Our Daughters, Like Pillars
April 8 - May 8, 2022
A stunning, epic story about the joys and tensions of sisterhood
By Kirsten Greenidge | Directed by Kimberly Senior
The Huntington Calderwood/BCA, 527 Tremont St.
This event has passed
Content Warning: Our Daughters, Like Pillars contains the use of herbal cigarettes on stage, and a brief moment of strobe.
Approximate run time: 3 hours and 30 minutes with two intermissions
Lavinia is bringing her sisters and mother on a much-needed family vacation. She has planned the week to the smallest detail – antiquing in the afternoons, grilled steaks for dinner, absolutely no cellphones allowed – and if Lavinia gets her way, they will stay forever. What will her sisters have to say? An epic and funny saga about a contemporary Black family from Boston local Kirsten Greenidge (Luck of the Irish), Our Daughters, Like Pillars asks about the ties that bind us to our families. How do sisters hold each other up and hold each other back? Will togetherness split this family apart, or can it bring them together? Kimberly Senior (Sweat, The Niceties) directs.
Masked Matinees & Masks-Encouraged Evenings
In recognition of fluctuating trends in COVID transmission and varying levels of comfort among our patrons, The Huntington is continuing to offer two different masking experiences for The Art of Burning.
“Masked Matinees” – Masks are required inside the theater unless actively eating/drinking concessions. Masks remain optional in the restrooms and lobbies.
Matinees were chosen in order to offer multiple masked-experiences per week, some weekdays and some weekends.
Masks-Encouraged Evenings – Masks are encouraged but not required.
Anyone who feels uncomfortable can ask the House Manager about alternative options which may include:
• a better quality mask
• a new seat further distanced from other patrons
• re-scheduling for a different performance, such as a “masked matinee”
• a shift to the at-home Digital Streaming option.
Any patron interested in attending a different performance will be able to exchange their tickets by contacting our ticketing services staff.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING ANY COVID SYMPTOMS, STAY HOME.
Tickets for most Huntington productions through June 2023 come with digital insurance, and any ticketholders who would rather not see a performance in person for any reason can easily exchange their in-person tickets for a home viewing opportunity of a specially recorded version of the play, if available. Digital Insurance is currently available for The Art of Burning, K-I-S-S-I-N-G and Joy & Pandemic.
These COVID policies will be in place through February 13, 2023, and we will continue to evaluate and update these policies as the situation evolves. For the most up-to-date information on our health and safety policies and season shows, please visit this page. If you have any questions, please email covidsafety@huntingtontheatre.org.
“Incredible cast! The story of the Shaw family is thick and rich like molasses” – WBUR
“Ambitious and absorbing! Our Daughters, Like Pillars reflects the playwright’s understanding that family life is something we experience singly as well as together.” – The Boston Globe
“The talented cast of Our Daughters, Like Pillars has you belly laughing, reminiscing and questioning the things you thought you once knew.” – City Living Boston
“Greenidge’s understanding of siblings and how birth order affects their relationships is absolutely uncanny.” – Theatre Mirror
Cast and Crew
Kirsten Greenidge
Playwright
Kirsten Greenidge
Kirsten Greenidge, she/her, is a Huntington Playwriting Fellow from 2007-2009 and the author of Our Daughters, Like Pillars, Milk Like Sugar and Luck of the Irish (The Huntington), as well as The View from Here (commission from The Huntington’s Education Department).
Kimberly Senior
Director
Kimberly Senior
Kimberly Senior she/ her (Director) is thrilled to return to the Huntington where she previously directed Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Eleanor Burgess’ The Niceties.
Lyndsay Allyn Cox
Zelda Shaw
Lyndsay Allyn Cox
Lyndsay Allyn Cox The Huntington (acting): Common Ground Revisited; Our Daughters, Like Pillars; Witch. Regional (directing): Chicken and Biscuits (Front Porch Arts Collective); Tiny Beautiful Things (Gloucester Stage); Splash Hatch on the E Going Down (The Nora Theatre Company). Regional (acting): Fairview, Men on Boats (SpeakEasy Stage); Fabulation (or the Re-Education of Undine), Barbecue, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lyric Stage Company); Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); The Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company); Winter People (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); Caroline, Or Change (Moonbox Productions); The Overwhelming, Leftovers (Company One).
Julian Parker
Paul King
Julian Parker
Julian Parker he/him (Paul King) is making his Huntington Theatre debut. Chicago: Pass Over, Gospel of Franklin, Blacktop Sky, Head of Passes (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), An Octoroon, Genesis, Dutchman, The Brothers Size (Definition Theatre Company)
Nikkole Salter
Lavinia Shaw Williams
Nikkole Salter
Nikkole Salter (Lavinia Shaw Williams) Huntington: Stick Fly. Off-Broadway: In the Continuum (Primary Stages, Perry Street Theatre). Regional: Head of Passes (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Macbeth (Shakespeare Theatre).
Cheryl D. Singleton
Missy Shaw
Cheryl D. Singleton
Cheryl D. Singleton, she/her (Missy Shaw) Huntington: Sonia Flew (u/s). Regional: The Boston Project: Project Resilience (SpeakEasy Stage Co.), The America Plays (Plays in Place), James and the Giant Peach and Billy Elliot the musical (Wheelock Family Theatre)
Arie Thompson
Octavia Shaw Curtis
Arie Thompson
Arie Thompson she/her (Octavia Shaw Curtis) Off-Broadway: Henry V (Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park), Dead City (Public Theater), HONKY (Urban Stages), Queen for a Day (Theater at St. Clements).
Lizan Mitchell
Yvonne Shaw
Lizan Mitchell
Lizan Mitchell (Yvonne Shaw) Broadway: Electra, Having Our Say, So Long on Lonely Street. Off Broadway: The First Noel, Brownsville Song, Cell, Rosmersholm, For Colored Girls (25th Anniversary), Gum, Ma Rose, Salt.
Postell Pringle
Morris Williams
Postell Pringle
Postell Pringle (Morris Williams) Broadway: A Free Man of Color (Lincoln Center Theater). Off Broadway: Othello: The Remix (Westside Theater),The Urban Retreat (The Public Theater), The Seven (New York Theater Workshop), Song for New York (Mabou Mines), LINDA (Manhattan Theater Club), Hoodoo Love (Cherry Lane Theater), Moliere Turns 400 (FIAF/Moliere In The Park).
Sarita Fellows
Costume Designer
Sarita Fellows
Sarita Fellows Sarita Fellows wasborn in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The Huntington: Our Daughters Like Pillars. Broadway: Death of a Salesman. Off Broadway: Elyria (Atlantic Theater Company); A Bright Room Called Day (Public Theater).
Mary Louise Geiger
Lighting Design
Mary Louise Geiger
Mary Louise Geiger (she/her) (Lighting Design) The Huntington: Top Girls, Venus in Fur (IRNE Award), Invisible Man (IRNE Award), Burn This.
Tommy Kurzman
Wig/Hair & Makeup Design
Tommy Kurzman
Tommy Kurman Huntington: Our Daughters, Like Pillars. Broadway: Macbeth, Mrs. Doubtfire, All My Sons, True West, St. Joan, My Fair Lady, Little Foxes, Long Day’s Journey, Bright Star, and Fiddler on the Roof.
Ashley Pitchford
Assistant Stage Manager
Ashley Pitchford
Ashley Pitchford The Huntington: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; Our Daughters, Like Pillars; Teenage Dick; Witch; We All Fall Down; Man in the Ring.
Kevin Schlagle
Production Stage Manager
Kevin Schlagle
Kevin Schlagle* has worked on over 40 productions in 14 seasons with The Huntington including K-I-S-S-I-N-G; Our Daughters, Like Pillars; Witch; The Purists; Yerma; Sherlock’s Last Case; Merrily We Roll Along; Ripcord; Topdog/Underdog; Sunday in the Park with George; Milk Like Sugar; A Confederacy of Dunces; A Little Night Music; Come Back, Little Sheba; Smart People; Our Town, and Prelude to a Kiss. Other theatre credits include American Repertory Theater, New Repertory Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. His opera credits include Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Baroque, Boston Opera Collaborative, Guerilla Opera, New England Conservatory, Boston University Opera Institute, and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. He holds a BFA in stage management from Boston University and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.
Jane Shaw
Sound Design and Original Music
Jane Shaw
Jane Shaw The Huntington: Our Daughters Like Pillars. New York: Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, Mint Theater Company, National Black Theatre, Repertorio Español, NYTW, Cherry Lane Theatre, The COOP, Bedlam, Urban Stages, and Primary Stages.
Marion Williams
Set Designer
Marion Williams
Marion Williams (Set Designer) is a New York based Scenic and Costume designer working in Theatre, Dance and Opera.
Alaine Alldaffer
Casting
Alaine Alldaffer
Alaine Alldaffer, she/her (Casting) Huntington: numerous credits since 2000. New York: casting director for Playwrights Horizons, where credits include Grey Gardens (also for Broadway), Clybourne Park (also for Broadway), Circle Mirror Transformation (Drama Desk and Obie awards for Best Ensemble and an Artios Award for casting), The Flick (Playwrights Horizons and Barrow Street Theatre)