Off-B’way production of Angelou classic will be ‘pay what you can’
A radical theatrical production of a Maya Angelou literary classic is opening to city audiences this weekend — and the ticketing system is equally unique.
The premiere of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” will be produced by New York City Children’s Theater and will begin performances Friday at Theatre Row on 42nd St.
The organization announced that all tickets to the production will be pay-what-you-can, as part of its commitment to make theater more accessible throughout the city.
The Children’s Theater company for years has provided low and no-cost tickets to lower-income families, the company’s executive director, Andrew Frank, told the Daily News Wednesday.
Adapted by playwright Idris Goodwin and directed by Khalia Davis, the one-woman production — starring Cherrye J. Davis — uses the words and themes from Angelou’s 1969 groundbreaking memoir.
The first in a seven-volume autobiographical series by the poet and writer,
who died in 2014, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” chronicles her traumatic childhood and personal struggles.
“Maya Angelou was a master wizard poet and storyteller [and] this was no ordinary writing assignment,” Goodwin said. “Her words remain as relevant as ever and helping to provide a space and context for young people to behold the beauty and contemplate the brutality she renders in language is an honor.”
The play is set in the now-abandoned general store Angelou’s grandmother and parental guardian owned. Returning as an adult on a rainy day, the room evokes memories as
she reminisces about the tumultuous events of her childhood.
“We engage young imaginations, and imagination doesn’t have a price point,” Frank told The News about the pricing structure. “Over the past two years we seriously examined questions around whose voices are part of creating theater, funding theater, and being an audience for theater.
“As a result, we added a commitment to accessibility to our mission statement, and to be truly accessible we have to be economically accessible,” Frank said.
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” is scheduled to play through June 5.