick⊠Boom! (Cygnet Theatre)
Karine Ivey
Hair and Makeup Designer
Karine Ivey (she/her). âAs a dedicated wig and makeup artist-designer, Ivey has had the privilege of learning and mastering the art of transformation. For over 37 years, she has created captivating looks for performers. Her credentials include Illinoise, Henry VIII, Sir John in Love, Being Mr. Wickham, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Flying Dutchman, and Romeo and Juliet.
Thomas Jenkeleit
Props Designer
Thomas Jenkeleit (he/they) is a scenic & prop designer from Queens, New York devoted to creating new, reimagined, and thought provoking work. Recent credits: The Park Avenue Armory, HEREarts Center, New Ohio Theatre, The Bridge Production Group, IRT Theater, Zipline Media, SpotCo Media, Bay Street Theatre, Trove, NYU Tisch, Columbia University, New York Film Academy, Hippodrome Theatre, Iron Crow Theater, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Hangar Theater Company, State Theater of Ithaca, Kitchen Theater Company, The Cherry Arts. BFA Ithaca College. jenkeleit.com
Teniece Divya Johnson
Intimacy Director
Teniece Divya Johnson (they/them) is an Intimacy Director, Fight Director, Stunt Performer, and Movement Storyteller working across television, film and stage. The first Black and first non-binary intimacy director on Broadway with Slave Play and first Black intimacy coordinator working on TV/Film, Teniece serves as a resolute advocate for a decolonized collaborative approach to art, Black intimacy, Kink and Queer representation. They are also the founder of www.BlackIntimacyConsentCollective.org an community based educational organization around Black intimacy, consent and wellness. Additional credits: âSuccession,â âPose,â âRamy,â âHunters,â âThe Underground Railroad,â West Side Story, MJ the Musical, Richard III and RAQI on Ghost Power Book II. In addition to working as an industry leader in the field of entertainment, they engage colleges, universities, corporations and other organizations to promote healthy community practices around consent, boundaries and empathy.
Hope Villanueva
Production Stage Manager
Hope Villanueva (she/her) Recently: Mexodus (Baltimore Center Stage), The Dragon Kingâs Daughter (Kennedy Center), King of the Yees (Signature Theatre), Blues for an Alabama Sky (Barrington Stage), A Nice Indian Boy (Olney). Off-Broadway: Whoâs Your Baghdaddy? or How I Started the Iraq War. National Tour: Rock of Ages, My Fair Lady, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baileyâs Bellobration. Regional/Other: Little Shop of Horrors (Idaho Shakespeare), WILD: A Musical Becoming (A.R.T., feat. Idina Menzel, Javier Muñoz), Romy & Michele: The Musical (NYC Workshop), and Rock of Ages Hollywood. Washington, DC: Blues for an Alabama Sky (Barrington Stage), A Nice Indian Boy (Olney), The Day You Begin (Kennedy Center), Private (Mosaic Theatre, DC). BLKS (Woolly Mammoth), Twist Your Dickens (The Second City), The Vagrant Trilogy, Paper Dolls, Queens Girl in Africa (Mosaic Theatre), Hand to God (Studio Theatre).
Priscilla Villanueva
Assistant Stage Manager
Priscilla Villanueva (she/her/ella) is an NYC based stage & company manager. Her recent Off-broadway credits in stage management include: The Siblings Play (Rattlestick Theater), Fires in the Mirror (Signature Theatre), Neurosis (Daryl Roth Theatre 2) and Locusts Have No King (INTAR Theatre). Her recent Off-broadway credits in company management include: Brooklyn Laundry (MTC) and Titanique (Daryl Roth Theatre). She is a proud member of AEA & ATPAM. Peace & Love.
Ogemdi Ude
Associate Director
Ogemdi Ude (she/her) is a Nigerian-American dance and theater artist based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. Her work has been presented at Gibney, Danspace Project, Abrons Arts Center, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, Recess Art, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Center for Performance Research, Movement Research at the Judson Church, Streb Lab for Action Mechanics, and for BAM’s DanceAfrica festival. She is a 2022-2024 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence and a 2024/2025 BAX Artist-in-Residence. She has been a 2022-2023 Smack Mellon Artist-in-Residence, 2021 danceWEB Scholar, 2021 Laundromat Project Create Change Artist-in-Residence, and a 2019-2020 Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Resident Fellow. In January 2022 she appeared on the cover of Dance Magazine for their annual â25 to Watchâ issue.
Lauren Morrow
Creative Circle
Lauren Morrow is a writer and publicist based in Brooklyn. She earned an MFA from the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program, has been a fellow with Kimbilio and Aspen Words Emerging Writers, and is the recipient of several writing awards and prizes, including two Hopwoods. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares and The South Carolina Review, and other publications. Her debut novel, LITTLE MOVEMENTS, will be published by Random House.
Ayanna Thompson
Creative Circle
Ayanna Thompson has worked on the Broadway productions of Uncle Vanya and Macbeth. She serves as a Shakespeare Scholar in Residence at The Public Theater in New York, and currently serves on the boards of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the National Parks Arts Foundation, and Play On Shakespeare. She is a Regents Professor of English and Director of the Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University.
Brian Freeland
Production Manager
Brian Freeland (he/him) is a production manager, director, producer, writer, sound + media artist, and community builder. His works for the theatre are rooted in a collaborative performance and development process that creates theatrical works with words, visuals, sounds, text, story, frame, and non-linear structures. Production management credits include works for Illinoise (Broadway), The Bearded Ladies, Andrew Schneider, Up Until Now Collective, Bard Summerscape, Curious Theatre Company, HERE Arts Center, Beth Morrison Projects, The LIDA Project, Countdown to Zero, The Brick, and The Prototype Festival. www.brianfreeland.com
Aislinn Curry
Deputy Production Manager
Aislinn Curry is a Production Manager (& Producer & Stage Manager) devoted to new and ambitious work across disciplines. Favorite credits include BAM, Builders Association, Carnegie Hall, Chocolate Factory, CSC, DiscOasis NYC, Edinburgh Fringe, Games4Change, Guggenheim, Miller Theatre, City Center, OTB, Onassis Cultural Center, Poetry Project, and Prototype. She has freelanced on events all over the city and travelled the globe with Fela! The Concert. She worked with the World Science Festival (â14-â17), Photoville (â15-â17), and HERE (â17-â19). AB/ Classics – Bowdoin College, MFA/ Stage Management – Columbia University. AEA since 2013. @aislinn_curry on IG for cat photos.
Steven Brenman
Technical Director
Steven Brenman (they/them) is happy to return for their fifth production at Soho Rep. Other recent work includes technical direction for Ensemble Studio Theater, NAATCO, Clubbed Thumb, Prototype/HERE, and Oh Mary! Steven is a design member of the Letter of Marque Ensemble and has also designed for Theatre East, Smith Street Stage, Strike Anywhere, and Stella Adler.
Elliot Yokum
Assistant Sound Designer
Elliot Yokum (they/them) is a sound designer and composer. elliotyokum.com
Show Calendar
Tuesday â Sunday at 7:30PM
Saturday at 3:00PM (except 5/11)
Mask Required Performances on 5/12 and 6/4.
Saturday at 3:00PM (except 5/11)
Content Transparency
While Soho Rep fosters an unmediated connection between artists and audiences, we recognize that the emotional and mental well being of our audiences is also paramount.
The Fires explores aspects of mental health, including suicide and suicidal thoughts.
NYC WELL offers 24/7, free and confidential support and information over phone, text message (SMS) and online chat for anyone who may need emotional support with issues such as: abuse, family issues, gender & sexual identity, grief & loss, parenting, pregnancy, relationships, sexual abuse, trauma, PTSD, etc. Text or Call: 988 / Chat Online
BEAM, the Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective, has a variety of resources for support here.
Rush Tickets
$20 rush tickets are available for nearly every performance. Those waiting for rush tickets will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Each individual may purchase up to two rush tickets and payment is cash only. Box office will begin taking names 30 minutes before curtain time.
Supporters
The Fires was commissioned with generous support from The Berwin Lee Brown Foundation. Funding for The Fires is provided, in part, by the Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation. Production fees for playwrights at Soho Rep are generously sponsored by The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation. Raja Feather Kelly is the 2023-2024 Tow Playwright-in-Residence at Soho Rep. Special thanks to the Axe-Houghton Foundation for supporting the 99¹ Sunday performance on June 2nd.