Force Continuum
By Kia Corthron
Directed by Rosiland Cauthen
April 21 – May 8, 2015
Thursdays - Saturdays at 8pm
Sundays at 4pm

United Evangelical Church, 3200 Dillon Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Cohesion Theatre Company is proud to announce the Baltimore premiere of Force Continuum by Kia Corthron as the third main stage show of their Second Season. The show was chosen from Cohesion’s Baltimore Theatre Syllabus Reading Series held in April of 2015 in response to the Baltimore unrest and city wide tension surrounding the death of Freddie Gray. Rosiland Cauthen, professor of theatre at Towson University and artist with Baltimore based Kuumba Artists, is set to direct the full production going up at United Evangelical Church in Canton for 9 performances April 22 – May 8, 2016.

“It’s such an intense and engaging piece of theatre,” says Cauthen. “The topic of police brutality is controversial and complex and the fact that Cohesion Theatre wanted to tackle this play, this subject, at this time is bold and impressive. This play asks all sorts of questions. It leaves us, the viewer, the participant, the audience member with the job of answering the questions for ourselves, for our community, our Baltimore. What is the role of the police? What is considered excessive force, deadly force? How do we as a community get closure and justice once an incident of police violence occurs?”

Told through three generations of African-American police officers, Force Continuum follows Dece, who is disillusioned and confused in a contemporary world of drug violence and brutality, and whose present-day struggles go beyond the routine paradox of being both black and a cop when he and his white partner become indicted in the death of a black female civilian. Force Continuum is a jagged, precarious journey that speaks to the heart of the current unrest in Baltimore and America.

Force Continuum will run Fridays through Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm, April 22 – May 8. Cohesion will be performing at United Evangelical Church (3200 Dillon Street, Baltimore, MD 21224) at the corner of East Street and Dillon Street in Canton. Patrons can park in the lot across the street connected to the former school building and enter the space through the gray doors on East Street. Tickets are $20 for Adults and $15 for Students and Seniors, and can be purchased online at cohesiontheatre.org/tickets.

Cast:
Terrance Fleming – Dece
Josh Thomas – Grandfather
Thaddeus Street – Eric/Dray/Dealer
Bobby Hennenberg – Cop 1/Flip/Second Cop
Robert Highsmith – Young Dece/Marley
Glen Haupt – Cop on Guard/Fuller
Malcolm Anomnachi – Man/Father
Mari Andrea – Mrai/Cobbs/Margaret/Tina
Lianna Brizzi – Cop 2/Hudson/White Cop/First Cop/Fuller
Nate Couser – Eric/Bartender/Quinton/Kevin Martell/Peter

Production Team:
Rosiland Cauthen – Director
Tiana Bias – Assistant Director
Erika Williams – Stage Manager
Stylz – Costume Designer
Jessica Hutchinson – Sound Designer
Lana Riggins – Lighting Designer/Technical Director
Casey Dutt – Set Designer
Nick Morrison – Projection Designer
Brad Norris – Fight Choreographer
Kris Messer – Dramaturg
Caitlin Carbone – Production Manager