WHERE AND WHEN:
MAY 30 - JUNE 29, 2025 (32 performances)
WP Theater - 2162 Broadway @ 76th St
Presented by Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre, Elizabeth Van Dyke, Producing Artistic Director
Evening Shows: Tue, Thur, Fri & Sat at 7:00 PM. Matinees: Wed at 3:00, Sat at 2:00, Sun at 3:00.
Tickets $30-$45, buy tickets: https://tinyurl.com/3vsy6527
Producing company's website: https://www.newfederaltheatre.com/
Running time: 2:15 (including intermission)
Critics are invited on or after Saturday, May 31 (7:00 show). Opens Thursday, June 5.
Historical photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9j5XxNjzSH5LQD1o8.

NEW YORK, April 24 -- In 1881, Black laundresses in Atlanta led a strike weeks before the International Cotton Exposition came to town, demanding compensation of $1 per dozen pounds of laundry. The Atlanta Washerwomen’s Strike of 1881 was the first successful interracial, organized labor strike of the post-Civil War era. "The Wash" by Kelundra Smith offers an intimate and often funny portrait at the ordinary women who initiated and led the strike, transforming themselves from workers to fighters. Woodie King, Jr.'s New Federal Theatre will present the play's New York premiere May 30 to June 29 at WP Theatre, 2162 Broadway (at 76th Street), NYC. Awoye Timpo directs.

The play introduces us to Anna, Jeanie, Tommie, Jewel, Charity and Mozelle--fictional characters who represent the probable leadership of the strike. They work in an Atlanta laundry co-op in 1881, barely making 40 cents a week and unable to make ends meet. Although each of them has something to lose, they organize into a Washing Society, aiming to control their own labor and achieve higher wages. Historically, it is known that the strikers' number grew from a couple dozen women to more than 3,000 in a few weeks. Their ranks included white women, who were less than two percent of laundresses in the city. This was an extraordinary sign of interracial solidarity for the time. In the end, the strike not only raised wages, but also forced the white establishment to acknowledge that Black women workers, many of whom were former slaves, were not dispensable or invisible.

This play has the potential to become an important part of our American cultural archive, helping to ensure that the truth of this strike is remembered even if today's authoritarian forces attempt to rewrite or suppress its history. It also speaks to the nation’s current labor struggles, as workers across different sectors unionize for better wages, working conditions and benefits.

Kelundra Smith was inspired to write "The Wash" after a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Separate from this New Federal Theatre production, the play has been in the National New Play Network's Rolling World Premiere program (https://tinyurl.com/y9t276cp), which led to productions in Atlanta, St. Louis and Chicago. The Atlanta production won Outstanding World Premiere at the Suzi Bass Awards, the city’s professional theater honors.

Kelundra Smith is a critic, arts journalist, and playwright whose mission is to connect people to cultural experiences and each other. She is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, serving on its equity, diversity & inclusion committee. She has been a fellow at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center’s National Critics Institute and guest critic at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. "The Wash" is part of the her "Reconstruction Trilogy," set in post-Civil War Georgia, which also includes "The Vote," a drama of the “Original 33” Black men who were elected to Georgia’s first state legislature, and "The Knot," a romantic comedy in which a couple's commitment to their upcoming wedding is tested by their new-found freedom. Smith's other plays include "Monarchs," about a Black couple's reconciliation after being separated by the Great Migration in 1935, and "Other Paths to God," in which ICU nurses are scapegoated when federal grant money goes missing in an Ohio medical center.

Director Awoye Timpo is a Brooklyn-based director and producer. She recently staged Ngozi Anyanwu's "Leroy & Lucy"at Steppenwolf. Her Off-Broadway credits include "In Old Age" by Mfoniso Udofia (New York Theatre Workshop), "Good Grief" by Ngozi Anyanwu (Vineyard Theatre), "The Revolving Cycles Truly and Steadily Roll’d" by Jonathan Payne (Playwrights Realm), "The Homecoming Queen" by Ngozi Anyanwu (Atlantic Theater Company), "Carnaval" by Nikkole Salter (National Black Theatre), "Ndebele Funeral" by Zoey Martinson (59E59, South African tour, Edinburgh Festival), and "Sister Son/Ji" by Sonia Sanchez (Billie Holiday Theater). She also directs prolifically in regional theaters.

The cast includes Rebecca Haden, Bianca LaVerne Jones, Alicia Pilgrim, Margaret Odette, Kerry Warren and Eunice Woods.

Set design is by Jason Ardizzone-West. Lighting design is by Victor En Yu Tan. Costume design is by Gail Cooper-Hecht. Prop design design is by Belynda M'baye. Choreography is by Adesola Osakalumi and Jill Vallery. Projection design is by  Abhita Austin.

This is New Federal Theatre's second production at its new home, WP Theater, located at 2162 Broadway @ 76th Street. NFT had previously been in residence in the former home of All Stars Project, 543 West 42nd Street.

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CRITICS ARE INVITED on or after Saturday, May 31 (7:00 show). Opens Thursday, June 5.
HISTORICAL PHOTOS: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9j5XxNjzSH5LQD1o8

OUT OF TOWN REVIEWS OF "THE WASH"

"Because of the historicity of the “The Wash,” the challenge – and ultimate triumph – of this production is how it bubbles with life. It’s a fine addition to the legacy of plays about this nation’s labor struggles and a recommendation-worthy theatrical experience." https://stlouisarts.substack.com/p/through-march-30-the-black-reps-the

"Smith’s script is absorbing, humorous, and uplifting with its focus on sisterhood and lovingly supporting those in your community. The narrative engenders audience empathy for the struggling washwomen and their personal trials. It addresses themes of fair wages, spousal abuse, pregnancies that are not viable, police brutality, racism, and illiteracy." https://www.broadwayworld.com/st-louis/article/Review-THE-WASH-is-Presented-as-Part-of-NNPNs-Rolling-World-Premiere-at-The-Black-Rep-20250316 

"Smith’s play offers a peek into an important time in history, while highlighting how yesterday’s fight for freedom and equality resonates with today’s strife over the direction of our nation."
https://theburtonwire.com/the-wash-kelundras-smiths-play-brings-black-laundresses-history-to-life/ 

"...fun dialogue, clever staging, vibrant design and great characters, feels inspirational without coming across as tediously instructive or too heavy. It never wallows in trauma, though there is a moment set in the aftermath of violence." 
https://www.artsatl.org/review-the-wash-depicts-atlanta-history-with-a-fresh-scent/ 

"...these multigenerational characters do more than protest; they live and breathe. Better, they joke and gossip, supporting one another through everyday troubles beyond the strike."
https://www.artsatl.org/review-the-wash-depicts-atlanta-history-with-a-fresh-scent/ 

ABOUT NEW FEDERAL THEATRE

New Federal Theatre (NFT) was founded by Woodie King, Jr. in 1970 as an outgrowth of a theater program called Mobilization for Youth.  This neighborhood-based professional theatre was originally funded by the Henry Street Settlement along with a small grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.  The theater’s first season was launched in the basement of St. Augustine’s Church on Henry Street.

Several early successes brought NFT to national prominence: "Black Girl" by J.e. Franklin won a Drama Desk Award. "The Taking of Miss Janie" by Ed Bullins moved from NFT to Lincoln Center and won the Drama Critics Circle Award. "For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" by Ntozake Shange performed on Broadway for 10 months and was nominated for the Tony Award before embarking on a three-year national tour. It has subsequently been performed regionally and around the world, and was revived off-Broadway in 2019. Both plays were co-produced with the late Joseph Papp.

Many performers have benefited from early successes on NFT’s stage, including the late Chadwick Boseman, Debbie Allen, Morgan Freeman, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Issa Rae, and many more. The company is now led by Elizabeth Van Dyke, Producing Artistic Director.

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