The full cast of Roundabout Theatre Company's North American tour of Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play has been announced. As previously announced, the 20-week tour of the Pulitzer-winning piece will star Tony nominee Norm Lewis as Captain Richard Davenport, with direction by Tony winner Kenny Leon, who helmed the 2020 Broadway production.
Eugene Lee, who originated the role of Corporal Bernard Cobb, returns as Sergeant Vernon C. Waters. He will be joined by Will Adams as Corporal Bernard Cobb, Sheldon D. Brown as Private C.J. Memphis, Malik Childs as Private Tony Smalls, William Connell as Captain Charles Taylor, Alex Michael Givens as Corporal Ellis, Matthew Goodrich as Captain Wilcox, Chattan Mayes Johnson as Lieutenant Byrd, Branden Davon Lindsay as Private Louis Henson, Tarik Lowe as Private First-Class Melvin Peterson, and Howard Overshown as Private James Wilkie. Brandon Alvión, Ja’Quan Cole, Charles Everett, Al’Jaleel McGhee will serve as understudies for the production.
Performances are set to begin begin in December 2022, with an initial engagement at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. For more tour dates, visit RoundaboutTheatre.org.
Set in 1944 on a U.S. Army base in the south, A Soldier's Play follows a black officer's race against his white leadership to unravel the crime of a black sergeant's murder. Fuller won the Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1982, but the 2020 Roundabout revival was its Broadway premiere.
Fuller passed away October 3 at the age of 83. Said Leon, “The recent passing of The Giant that is Charles Fuller has only magnified his brilliance...an amazing writer who left us so much with his masterful A Soldier's Play. We honor him with this American tour of the Broadway production of this great American classic. Come—laugh, think, and reflect—America is in need of love.”
The Broadway creative team will return for the tour production, with set design by Derek McLane, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Allen Lee Hughes, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier. The tour stage management team is John Atherlay and Ronnie Campbell. The company management team is Frank Lott and Jordan Lingreen. The tour of A Soldier’s Play is produced by Roundabout Theatre Company and Tamar Climan.
