(CAMDEN, NJ) -- South Camden Theatre Company's 2024 season opens with Philadelphia playwright James Ijames's powerful and satirical play, Kill Move Paradise which runs across three weekends (April 26-28, May 3-5, May 10-12, 2024.). This play explores the themes of stereotypes, fear, and threat of death that black men of all ages face every day. Kill Move Paradise is a drama about police brutality against Black men and women.
Kill Move Paradise tells the story of Isa, Daz, Grif, and Tiny, four black men who find themselves stuck in a cosmic waiting room in the afterlife. Inspired by the ever-growing list of slain unarmed black men and women, this play depicts these men as symbols of life and hope. Gone but never forgotten, Kill Move Paradise illustrates the possibilities of collective transformation and radical acts of joy.
Performances take place Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00pm and Sunday afternoons at 2:00pm in the Waterfront South Theatre (400 Jasper Street) in Camden, New Jersey. Tickets are available for purchase online.
The cast includes Craig McLaren (Isa), Tariq Kanu (Grif), Jai Surles (Daz), and George McGriff (Tiny). The production is directed by Damien J. Wallace.
Damien Wallace is the Artistic Director of the Lawrence Theatre Company. LTC credits include “The Funeral” “Do you trust your best friend” “Custody” “Life isn’t fair” and “The Three OG’s”. Some other notable directorial endeavors include “Verbalized Ink” (Rise up and Walk Theatre Company) and “Fences” (GoKash Productions). Damien is very pleased and honored to make his return to SCTC as the director of KMP. Some other SCTC directorial credits include “The Brothers Size” and “The Legend of Georgia McBride”. Damien has also directed 3 productions for EgoPo Classic Theatre Company; “Les Blancs,” “Rockabye,” and “Wine in the Wilderness.” Damien was formerly trained under the tutelage of Lee Strasburg disciple Ty Collins and Stella Adler protégé Vernon Blackman. Damien holds a BFA with a Distinguished Honors degree in Theatre from Arcadia University.
James Ijames is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright, director, and educator. His plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for “The Brothers Size” with Simpatico Theatre Company and “Gem of the Ocean” with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for “WHITE,” the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ... ”Miz Martha,” a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for “Kill Move Paradise,” a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for “Fat Ham.”
“This haunting, elliptical play represents a breakthrough for [Ijames], and for art that considers the value of black lives in America...” — Broad Street Review.
“Ijames has written a challenging and fine actor’s play... Kill Move Paradise is a bold, conceptual, living theater demanding to be heard. Ijames [is] a vital voice in [our] politically seditious and perilous time. It is also profoundly poetic in its dialogue and characters.” — Culture Vulture.
South Camden Theatre Company is proud to call Camden home. When the company was founded in 2005, performances were held in the basement theatre of the Sacred Heart Church. We’re now the proud owners of The Waterfront South Theatre, the first free-standing theatre built for live theatre in Camden in more than 100 years. Learn more about the theatre company's history here.
The Waterfront South neighborhood is home to a growing arts community. Their arts neighbors now include Camden FireWorks, artist studio spaces and gallery, The Nick Virgilio Writer’s House, Mighty Writers, Bee Still Studios, The Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum, Camden Boat Works, and the Center For Environmental Transformation, along with The Heart of Camden, and The Sacred Heart Church.
