2017 Productions | BARBECUE 

BARBECUE by Robert O’Hara
Directed by Malika Oyetimein

MAY 30 – JUNE 25
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute | 104 17th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144
Various Times (*see performance dates below)

BARBECUE is a raucous and fearless take on the classic American family story in a way not seen before onstage. The O’Mallerys have gathered in their local park to share some barbecue and straight talk with their sister Barbara, whose spiral of drugs and recklessness has forced her siblings to stage an open-air intervention. With the whiskey flowing, family dysfunction and stereotypes collide as the play poses the question: Is family worse than addiction?

When Malika Oyetimein directed Robert O’Hara’s BOOTYCANDY in 2015, The Seattle Times called it “a timely, multihued satire from a gutsy writer.” Intiman is thrilled to bring this creative team together again for Seattle audiences.

“Robert O’Hara is a genius at making you laugh at things that are usually not funny,” Oyetimein said. “People tend to embrace the things that make us different rather than the complexities that make us all human beings. We want to turn that idea on its head with this story.”

BARBECUE will be performed at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture. This iconic venue is part of Seattle’s new Historic Central Area Arts and Cultural District and serves as an incubator for Black culture and art.

Reviews are in!

“Gut-bustingly funny…its cast, under the direction of Malika Oyetimein, is fantastic.”
THE STRANGER

“Vigor and venom…marvelously twisty.”
THE SEATTLE TIMES

“Quick-witted…an experience you won’t likely forget.”
SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD

“Keeps you laughing… a crystal clear YAY.”
BROADWAY WORLD

“Hilarious…pushes boundaries and challenges our perceptions.”
JETSPACE MAGAZINE

“Yes it was a) that funny b) that sad and c)that uplifting. Director Malika Oyetimein deserves high praise for bringing everything together in this production.”
DRAMA IN THE HOOD

“Larger than life… dream cast of actors.”
— SEATTLE GAY SCENE

“Barbecue is my idea of an American classic, or the kind of classic we need.”
The New Yorker

“The dialogue crackles with bleak jokes about the siblings’ misbehavior and rampant pathologies.”
The New York Times

“Ferociously funny! Barbecue raucously sends up the sociological pantomime — life as an award-seeking existential burlesque.”
Los Angeles Times

* Click for Performance Dates

BARBECUE Cast

Angel Brice, Macall Gordon, Kamaria Harris, Eryn Joslyn, Lamar Legend, Charles Leggett*, Shaunyce Omar*, Rachel Pate*, Carol Roscoe*, and Cynthia Tewes* (*denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association)

BARBECUE Artistic Team

Director Malika Oyetimein
Set Designer Julia Welch
Costume Designer Kelly MacDonald
Lighting Designer Robert Aguilar*
Sound Designer Matt Starritt*

*denotes member of USA 829