Our tenth season is proudly presented in partnership with
Season 10 Is Here
Face Off Theatre Company is thrilled to present our Tenth Anniversary season, a powerful lineup of shows that is a full circle experience for both the theatre company and our community. We believe that exploring and celebrating one's identity is a transformative and empowering experience. Throughout these past ten years, we have presented theater giving artists of color the opportunity to share their stories while also engaging and inspiring our diverse community here in Kalamazoo.
From witty and poignant dramas that highlight our conflicting relationships with family (Sunset Baby, Jar The Floor), to a taught social and political satire exploring the Black experience in America (The Colored Museum), to a coming of age story about young men growing up in an environment of a racially divisive America (Smoldering Fires), to a joyous and compelling homage to the greatest Black playwright of our time, August Wilson (Been Lovin’ You), to finally, the moving and powerful celebration of a Black icon (Mahalia: A Gospel Musical), each production will offer a unique and captivating exploration of extraordinary art through activism that Face Off Theatre company is honored to revisit and present to the community.
Whether you saw one of these titles in its original production during our past nine years or if they are new to you, you won’t want to miss our remarkable, reflective and entertaining season.
Face Off Theatre Company is more than a stage—it’s a movement. Rooted in a tradition of powerful storytelling, we are also a hub for community engagement and professional development, offering transformative resources, workshops, and programs that empower Black artists and uplift the broader Kalamazoo community.
The company’s 10 season milestone is not just ours—it belongs to every artist, audience member, and supporter who has been part of our journey. We invite you to celebrate with us, to reflect on the impact we've made together, and to look forward to the future of Face Off Theatre Company. Your support has been the cornerstone of our success, and as we step into this new decade, we do so with renewed vigor and an unwavering commitment to our mission to create meaningful work that inspires and sparks change in our community through providing a space that empowers, develops, and supports artists of color.
Thank you for being part of our story. Together, let's make the next decade even more extraordinary.
Marissa Harrington
Managing Artistic Director
Our 2025 Season
BOX OFFICE: 269-250-6984
Box Office hours: Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm with a lunch closure from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm.
Box Office hours: Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm with a lunch closure from 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm.
January 2025
East New York, Brooklyn. Kenyatta Shakur is alone. His wife has died, and this former Black Revolutionary and political prisoner is desperate to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Nina. If Kenyatta truly wants to reconcile his past, he must first conquer his most challenging revolution of all – fatherhood.
This is a story about love, political action, and one woman’s journey from a brutal existence to her own liberation.
Presented in partnership with Kalamazoo College Department of Theatre
Performances
Thursday, January 16 7:30 pm
Friday, January 17 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 18 2:00 pm
Saturday, January 18 7:30 pm
Sunday, January 19 2:00 pm
Location
The Dungeon Theatre at Festival Playhouse
Kalamazoo College
139 Thompson Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
This is a story about love, political action, and one woman’s journey from a brutal existence to her own liberation.
Presented in partnership with Kalamazoo College Department of Theatre
Performances
Thursday, January 16 7:30 pm
Friday, January 17 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 18 2:00 pm
Saturday, January 18 7:30 pm
Sunday, January 19 2:00 pm
Location
The Dungeon Theatre at Festival Playhouse
Kalamazoo College
139 Thompson Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49006
April 2025
A Face Off Theatre For Young Audiences Production
Smoldering Fires tells the poignant story of two young boys grappling with their dreams and the harsh realities of their environment. This play is a compelling piece that resonates deeply with our mission to inspire change and dialogue. We are thrilled to welcome the return of Face Off co-founder Bianca Washington to helm this production as director.
"A beautiful, moving, relevant piece." -Greater Milwaukee Today
Performances
Friday, April 11 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 12 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 19 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 20 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
Smoldering Fires tells the poignant story of two young boys grappling with their dreams and the harsh realities of their environment. This play is a compelling piece that resonates deeply with our mission to inspire change and dialogue. We are thrilled to welcome the return of Face Off co-founder Bianca Washington to helm this production as director.
"A beautiful, moving, relevant piece." -Greater Milwaukee Today
Performances
Friday, April 11 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 12 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 19 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 20 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
July 2025
Been Lovin' You: The Works Of August Wilson is a collaborative theatre project utilizing the works of prolific Pulitzer Prize winning African American playwright August Wilson, combining scenes from within his 10 Play Pittsburg Cycle.
This piece was created to celebrate the throughline theme of Black Love in August Wilson’s Pittsburg Cycle.
With a bit of dancing, compelling scenes and lots of drama, BEEN LOVIN YOU takes the universal elements of love and diffuses them through the African American experience for a raw and realistic night of dynamic theatre.
This compelling evening of theatre includes portions from:
The Piano Lesson
Jitney
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Fences
Performances
Friday, July 11 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 12 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 19 7:30 pm
Sunday, July 20 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
This piece was created to celebrate the throughline theme of Black Love in August Wilson’s Pittsburg Cycle.
With a bit of dancing, compelling scenes and lots of drama, BEEN LOVIN YOU takes the universal elements of love and diffuses them through the African American experience for a raw and realistic night of dynamic theatre.
This compelling evening of theatre includes portions from:
The Piano Lesson
Jitney
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Fences
Performances
Friday, July 11 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 12 7:30 pm
Saturday, July 19 7:30 pm
Sunday, July 20 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
August 2025
Mahalia is a joyous celebration of the life and music of the world's greatest gospel singer: a humble, deeply religious woman whose expressive, full-throated voice carried her from a three-room shanty to appearances before royalty.
“A rare joy, a balm for the spirit. This is not a night in the theatre but a soul-cleansing experience. Don't miss it!” – Sun Newspapers
Performances
Friday, September 5 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 6 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 13 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 14 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
“A rare joy, a balm for the spirit. This is not a night in the theatre but a soul-cleansing experience. Don't miss it!” – Sun Newspapers
Performances
Friday, September 5 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 6 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 13 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 14 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
October 2025
If you’re a fan of Keeye and Peele or are OG and reminisce about the days of In Living Color, you won’t want to miss Face Off Theatre Company’s experiential theatre event in this at once electrifying, discomforting and delightful – an interactive theatrical experience. It is satire at its best.
The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colors, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Its eleven “exhibits” undermine Black stereotypes old and new and return to the facts of what being Black means.
“Brings forth a bold new voice that is bound to shake up blacks and whites with separate-but-equal impartiality. True satire." – Newsweek
In partnership with The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Performances
Friday, November 7 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 8 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 9 2:00
Friday November 14 7:30
Saturday, November 15 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 16 2:00 pm
Location
The Carver Center Studio
The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Complex
419 South Park Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
The Colored Museum has electrified, discomforted, and delighted audiences of all colors, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Its eleven “exhibits” undermine Black stereotypes old and new and return to the facts of what being Black means.
“Brings forth a bold new voice that is bound to shake up blacks and whites with separate-but-equal impartiality. True satire." – Newsweek
In partnership with The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre
Performances
Friday, November 7 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 8 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 9 2:00
Friday November 14 7:30
Saturday, November 15 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 16 2:00 pm
Location
The Carver Center Studio
The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre Complex
419 South Park Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
December 2025
A quartet of black women spanning four generations makes up this heartwarming dramatic comedy. They come together to celebrate the matriarch's ninetieth birthday. The connections between the various mothers and daughters are exposed when the youngest member of the clan arrives with an unexpected guest.
It's a wild party, one that is a lovable lunatic glance at the exhilarating challenge of growing old amidst the exasperating trials of growing up.
“If resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die, then the four generations of women in Cheryl West’s dramatic comedy Jar the Floor have definitely overdosed.” – Arts Atlanta
Performances
Friday, December 5 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 6 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 13 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 14 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
It's a wild party, one that is a lovable lunatic glance at the exhilarating challenge of growing old amidst the exasperating trials of growing up.
“If resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die, then the four generations of women in Cheryl West’s dramatic comedy Jar the Floor have definitely overdosed.” – Arts Atlanta
Performances
Friday, December 5 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 6 7:30 pm
Saturday, December 13 7:30 pm
Sunday, December 14 2:00 pm
Location
The Jolliffe Theatre
The Epic Center
359 South Kalamazoo Mall
2nd Floor
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007