FLINT, MI–FIM Flint Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Into The Side of a Hill by James Anthony Tyler (Some Old Black Man) and directed and choreographed by Ken-Matt Martin, February 2 – 18.

This high-energy, fast paced play takes place at a historically black university in 2004, where six fraternity brothers rehearse for a homecoming step show. As they rehearse, mental illness, toxic masculinity, and war bring all the young men into battle with each other, and their brotherhood is tested. The production was developed in Flint Rep’s 2022 New Works Festival and produced in association with Arkansas Repertory Theatre.

The cast includes: Freddie Fulton (Off-Broadway’s Confederates), David Guster, Brandon Micheal Hall (Broadway’s Trouble In Mind), Victor Musoni (Goodman’s Toni Stone), Brian Sullivan Taylor and Antonio Michael Woodard.

“Into The Side of a Hill is an electrifying new play that is a celebration of friendship and the bonds of brotherhood,” says Flint Rep Producing Artistic Director Michael Lluberes. “The piece explores the complex relationships of six young black men as they navigate the experience of growing up. James is a captivating new voice in American Theatre and we’re thrilled to produce the world premiere of his play with this extraordinary team of theatre artists.”

Playwright James Anthony Tyler is the recipient of the third-annual Horton Foote Playwriting Award, an inaugural playwright to receive a commission from Audible, and a 2016 Theatre Masters Visionary Playwrights Award recipient. He is currently a Playwrights Center Core Writer, and most recently was the recipient of The Playwrights Center’s McKnight National Residency and Commission. Tyler is also a member of The Fire This Time Festival’s New Works Lab Cycle 5, and a member of Circle X Theatre Company’s Evolving Playwrights Group. His plays include Some Old Black Man (Berkshire Playwrights Lab at St. James Place and 59E59 Theaters, and a University Musical Society filmed production), All We Need Is Us (Keen Company, currently streaming on all podcast platforms) hop thA A (currently streaming on Audible), Artney Jackson (world premiere at Williamstown Theatre Festival, 2018 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award), and Dolphins and Sharks (LAByrinth Theater Company and Finborough Theatre in London). He’s a 2021/2018 MacDowell Fellow, a 2021 Hermitage Artist Resident, a 2018 Djerassi Fellow, 2018-2019 Amoralists Wright Club Playwright, 2017-2018 Nashville Rep Ingram New Works Playwright, 2016-2017 Ars Nova Play Group Resident, 2016 Working Farm Playwrights Group Resident at SPACE on Ryder Farm, 2015-2016 Playwrights’ Center’s Many Voices Fellow, 2014-2015 Dramatists Guild Fellow, and he was a member of Harlem’s Emerging Black Playwrights Group. He has an MFA in Film from Howard University and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University. He is also a graduate of The Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. For television, he was the staff writer for the OWN Network show “Cherish the Day” created by Ava DuVernay, and was most recently in the writers’ room for a new Apple + drama series starring an Academy Award-winning actress, and he’s currently an adjunct professor at NYU and Columbia University. 

The play is co-choreographed by Victor Musoni (Long Way Down). It features scenic design by Sydney Lynne, costume design by Celeste Jennings, lighting design by Levi J. Wilkins, sound design by Jeremiah Davison (Wrong River) and stage managed by Kaila Madison.

Into The Side of a Hill will be at FIM Elgood Theatre. Tickets are currently available at www.tickets.thefim.org, at FIM Ticket Center box offices at FIM Whiting Auditorium and FIM Capitol Theatre, or by calling (810) 237-7333. Genesee County residents receive a 30 percent discount as a benefit of the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Enrichment Millage. Your tax dollars are at work.