Lyons Pride
Directed by Kyle Haden
Lead Sponsors: Dr. Bill and Nancy Grove, Elaine and Dick Sweet
Producing Sponsors: Karen and Steve Telian-Tyler
Partners: Jeanette Larson and Joan Marks
Synopsis
The Lyons household struggling to stay afloat doesn’t find itself lacking in pride. A family play, about living, love, identity and overcoming life challenges the Lyons take you on a journey of what it means not only to be Jamaican and proud but the similarities we have in our families as immigrants in America.
Setting
Far Rockaway, Queens NY. September 2003 – June 2004
Who
| Role | Actor |
| Ivory Lyons | Kaci Hamilton |
| Egypt Lyons | Omolade Wey* |
| Queen Lyons | Samantha Miller |
| King Lyons | Alex Michell |
| Richard Lyons | Shayne C. Powell* |
| Marquis McDonald | Antonio Jeffries |
| Everton | Leith Burke |
| Stage Directions | Tim Turner |
*Appearing through an Agreement between ANPF and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Poster art by: Kara Q. Lewis (design) with photos by Yves Alarie and James
Runtime: Runtime will be announced during the development week
Bleu Beckford-Burrell is a first-generation Jamaican-American actor/playwright. Born and raised in New York City, she works for non-profit organizations where she teaches acting to teens, directs plays, and leads playwright workshops for adults. She is in process of completing her pentalogy, The End of the Line Anthology. Some of her plays include: La Race (Page 73 Productions & The Working Theater, 2022), Tr@kGrls (EST One-Act Marathon, 2022), A Little Bit of Tea with That (Keen Teen Company, 2022/Concord publishing 2023), Crasiss (South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival). She is a Macdowell Fellow (2022), Page73 Fellow (2021), The Playwrights Realm Fellow (2018), New Harmony Project (2023), DGF (2022, Finalist), PWC New Voices Fellowship (2018, Finalist), NYTW/2050 Fellowship (2019, Finalist) as well as an I73 playwright (2020), Colt Coeur resident (2021), PWC Core Writer (2020, Finalist), WP Lab (2020, Finalist), Working Farm (2019, Semi-Finalist), et cet. She received the 2020 Playwrights Horizons, Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman Commission for Emerging Playwrights, 2021 South Coast Repertory, Elizabeth George Emerging Writer Commission and 2022 Keen Company, Keen Teens Commission. M.F.A. – Rutgers University.
Click here to read Bleu Beckford Burrell’s Lyon’s Pride Playwright Profile.
Originally from Pittsburgh. Credits include The Royale and the award-winning world premiere of Hazardous Materials (Creede Repertory Theatre); The Devil is a Lie (Quantum Theater, world premiere); Waiting For Lefty (Quintessence Theatre); The Chief (Pittsburgh Public Theater); The Realness, A Brief History of America (Hangar Theatre Company); Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale (Island Shakespeare Festival); and The Tens (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville). 2018 Drama League Directing Fellow, current member of their Directors Council. Former artistic director of the Ashland New Plays Festival, now Senior Associate Head and Associate Professor of Acting at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. BA: Wake Forest University, MFA: Columbia University. *The Director is a Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
