Harlem Duet
Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears is a powerful blues infused reimagining of Shakespeare’s Othello, told through the eyes of the Black women whose stories have too often been pushed to the margins.

Set across three periods of Harlem history, the 1860s, the Harlem Renaissance of 1928, and contemporary Harlem, the play follows Billie and Othello through love, betrayal, identity, and the complicated inheritance of the past. As these timelines echo and overlap, questions that have haunted generations of Black Americans continue to surface: What do we sacrifice to belong? Can love survive assimilation? And who gets to decide whose story is remembered?

At its heart, Harlem Duet is a story of love and loss, but also of memory, survival, and healing. Through the blues, history, and the voices of Black women, Sears asks us to confront the wounds we inherit and consider what we choose to carry forward.

Harlem Duet was the first play by a Black Canadian woman to win the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.

📆 Sept. 11 to 20
📍 Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College
129 Thompson St, Kalamazoo, MI 49006

Showtimes

Fridays: 7:30 PM
House opens at 7:00 PM

Saturdays: 7:30 PM
House opens at 7:00 PM

Sundays: 2:00 PM
House opens at 1:30 PM

Our project is a sponsored project of Stara Collaborative.

Sponsors:
Kalamazoo Community Foundation
Black Arts Cultural Center
Stara Collaborative​
"Unwavering commitment to excellence is clear. By consistently producing powerfully relevant and necessary work that no one else in the region is doing, they’re raising important questions and dialogue about race in America — primarily generated by people of color. And it’s perhaps the only company in the state fully committed to this work."
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Marin Heinritz
Revue West Michigan Magazine
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Awards and Acclaim

Dirt, Ash, Dead Tree
Winner of Two 2022 Wilde Awards (Encore Michigan)
​Michigan’s leading theatre news organization
Best Play and Best Director - Yasir Muhammad

Bambiland
Winner of 2023-2024 Wilde Awards (Encore Michigan)
​Michigan’s leading theatre news organization
Best Director - Marissa Harrington

Bambiland
Winner of 2023-2024 Wilde Awards (Encore Michigan)
​Michigan’s leading theatre news organization
Best New Script - Kendra Ann Flournoy

Bambiland
Winner of 2023-2024 Wilde Awards (Encore Michigan)
​Michigan’s leading theatre news organization
Best Lead Actor - Delanti Hall

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Face Off Theatre Company
Marissa Harrington, Managing Artistic Director
[email protected]
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​Mailing Address: 814 Palmer Ave Kalamazoo, MI 49001

Face Off Theatre Company is a sponsored project of Stara Collaborative.