Black Creek Risin'

by LaDarrion Williams

In the sweltering summer heat of 1920s Louisiana, Mama Jakes, a majestic Black woman and owner of the once-thriving Black Creek juke joint, faces devastation when Prohibition forces her to shut down. To survive, she turns to bootlegging her famed hooch with her partner and musician, Willie Earl. As she navigates the treacherous world of illicit trade, Mama Jakes contends with her rebellious sixteen-year-old...

In the sweltering summer heat of 1920s Louisiana, Mama Jakes, a majestic Black woman and owner of the once-thriving Black Creek juke joint, faces devastation when Prohibition forces her to shut down. To survive, she turns to bootlegging her famed hooch with her partner and musician, Willie Earl. As she navigates the treacherous world of illicit trade, Mama Jakes contends with her rebellious sixteen-year-old daughter and a husband whose heart has grown cold with hardship. Each choice she makes could either usher in a new era of fortune or bring about catastrophic consequences, unraveling dark secrets and stirring the murky depths of the bayou. Black Creek Risin’ is a thunderous saga of love, magic, and the hidden perils of survival in the untamed South.

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Black Creek Risin'

Recommended by

  • Ryan Stevens: Black Creek Risin' by LaDarrion Williams
    “

    A fantastic, atmospheric, expressionistic story on family, music, American culture, and the bonds that hold people together and hold them down at the same time. This play is thrilling in how it focuses this story in tragic characters and tangible emotion that sears off the page.

    A fantastic, atmospheric, expressionistic story on family, music, American culture, and the bonds that hold people together and hold them down at the same time. This play is thrilling in how it focuses this story in tragic characters and tangible emotion that sears off the page.

    ”
  • Cassie Stokes-Wylie: Black Creek Risin' by LaDarrion Williams
    “

    A finalist for the 2018 David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artist Theatre Grant in partnership with Salt Lake Acting Company, BLACK CREEK RISIN' takes place in 1920s New Orleans with larger than life characters and exciting theatrical challenges. LaDarrion Williams is a skillful writer and has created a vivid world in which to play.

    A finalist for the 2018 David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artist Theatre Grant in partnership with Salt Lake Acting Company, BLACK CREEK RISIN' takes place in 1920s New Orleans with larger than life characters and exciting theatrical challenges. LaDarrion Williams is a skillful writer and has created a vivid world in which to play.

    ”

Character Information

  • Mama Jakes
    Mama Jakes: A strong and proud majestic black woman in her forties is a prominent bootlegger of an infamous whiskey. She was once an owner of a popping Juke Joint named Black Creek before the law of Prohibition hit.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Hoochie
    Mama Jakes's seventeen-year-old daughter who often thinks she's grown. She's a lot like her mother. Aspiring singer.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      Teens
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female
  • Willie Earl
    A man of Haitian Creole descent. He is Mama Jakes's top seller and partner in bootlegging. He is a jazz player on his way to New York in a band and loves Mama Jakes.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Jakes "JT" Talley
    Mama Jake's absent sharecropper of a husband who just comes back from Monroe.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      40s,
      50s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Male
  • Cat Jones
    A provocative twenty-five-year-old black woman who was once a waitress/singer. She is abused by her boyfriend and seeks solace with Mama Jakes.
    Can be played by:
    • Actor Age
      20s
    • Actor Race/Ethnic Identity
      Black, African, Caribbean, or African American
    • Actor Gender Identity
      Female

Development History

  • Residency, Great Plains Theatre Conference , 2019
  • Reading, Self-Produced, 2018

Awards

  • The David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists Grant
    The David Ross Fetzer Foundation for Emerging Artists Grant
    Finalist
    2018