TimeLine Theatre to Present World Premiere of Tyla Abercrumbie's RELENTLESS

Chicago playwright and TimeLine Theatre Company Member Tyla Abercrumbie weaves a mother's past with her daughters' present in Relentless, a centuries-spanning tale of family, legacy, and progress set in the Black Victorian age, receiving its world premiere after a nearly two-year delay. TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson directs Abercrumbie's startling new work, which was developed through the company's Playwrights Collective and now serves as the first production in TimeLine's 25th Anniversary season.

Relentless begins previews January 19. Opening Night is January 27. Performances run through February 26, 2022 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. For tickets and information, visit timelinetheatre.com or call the TimeLine Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6.

Set in the Black Victorian era, Relentless looks at the deep personal secrets we keep to protect the ones we love most. The year is 1919. After the death of their mother, two sisters come home to Philadelphia to settle her estate. Annelle is a happy socialite desperate to return to the safe illusion of a perfect life with her husband in Boston. Janet is a single, professional nurse, determined to change history and propel Black women to a place of prominence and respect. After discovering diaries left by their late mother, they find themselves confronted with a woman they never really knew, exposing buried truths from the past that are chillingly, explosively Relentless.

The cast reunites TimeLine's Too Heavy for Your Pocket co-stars Ayanna Bria Bakari (she/her) and Jaye Ladymore (she/her) as sisters Annelle and Janet, with Rebecca Hurd (she/her) as Mary Elizabeth, Xavier Edward King as Franklin, Demetra Dee (she/her) as Zhuukee/Annabelle Lee, and Travis Delgado (he/him) as Marcus.

The production team includes Jack McGaw (Scenic Designer, he/him), Christine Pascual (Costume Designer, she/her), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Designer, she/her), Jennifer Wernau (Properties Designer, she/her), Christopher Kriz (Sound Designer, he/him), Mike Tutaj (Projections Designer, he/him), Megan Pirtle (Wig and Hair Designer, she/her), Rachel Flesher (Intimacy and Violence Director, they/she), Sammi Grant (Dialect Director, she/her), Khalid Y. Long (Dramaturg, he/him), Dina Spoerl (Dramaturgical Display Designer, she/her), Tiffany Fulson (Assistant Director, she/her), and Miranda Anderson, Stage Manager (she/her).

Relentless received its first public reading in December 2018 as part of TimeLine's inaugural First Draft Playwrights Collective Festival. In March 2020, rehearsals were about to begin for its planned TimeLine world premiere when the production was postponed due to COVID-19. In September 2020, the play was showcased in an online event titled "Relentless: The Journey from the Black Victorian to Black Lives Matter" as part of TimeLine's virtual Setting the Stage public program series. An edited version of that program may be viewed at youtube.com/timelinetheatre.

Relentless will be the second play brought to full production through TimeLine's Playwrights Collective, launched in 2013 to support Chicago-based playwrights in residence and create new work centered on TimeLine's mission of presenting plays inspired by history that connect to today's social and political issues. The first was the 2018 world premiere of Brett Neveu's To Catch a Fish.

"I don't know that this story has ever been told from the perspective of these types of characters, at least not in this genre," said Abercrumbie, a veteran Chicago actor of stage and screen, best known most recently for her recurring role as Nina on Showtime's The Chi. "Often the part of American history that is labeled Black History-specifically as it relates to how and when Black Victorians existed and were effective-is largely left out, somehow. Either it's collectively agreed that it didn't exist, or IF it did exist, its importance to the American landscape is deemed irrelevant or at best insignificant, and therefore a collective demand that it be forgotten or "gotten over" has been nurtured and accepted. Many of the themes the characters in Relentless deal with remain very relevant today-racism, sexism, feminism, poverty, mental illness, infant mortality, police brutality. Those battles have been relentlessly fought over and over, yet here we are in 2022 still fighting against the same injustices."

"It's about time we see a play about the Black Victorian age," said director Ron OJ Parson. "I am honored to be working on this play that explores us as a people at the forefront of a battle that continues today in our quest for equality. Thank you TimeLine, and thank you Tyla for this beautiful play."

"At long last, we are thrilled to bring Relentless to the stage," said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. "This play has been a passion project for TimeLine over many years, supporting Tyla's development process through our Playwrights Collective and then waiting for its premiere after a pandemic postponement. Tyla's voice has a beauty and poetry that is absolutely searing. The play already has the feel of a classic, yet it burns with a contemporary relevance that is unmistakable."

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