Stage Director

Artistic Director

anLate at night, deep in the woods of southern Illinois, a ghost tells Gail she will die within the next 24 hours. So begins The Refuge Plays, an epic tale that follows one Black family over 70 years. Written by former 2050 Artistic Fellow and NYTW Usual Suspect Nathan Alan Davis, this bold reimagining of an American “family play” is full of humor, heart and surprises. NYTW Artistic Director and Usual Suspect Patricia McGregor directs.

EPSG:4326

The Refuge Plays

Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre

Late at night, deep in the woods of southern Illinois, a ghost tells Gail she will die within the next 24 hours. So begins The Refuge Plays, an intergenerational saga that follows a single Black family over 70 years. Written by Nathan Alan Davis, this world premiere production boldly reimagines what an American “family play” can be. Patricia McGregor directs.

It’s April 3, 1968 and Martin Luther King, Jr. returns to the Lorraine Motel after delivering his history-altering “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech. When he orders room service, a young maid arrives with a revelation that calls Dr. King to confront unwelcome truths. As a lightning storm rages outside, the legacy of America’s most revered civil rights leader is laid bare to reveal his profound humanity. A single night’s reckoning with racism, righteousness, and the rocky path toward justice, The Mountaintop imagines what Dr. King’s last night on Earth could have been.

The Mountaintop

Geffen Playhouse

Fall under the spell of Shakespeare’s most joyful and popular comedy. Filled with magic, humor, music, and spectacle, the merriment unfolds in an enchanted forest where fairies play tricks on unsuspecting lovers and bumbling actors are transformed beyond their wildest dreams. With a magic potion that grants love at first sight, anything can, and does, happen!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Old Globe Theatre

In a country at a crossroads, where the intersection of manifest destiny meets gentrification and history meets personal experience, Hearne’s Place explores the complex and contentious map of the place we call home.

Place

Walt Disney Concert Hall

How does a white millennial man create a work that explores the topographies of gentrification and displacement? Engaging the mind of poet Saul Williams, composer Ted Hearne confronts this issue head-on in Place, a fiery yet thoughtful oratorio created in collaboration with director Patricia McGregor.  The fully staged, evening-length work—seen here in its West Coast premiere—features six vocalists and an 18-member ensemble that blends the energy of R&B, rock, and electronic music with acoustic orchestral sonorities. A true dialogue, the first part of the libretto is a collage of Hearne’s own autobiographical reflections, which are placed in conversation with—and overtly challenged by—Williams’ trenchant text in the second half, which addresses displacement through the lens of settler colonialism, police violence, and Afrofuturism.  The cast recording of the work received two Grammy nominations this year. “Place takes shape in songs that emerge like a graffiti mural as repetitive gestures gradually bloom into vibrant, brash statements in high-volume color…. It always felt as if Mr. Hearne was questioning his own comfort and—in the final moment—his power” (The New York Times).

Theatre: Ted Hearne and Saul Williams’ Place

University of California, Berkeley

Despite being the voice that built Capital records, Nat King Cole’s groundbreaking NBC variety show faced cancellation as they could not find a sponsor. Now, on the night of his final broadcast, Nat must decide whether to quietly step out of the spotlight, or, as his friend Sammy Davis Jr. urges, “go out with a bang.”

Patricia McGregor

Stage Director, Artistic Director

Events

Upcoming events

Apr 15 - May 15, 2025

Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole · New York Theatre Workshop

Past events

Sep 16 - Nov 12, 2023

The Refuge Plays · New York Theatre Workshop

Sep 1, 2023

The Refuge Plays · Roundabout Theatre Company

About

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