Tambo & Bones
Written by Dave Harris
Directed by Mikael Burke
OCTOBER 12 - NOVEMBER 11, 2023
PREVIEWS OCTOBER 5 - 8
AT THE BOOKSPAN THEATRE AT THE DEN (1331 N. MILWAUKEE AVE.)
“Jarringly brilliant…This is one of the most important plays you can see.”
- Karen Topham, ChicagoOnStage
“Bold, disturbing, raw..thought-provoking…nobody gets away clean”
- Kerry Reid, Chicago Reader
“To spoil the ending would be to ruin the impact…Sturdier patrons will see this as a gift.”
- Tristan Bruns, Newcity
“Wonderfully acted”
- Anthony Neri, Third Coast Review
Tambo and Bones find themselves in a tricky situation: they are trapped in a minstrel show. How do you get out of that? Might have to attack the playwright who put you there. Might need to become a famous rap legend. Might need to start something. Def need to let them know you’re a real person. You’re a real person. You’re a real person? From the fearlessly defiant, fresh American voice of playwright Dave Harris, Tambo & Bones is a dark comedy (and a rap concert) that pulls back the curtain on every theater experience the audience has had before.
Content warning: this show includes flashing lights, haze, loud noises (including gunshots and sounds of violence), strong language and racial slurs, and graphic depictions of physical violence.
Cast
CREATIVE TEAM
Sydney Lynne (Scenic Design)
Ashton Goren (Stage Manager)
Dave Harris, Playwright
Dave Harris is a poet and playwright from West Philly. Selected plays include TAMBO & BONES (LA Drama Critics Award "Best New Play", Playwrights Horizons, Center Theatre Group, 2022), EXCEPTION TO THE RULE (Roundabout Theatre Company, 2022), and EVERYBODY BLACK (Humana Festival 2019). His first feature film, SUMMERTIME premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released in 2021. Selected honors include: the 2019 Ollie Award, The Lorraine Hansberry Award and Mark Twain Award from The Kennedy Center, The International Commendation for The Bruntwood Prize, the Venturous Fellowship from The Lark, and a Cave Canem poetry fellowship amongst others. Dave is currently writing the feature adaptation of THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE amongst several other feature and television projects for AMC (Interview with the Vampire), ABC Signature, Goddard Textiles, and Amazon. His first full-length collection of poetry, PATRICIDE, was published by Button Poetry. UPCOMING: INCENDIARY (Woolly Mammoth, 2023), TAMBO & BONES (Royal Stratford East, London Premiere, 2023).