John Ellison Conlee, Zainab Jah, Hannah Cabell to Lead Suzan-Lori Parks’ Venus at Signature Theatre Company

Casting is announced for the new revival of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Venus, directed by Lear deBessonet, at the Pershing Square Signature Center. Set to begin previews April 25 with an opening night set for May 15, the limited run will conclude on June 4.

The cast includes Tony nominee John Ellison Conlee, with Hannah Cabell, Randy Danson, Adam Green, Birgit Huppuch, Zainab Jah, Kevin Mambo, Patrena Murray, Reynaldo Piniella, Julian Rozzell and Tony Torn.

The creative team includes Matt Saunders (scenic design), Emilio Sosa (costume design), Justin Townsend (lighting design), Brandon Wolcott (sound design and original music), Danny Mefford (choreographer) and Thomas Schall (fight director).

Traveling from her home in southern Africa for what she hoped would be a better life, Saartjie Baartman became an unfortunate star on the 19th-century London freak-show circuit. The play gives life to the story of Baartman’s journey to London, her rise to fame as the “Hottentot Venus,” and her eventual relationship with a French scientist.

Venus is the second show in Parks’ residency with Signature Theatre Company, following the revival of The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World AKA the Negro Book of the Dead, directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz, this past fall.

Tickets for the production are now available.