In Real Life

After a successful spring 2023 run in Phoenix, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival returns to the valley again, this time with In Real Life by Charlayne Woodard. In Real Life is a one-woman show starring Racquel McKenzie and directed by Bray Lawrence.

In Real Life follows a young African-American woman in the late 70s named Charlayne Woodard, who, after “graduating from drama school in Chicago, eagerly packs her bags and heads for New York City to live with her boyfriend and pursue an acting career. Her family is concerned about this move—to say the least. Although Charlayne imagines she will be living in a fabulous East Side apartment, she finds herself in a tiny fifth-floor walk-up with a bathtub in the kitchen. Unfazed, she sets out to have a career as a ‘serious actor.’ Instead, she’s cast in the original company of the hit Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’. In Real Life cannily chronicles Charlayne’s initial seduction into the thrills of [show business] as well as the physical and emotional price of sustaining the energy to do so night after night. In Real Life explores what happens, in the words of Langston Hughes, to ‘a dream deferred.’”

Although the show has just one actor, McKenzie will portray an array of characters, from Charlayne herself, to her mother, to the colorful members of the Ain’t Misbehavin’ cast, and many more. The play has been well received, garnering reviews such as:

“Luminous…” —The New York Times.

“Positively symphonic…Life affirming…Hugely enjoyable…” —Los Angeles Times.

“A joyous affair…” —Associated Press.

“Hilarity reigns…” —Seattle Post Intelligencer.

The show will perform for one weekend at the Phoenix Hostel in Phoenix, Arizona October 4-6 (7 pm Friday, 2pm and 7pm Saturday, and 2pm Sunday) and again for one night only in Winslow, Arizona on December 14.