Vineyard Theatre concludes its 2019-2020 Off-Broadway season with the world premiere of Tuvalu or, The Saddest Song, written by Antoinette Nwandu and directed by Danya Taymor.
Los Angeles in the mid-nineties and twelve-year old Jackie is at a crossroads. She’s just been accepted to a private school in Brentwood, the affluent, white neighborhood that also happens to be ground zero for the O.J. Simpson murder trial. At home, the Lord is alive and well, the rent’s past due, and Momma’s boyfriend just came back to town. Sexuality and spirituality, race and class, love and violence collide as Jackie attempts to make sense of her life in relation to the women in her real and imaginary landscapes. With an astonishing mix of humor, tenderness and theatrical daring, this coming-of-age story explores the barriers that keep Jackie from finding her authentic self, and the cost of overcoming them.