Dobama warms up winter with 'The Hot Wing King'

Dobama Theatre will present Katori Hall’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "The Hot Wing King," in a production that opens Jan. 24 and runs through Feb. 16.

The play explores themes such as family, community, masculinity, loss, self-acceptance, and Black and queer joy. It has been described as “theatrical comfort food, a satisfying concoction of amusing and touching—sweet, salty, and of course, spicy.”

Playwright Hall said the most important thing to her while writing the play was “that it not really be about them being gay. That it be about them being human; that it be about them loving each other; that it be about them supporting each other. I think coming out stories are cool—I love them and I think we should keep having them—but I kind of wanted to shift the expectation of a story about Black gay men.”

The New Haven Independent wrote, “ 'The Hot Wing King' is well worth your time. It’s funny and moving, and surprises in more than one way.” Arts ATL noted, "'The Hot Wing King' gives us likable, fully developed characters whose conflicts emerge from emotional truth, rather than contrived villains or outside threats. It does not dwell in trauma, though it acknowledges that the Black gay man’s experience in society is uniquely fraught. It feels honest, sexy, extremely funny and deeply romantic.”

Sheffia Randall-Nickerson directs Dobama’s production. Cast members include Corin B. Self (Cordell), Anthony Savage-Willams (Dwayne), Charles Mayhew Miller (Isom), Da’Von Angelo (EJ/Everett), Syrmylin R. Cartwright (Big Charles), Prophet Seay (TJ), and Wesley Heilen (Swing).

Performances are Thursdays through Sundays, Jan. 23 through Feb. 16. Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with matinees at 2:30 p.m. For a complete performance schedule, ticket prices, and reservations, call the Dobama Theatre Box Office at 216-932-3396 or visit www.dobama.org/hot-wing.

Dobama is committed to making live professional theater accessible to everyone. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available to anyone who cannot afford a full-price ticket, enabling everyone to attend the show. Any available seat can be purchased at a pay-what-you-can price beginning one hour prior to every performance; simply visit the Box Office to purchase. In addition, all seats on Jan. 27 and 31 are exclusively pay-what-you-can.