Liesl Tommy, director, and Ayesha Jordan, one of the performers in Danai Gurira’s Tony-nominated play Eclipsed, in coversation with host Richard Wolinsky
Eclipsed runs at the Curran Theater in San Francisco through March 19, 2017 in a short, limited run.
Liesl Tommy, born in apartheid South Africa in a township of Capetown, is today an award-winning director, recently the associate artistic director at Berkeley Rep, and directed the acclaimed production of Party People, about the history of the Black Panther party. Ayesha Jordan served as understudy to Tony-nominated Lupita Nyongo in the key role of the unnamed Girl in the Broadway production of Eclipsed, and takes on the role here in San Francisco.
Eclipsed is set during the second Liberian Civil War, and concerns the plight of four women, kidnapped and forcibly married to a commander of the rebel army.
Eclipsed received six Tony Award nominations for its Broadway production, including one for Liesl Tommy, the first woman of color ever nominated for the Tony for Best Director. Eclipsed is co-produced by New York’s non-profit Public Theatre.
A shorter version of this interview airs on KPFA’s Arts-Waves program on March 13, 2017.