WEEK 3: Our Lady of Common Sorrows
OUR LADY OF COMMON SORROWS
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY JOHN DAYO-ALIYA, 2020/2021 NORD FAMILY FOUNDATION PLAYWRIGHT FELLOW
A Black family’s faith is tested when their youngest member, a 14-year-old virgin, becomes pregnant. Our Lady of Common Sorrows explores the spectrum of innocence and guilt and what it means for Black lives, divine innocence, Black guiltiness, and the ways cultural perceptions justify Black death, physical and social.
Performers: Ashley Aquilla, Mell-Vonti Bowens, Jr., Cristal Christian, Stephen Hood, LaShawn Little, Andrew Pope, Amy Spencer, Kynnedy Stewart
About John Dayo-Aliya
is an Akron Arts Alive and Knight Arts Challenge Award-winning playwright, actor, and musician. He studied Theatre Arts at Kent State University and Pan-African Studies at the University of Akron. He is Artistic Director of Ma’Sue Productions. His work explores various aspects of the Black experience, John is specifically interested in Black modern lives and the questions arising out of the challenge of holding on to faith, love, community, and familial ties while living against a backdrop of structural racism. He creates work in hopes of provoking audiences to call out to their higher humanity in order to face social and cultural issues with intelligence, clarity, and empathy.