1904. Many former slaves and descendants venturing north find themselves at Aunt Ester’s door in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. A renowned cleanser of souls claiming to be 285 years old, Ester provides solace, advice and healing. Citizen Barlow, racked with guilt over letting another man take the rap for one of his crimes, desperately wants to be pure again. And Aunt Ester may be his only hope. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Fences, comes a mystical story of freedom, justice and redemption. 

Previews: October 14–19, 2017
First Night: October 20, 2017
Regular Performances: October 21–November 11, 2017

Recommendation: Ages 12 and above. This production contains smoking, fog, strobe and haze effects​ and loud sound effects.

Running Time: Approximately ​​two hours and ​45 minutes, including one ​​15-minute intermission.

​Gem of the Ocean is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.

August Wilson (Playwright, April 27, 1945-Oct. 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of the descendants of Africans in North America, decade-by-decade, over the course of the 20th century, forming the compilation entitled The American Century Cycle. His plays have been produced on Broadway, at regional theatres across the country and all over the world. In 2003, Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned, currently touring and featuring Eugene Lee reprising Wilson’s role. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars and Jitney. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award. In 1995, Wilson received an Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. His early works include the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming, and the musical satire, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. He was the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award and a 1999 National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton. Wilson received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and on Oct. 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theatre located at 245 West 52nd Street as The August Wilson Theatre. Today, his plays continue to be produced and his place in the American Theatre continues to grow. New York Public Radio recorded all 10 plays in the The American Century Cycle at the Greene Space, casting many of the actors who worked on the original productions and PBS aired a documentary The Ground On Which I Stand, as part of the “American Masters” series. Born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Penn., Wilson lived in Seattle, Wash., at the time of his death. He was survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero, who is the executor of his estate.

	Shinelle Azoroh (Black Mary) is delighted to make her debut at South Coast Repertory in Gem of the Ocean. Her credits include Blues for an Alabama Sky (Lorraine Hansberry Theater), Seven Guitars (Marin Theatre Company) and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (American Conservatory Theater). Her film and television credits include Only You, Betty and Coretta, “Code Black” and Nostalgia. She is an MFA graduate of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, Calif. shinelleazoroh.com
	​​​​Preston Butler III (Citizen Barlow) is an actor, filmmaker and musician who has worked with an array of extraordinary artists including “Insecure” creator and star Issa Rae; award-winning Chinese director and playwright Stan Lai; and Def Poetry’s Dahlak Brathwaite. In 2016, Butler garnered international acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his co-creation and performance in the eerily exciting “concert drama” Dead Awaken. Butler will tour France in 2018 with FORE!, a new play written by 2017 Relentless Award-winner Aleshea Harris. His credits include Hecuba (Agamemnon) at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood and Cotton Patch Gospel (John the Baptist) at American Coast Theater Company. He is a graduate of the MFA acting program at the California Institute of the Arts and the performance/directing program at Vanguard University of Southern California. Phil 4:13
	L. Scott Caldwell (Aunt Ester) is a Chicago native who started her career as a company member of the famed Negro Ensemble Company and made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-nominated play Home. She starred as the first black millionaire, Madame CJ Walker, in The Dreams of Sarah Breedlove at the Goodman Theatre, winning the Ruby Dee Award. She won an Obie Award for her performance in Lee Blessing’s Going to St. Ives, a Helen Hayes Award for her critically acclaimed performance in Neil Simon’s Proposals and the Tony Award for August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. She has starred in world premieres of plays by Wole Soyinka, Athol Fugard and Leslie Lee. Her film credits include The Case for Christ; Concussion; The Perfect Guy; Gridiron Gang; The Fugitive; Waiting to Exhale; Mystery; Alaska; Dragonfly; Devil in the Blue Dress; The Net; and Dutch. Television viewers know her from her portrayal of Rose on ABC’s “Lost.” She was a series regular on the CBS dramedy “Queens Supreme” and the PBS series “Mercy Street.” She has had recurring roles on “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “Low Winter Sun,” “Southland,” “The Last Tycoon,” “Insecure” and, most recently, “How to Get Away with Murder.” She has guest-starred in more than 30 television series including “Brooklyn 99” as Andre Braugher’s mother.
	Cleavant Derricks (​​​Solly Two Kings) is making his SCR debut. He created the role of James Thunder Early for Dreamgirls, which garnered him Tony and Drama Desk awards for best featured actor as well as the Los Angeles Drama Circle Award for vocal arrangements. For his work in Bob Fosse’s Broadway production Big Deal, Derricks was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards for Best Actor. His other Broadway credits include the revival of Hair, Vinette Carroll’s Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, But Never Jam Today and Brooklyn the Musical. He received the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Male Performance for his portrayal of Horse in the Full Monty national tour. Derricks was awarded the Heroes and Legends Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre; served as composer, musical director and featured actor for the musical When Hell Freezes Over, I’ll Skate, which aired as a PBS special; and starred in Cy Coleman’s Like Jazz at the Mark Taper Forum. His film roles include Moscow on the Hudson, The Slugger’s Wife, Offbeat, Carnival of Souls, Bluffing It, Miami Magma, Basilisk and World Traveler. His appearances as a television series regular include “Sliders,” “Thea,” “Drexell’s Class,” “Good Sports” and “Woops!” Some of his television guest appearances include “Touched by an Angel,” “Charmed,” “The Practice,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Cold Case” and David E. Kelly’s “Wedding Bells.”
	​​​Hal Landon Jr. (​​​Rutherford Selig) is an SCR Founding Artist who has appeared in All the Way, Going to a Place where you Already Are, Rest, The Fantasticks, The Trip to Bountiful, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Nothing Sacred, Man from Nebraska, Born Yesterday, A View from the Bridge, Habeas Corpus, Antigone, The Drawer Boy (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nomination), Major Barbara and Tartuffe. His other credits include Arcadia, Our Town, Sidney Bechet Killed a Man, BAFO, Six Degrees of Separation, An Ideal Husband, A Mess of Plays by Chris Durang, Faith Healer, Green Icebergs, The Miser, Our Country’s Good and Waiting for Godot. He created the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in SCR’s A Christmas Carol and has performed it in each of its 37 years. He appeared in Leander Stillwell (Mark Taper Forum), Henry V (The Old Globe) and as Polonius in Hamlet (Shakespeare Orange County). Among his television and film credits are “The Closer,” “My Name is Earl,” “CSI: NY,” “Mad Men,” The Artist, Trespass, Pacific Heights, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the Netflix film Pee Wee’s Big Holiday and the HBO film All the Way.
	​​​​​Matt Orduña (​​​Eli) is very excited to be working with South Coast Repertory. His thea-trical roles include Abioseh in Les Blancs at Rogue Machine Theatre; Bilal in Bars & Measures (Stage Raw nominee, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nominee for lead performance in a play) at The Theatre @ Boston Court; Gabriel in Fences at International City Theatre (Ovation Award nominee for Featured Performance); Teresias in Oedipus El Rey and Albert/Kevin in Clybourne Park at San Diego Repertory Theatre; Duncan in Macbeth at A Noise Within; and Flip in Stick Fly at Mo’oelo Performing Arts Company. His film and television credits include I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Sundance Grand Jury Award), Grace of Jake, Baby Steps, Better Half: The Story of Tony & Leo, “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS,” “Ironside,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “The Fosters,” “Switched at Birth,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “Mob City,” “Family Tools” and “Legit.” He earned his MFA in 2001 from the University of Washington Professional Actor Training Program. He is very excited to be working with this wonderful cast and crew. Thank you to Tinia and Autumn for their love and support
	​​​​​​Arnell Powell (​​​​Caesar) is making his SCR debut. He appeared off-Broadway in The Blacks (The Classical Theatre of Harlem) and Othello (Veteran’s Center for the Performing Arts) and in the national tour of Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk. Regionally, he has appeared in Pericles Redux (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra (Guthrie Theater) and Black Sheep (Eugene O’Neill Theater Center/National Playwrights Conference). His film credits include Hidden Figures, The Conjuring and Soul Ties. On television, he has had recurring roles on “Greenleaf,” “The Mick,” “Switched at Birth,” “The Red Road” and “Drop Dead Diva” and guest-starring roles on “Lethal Weapon,” “Bosch,” “Castle,” “NCIS,” “The Shield” and “Cold Case.” He earned his MFA at the NYU Graduate Acting Program. arnellpowell.com

The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

• Daily Pilot • August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean examines freedom, self and the African American experience at SCR
• OC Register • August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean gives a 300-year-old her due
• Press Release • August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at South Coast Repertory