NEWS RELEASE Media Contact: Damron Armstrong, Executive Artistic Director816-663-9966(Please call or email to set up interviews, to review this show, or to inquire further)damron @brtkc.orgHigh resolution photos available upon request

Stick FLyWritten by Lydia R Diamond

Directed by Jacqueline L. Gafford

The affluent, African-American Levay family is gathering at their Martha’s Vineyard home for the weekend, and brother Kent and Flip have each brought their respective ladies home to meet the parents for the first time.

Issues of race and privilege, longstanding family tensions bubble to the surface in this Family Comedy/Drama.

Directed by Jacqueline L. Gafford, the play features Shon Ruffin, L.Roi Hawkins, JessicaFranz, Dennis Jackson, Terraye “Ray” Watson and Sierra Berry

Stick Fly is being performed at The Arts Aslyum. The show runs February 9th – 30th, 2017.Thursday thru Sunday performances

Tickets are now on sale, online at www.brtkc.org. Special discounts are available for seniors(65+), students. Group discounts available

About the Director, Cast, and Creative Team:

*Shon Ruffin (Taylor) is ecstatic to be joining Black Repertory theater once again. She previously played Effie in Dreamgirls in Concert. She has received her Bachelors of Arts in Theater Performance from Kansas State University. Other productions in the KC area include A Christmas Carol at the Kansas City Repertory Theater, Heathers at Unicorn Theatre, West Side Story at Spinning Tree Theater, Hairspray at The New Theatre Restaurant, Jitney at the MET, and Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott at The Coterie. Shout out to her wonderful supportive friends and family! You can find her singing with her band Proud2Beg http://shon8yes.wix.com/kcactress.

*L.Roi Hawkins (Flip) is honored to part of this exciting new theatre company's journey. Happy to be back after taking a year off to open a restaurant in Australia (Long Story!). He studied at The University of Kansas. NYC credits include national tours of The Color ofJustice and Romeo and Juliet for TheatreWorksUSA. Kansas City will always be home, where he's appeared onstage at The Rep, The Coterie, The Unicorn, Mesner Puppet Theatre, and most recently TYA. This show is dedicated to the Spirit of Family, Warts n All.

Jessica Franz (Kimber) is excited to be making her BRTKC debut! Her favorite Kansas City acting credits include An Octoroon (Unicorn Theatre), Long Day's Journey Into Night](KCAT), Dog Sees God, Carousel (Living Room), Desperate Acts, Amish Project(KC Fringe), and The Seagull (MET). KC directing credits include Big Love (KC Fringe), Proof (Barn Players), as well as being an AD on several KC Rep Shows, the latest being Our Town directed by David Cromer. Enjoy the show!

Dennis Jackson (Joe LeVay) is a Kansas City native. He has appeared in several productions, with InPlay Theater Company: Harlem Knights, Nothing Comes To Sleepers, Storm Stories, A Raisin In The Sun, and Othello. Dennis is grateful for the opportunity to work with Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City. Thanks to Jacqee Gafford, Damron Armstrong, and of course, the cast and crew for this journey through Stick Fly.

Terraye “Ray” Watson (Kent) is ecstatic to make his debut at The Black Repertory in the cast of Stick Fly. Ray is a recent graduate of the Theatre performance program at The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). He has appeared in many productions in town including Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors (UMKC), Kansas City´s First Minute Play Festival (1MPF) and Baddest Auditions (Whim Productions). Ray would like to thank his friends and family for their love and support and the entire cast and crew of Stick Fly for this wonderful blessing of a show.

Sierra Berry (Cheryl) is student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, currently working on her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Performance. She is still new to the Theatre Community of Kansas City, after being involved with the KC Fringe Festival 2016,and taking part in her first show at UMKC, The Comedy of Errors, Fall Semester of 2016, most notably as Dr. Pinch. She now feels that she is starting to build her own foundation inthe community. This is Sierra’s first community theatre role in the city, and she feels blessed and is excited for all of the new opportunities that she prays will come her way. Shewants to thank her family for their constant support of her career as an artist, and is grateful to the Professors of UMKC that continuously give her the knowledge she needs to do good work.

*Jacqueline L. Gafford (DIRECTOR) has been a fixture on the Kansas City Theatre scene for 30 years. Originally from Shreveport LA., Jacqueline attended Grambling State University. Grambling was awarded the first Norman Lear Award for comedy for Judi Ann Mason's Livin' Fat and the first Lorraine Hansberry Award for Judi Ann Mason's A Star Ain't Nothin' But A Hole In Heaven. She was a cast member in both productions. As a Junior at Grambling State she was nominated for the Irene Ryan Scholarship for her portrayal of the chorus in Grambling's production of Jean Anouilh's Antigone.

Jacqee (as she is known to her theatre friends) worked at Theatre for Young America for fouryears as an artist in residence. While there she directed, acted, stage managed, taught, and wroteplays in collaboration with Gene Mackey, the Artistic Director. Jacqee has also acted anddirected at other Kansas City area Theatres such as the Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie, UMKC,Theatre Dept, Lawrence Community Theatre, Rockhurst University Theatre, and Just offBroadway Theatre, with InPlay Theatre Company, for which she is the Founding ArtisticDirector, and with the JOB Resident theatre, Melting Pot Theatre, with Harvey and LindaWilliams.

Jacqueline is a member of Actors' Equity, and SAG-AFTRA, professional theatrical and screenprofessionalsUnions.

At the Unicorn, Jacqueline performed in Flyin' West, Having Our Say, Old Settler, and IntimateApparel. She also directed Betrayal of the Black Jesus, Crowns, The Women of Brewster Place,and Her Hair Went With Her. At Lawrence Community Theatre, she directed Flyin' West, andInherit the Wind and at Rockhurst University Theatre, she directed The Wiz and Wedding Band.

Jacqueline is the Artistic Director for Inplay Productions, where she has worked as Actor,Director and Playwright and Administrator. At InPlay Productions, Jacqueline has directed heroriginal scripts, such as Harlem Knights, Nothing Comes to Sleepers, (which was alsocommissioned and performed at Southeast Missouri State University) and performed the titlerole of Barbara Jordan in Journey With Barbara Jordan, written in collaboration with GeneMackey. Jacqee also directed the Lorraine Hansberry play, A Raisin the Sun.Jacqueline is very proud of InPlay's productions of classical, as well as original scripts. In thefuture, InPlay will produce Script in Hand productions of several of Shakespeare's classics.

Recently Jacqee directed and wrote an original script, Dark was Their Journey for the Westport

Center for the Arts. She has also directed JFK: A Ghostly Evening, and Bighorn's Secret. ForWestport Center for the Arts, and will direct InPlay's script in hand production of the originalscript Is There a Murderer Here? in April 2017. Jacqee has enjoyed her collaboration with Harvey and Linda Williams' company, at JOB,Melting Pot Theatre, where she directed, Truth Stands, and Old School Ghetto Gospel.

In 2016, Jacqee appeared at JOB in, InPlay's script in hand production of Othello, and as BarbaraJordan in Journey with Barbara Jordan. She also directed the script in hand productions of thenew plays Missing You Metropolis, and Is There A Murderer Here. In the Fall of 2017,Jacqueline will direct her original script, Grape's Vine at JOB for InPlay. Congratulations to TheBlack Repertory Theatre of Kansas City. The journey has just begun.

*Denoted Actors Equity Union members

The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City @ The ARTS ASYLUM 1000 E 9th St. Kansas City,MO 64106