Mikaela Johnson is excited to have a crucial role in the all-women cast for Jar The Floor, a play requiring a range of emotions… and comic timing. The Western Michigan University senior first performed with Face Off Theatre in 2021 for the drama Pipeline by Dominique Morrisseau. This play, written in 1991 by Cheryl West, revels in intergenerational battles and the way each character has earned her personal outlook through different life experiences.
Johnson and Director Ryan Singleton talked with Cara Lieurance about the play and the Face Off Theatre production, which runs July 15 - 17 at the Dormouse Theatre. Singleton, who chose to keep the 1990s Chicago setting, explains that the characters are brought together for the 90th birthday of MaDear (played by Zaynee Hobdy). She lives with granddaughter Maydee (Marissa Harrington) rather than with her daughter Lola (Khadijah Brown). Great-granddaughter Vennie (Mikaela Johnson) brings home an unexpected guest and sets off an occasion of reckoning.
Singleton points out that the the playwright uses universal and relatable all-audience themes, while bringing a unique and richly layered life to a Black American family dramedy. He also appreciates the Face Off Theatre’s initiative to break down cost barriers to live theater. Tickets to Jar The Floor are pay-what-you-can.
