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Maid's Door
Summit School
- Loma Hopkins
Theatre j
Thurs, Aug. 6 8 p.m.
Fri. Aug. 7 8 p.m.
Sat. Aug. 8 3 p.m.
Sat. Aug. 8 8 p.m.
$41
A former maid moves on up but is faced with past wounds that have long
festered in "Maid's Door' a powerful drama from New York's Billie Holiday
Theatre.
Ida Farrell was like many black women of her era: she worked as a domestic in the
homes of rich white families in order to make ends meet and support her family. But
now Ida's working days are over and her mental health is failing. It is now time for
her adult children to care for her, and that is exactly what her daughter Betty does,
moving her mother into her new Upper West Side apartment.
The dwelling is in the kind of tony buildings that Ida spent her life working in as a
maid. Now, die is among the privileged few, a transition that causes her to revisit her
bittersweet past and the broken dreams that have haunted her. Betty is steadfast in
helping her mother battle her demons, stopping at nothing to restore her well-being
and preserve her legacy.
Writers Guild Award winner and Emmy nominee Cheryl L. Davis wrote "Maid's
Doorf' She says it is semi-autobiographical.
"In high school, my family moved into an Upper West Side apartment, and I was
intrigued with the fact that the kitchen had a second entrance dooif Davis said. "My
grandmother, who had been a maid for a family that lived only blocks away, explained
to me that my prized second door was in fact a 'Maids Door! I immediately knew
there was a story waiting to be told."
Princeton educated, Davis is a former writer for the daytime drama "As the
World Turns." Her play "The Color of Justice," about school desegregation, was
commissioned by Theatreworks/USA, while "Winnie the Pooh KIDS," another of
her plays, is licensed by the Disney Theatrical Group. Her credits also include the
stage production "Cover Girls," an adaptation of the Bishop T. D. Jakes' novel.
Jackie Alexander, the accomplished artistic director of The Billie Holiday Theatre,
directs. The cast features Joan T. Anderson, Nicola d'Alessandro, Nate James,
Melissa Joyner, Scottie Mills and Kimberlee Monroe. The creative team includes
Patrice Andrew Davidson (Set Designer), Helen L. Collen (Costume Designer) and
Avan (Lighting Designer). ?
Melissa Joyner as Betty with Nate James,
who plays Betty's husband, Case.