‘The Comeuppance’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, photo by Cameron Whitman Photography
Beginning November 19, the Philadelphia-based theater company The Wilma Theater (265 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107), recipient of the 2024 Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre, begins its 2024-25 season with the regional premiere presentation of the critically acclaimed play The Comeuppance by Obie Award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Presented as a co-production between the Wilma and Washington, DC-based Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, the electrifying comedy is a meditation on impermanence, nostalgia, and isolation. The Comeuppance is directed by Wilma Co-Artistic Director Morgan Green and features a cast of local and regional actors Jordan Bellow, Alana Raquel Bowers, and Wilma HotHouse Company Members Taysha Canales, Sarah Gliko, and Jaime Maseda. The play runs from November 19 to December 8, with 20 performances presented in the Wilma’s 300-seat theater.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer whose acclaimed work has earned him two Obie Awards, a MacArthur Genius Award, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. The two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist premiered The Comeuppance at New York City’s Signature Theatre in May 2023, which garnered a New York Times Critic’s Pick and Lortel Award for Outstanding Play. The Wilma and Woolly Mammoth’s new co-production began its run in Washington, DC, on September 8, receiving critical acclaim as a “superb new staging” (Washington Post) and “illuminating” (Broadway World). This marks the second time the play has been produced with a new director and cast since its premiere.
Set in 2023, Jacobs-Jenkins’ witty and moving dark comedy focuses on five friends who reunite 20 years after graduating from a high school in Prince George’s County, outside of Washington, D.C. Known as the “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group,” the group was once bonded by their outsider status and the traumas of their teenage years. Gathered on a porch ahead of their high school reunion, they reminisce about their younger selves over adult jungle juice and pot as they each reveal how their lives have unfolded since graduation. As the evening continues, they drink, fight, play a truth game, and lament the disappointments of their adult lives. Throughout the evening, they are haunted by a mysterious otherworldly figure that inhabits each character, forcing them to confront the possibility that their past actions may have sealed their present fates irrevocably.
The cast of The Comeuppance features a notable group of stage and screen actors, including stage and screen actor Jordan Bellow as Emilio and Baltimore-based actor, dancer, singer, and producer Alana Raquel Bowers as Urshula. Joining them are Wilma HotHouse Company members Taysha Canales as Kristina, Sarah Gliko as Caitlin, and Jaime Maseda as Paco/Simon.
“This is The Wilma’s second co-production with Woolly Mammoth, and we are thrilled to continue this supportive relationship,” said Morgan Green. “In The Comeuppance, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins weaves politics into the minutia of our daily lives and into the fiber of our relationships with crisp perception and deliciously dark humor. This play is an x-ray of the millennial soul and a much-needed reflection on the impact of lockdown and our ability to connect with one another.”
The Comeuppance is directed by stage, screen, and radio director Morgan Green. She is a Co-Artistic Director at The Wilma Theater, where she previously directed the Pulitzer Prize-winning world premiere filmed production of Fat Ham by James Ijames, Eternal Life Part 1 by Nathan Alan Davis, School Pictures by Milo Cramer, and HILMA by Kate Scelsa and Robert M. Johanson. Her production of School Pictures went on to Playwrights Horizons in New York, where it was lauded as the best production of the year in New York Magazine. Green followed up School Pictures with a 2024 production of Abe Koogler’s Staff Meal at Playwrights Horizons. She also co-founded the award-winning theater company New Saloon, best known for Minor Character: Six Translations of Uncle Vanya at the Same Time (The Invisible Dog, The Public Theater, Sharon Playhouse).
Green leads a production team featuring Scenic Designer Jian Jung, Lighting Designer Minjoo Kim, Costume Designer Kitt Crescenzo, Sound Designer Jordan McCree, Fight & Intimacy Coordinator Eli K. Lynn, Associate Lighting Designer Scott Monnin, Associate Costume Designer Jessica Utz, and Associate Sound Designer Diana Carey. The team is rounded out by Stage Manager Melody Wong, Assistant Stage Manager Matt Melchior, and dramaturg Jessica Rizzo.
TICKET INFORMATION
Preview performances for The Comeuppance are from Tuesday, November 19, to Thursday, November 21. The production opens with an invite-only performance on Friday, November 22, at 7 p.m. and runs through Sunday, December 8. Single Digital Tickets will be available for sale toward the end of the show’s in-person run. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased at http://www.wilmatheater.org or by calling the Wilma’s box office at 215-546-7824.
Patrons can also purchase subscriptions to the Wilma’s 2024-25 season. A four-show weekday subscription is $100 for four weekday tickets to each of the 2024-25 shows. A four-show weekend subscription is $120. The four-ticket Whenever subscription – which includes four tickets to be used in any combination throughout the season – is $160. The Wilma’s subscriptions offer theatergoers savings of up to 60% compared to single ticket purchases.
The Wilma hosts a variety of ancillary events to further engage with audiences around its productions. Theatergoers can attend the Sunday, November 24 matinee for “The Let Out,” an insightful and lively post-show conversation with Wilma staff and production members held immediately after the performance. On Monday, December 2, at 7 p.m., attendees can participate in an Open Mic Night, where host Jaylene Clark Owens and poet and author Lynae B. discuss the themes of The Comeuppance. The Aurora Circle presentation on Thursday, December 5, includes a special pre-show reception with members of The Wilma community and a post-show Café Chat in the lobby with the cast and crew led by members of the artistic team. Additional Café Chats for The Comeuppance are available on November 26 and December 5. The Wilma also welcomes African-American audiences to attend the Black Affinity Night on Friday, December 6.
The Comeuppance has an estimated two-hour-and-20-minute runtime with no intermission. Single tickets can be purchased at http://www.wilmatheater.org or by calling the Wilma’s box office at 215-546-7824.
The Wilma offers discounts for select groups, in addition to rush tickets and “Pay-What-You-Wilma” to attend preview performances. Learn more by visiting http://www.wilmatheater.org/visit/box-office.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Wilma offers a variety of accessibility accommodations to better serve its audiences. Families can attend the Childcare Matinee on Saturday, November 20, at 2 p.m. Relaxed Performances provide a welcoming, “shush-free” environment that lets all patrons attend productions and express themselves freely without judgment or inhibition. These live theater experiences invite and encourage individuals with autism, ADD, ADHD, dementia, sensory sensitivities, and anyone who would appreciate a more relaxed theater-going environment to bring their full, authentic selves to these performances. The Relaxed Performance for The Comeuppance is set for Wednesday, November 27, at 2 p.m.
Adjustments for Relaxed Performances also include freedom to talk, vocalize, and leave seats during the performance as needed; slightly increased house lights to create a sensory-friendly environment and allow people to come and go as needed; and a library of fidget or handheld manipulatives available to borrow for added comfort or safety.
Audiences can also request Assisted Listening Devices at every performance, which can be borrowed from House Management at The Wilma’s coat check. Open Captions are provided on a screen near the stage and are available for The Comeuppance on Saturday, December 7 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 8 at 2 p.m. Audio Descriptions are also available on Sunday, December 8, at 2 p.m.
Please contact the Box Office by calling 215-546-7824 or emailing tickets@wilmatheater.org with at least 24 hours notice of your performance for questions about accessibility accommodations. Learn more about The Wilma’s accessibility accommodations by visiting http://www.wilmatheater.org/visit/accessibility/.
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