The Blood Quilt is an entertaining and moving family story that the creator described as a neo-folk tale. Created by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall (The Hot Wing King, The Mountaintop), the tale follows four sisters as they gather at their childhood island home, which is off the coast of Georgia, for their annual reunion. The sisters are crafting a family quilt to commemorate their recently deceased mother. But when the reunion turns into the mother’s will being read, everyone must come to terms with a troubling inheritance. Bursting to the seams with history, family, laughter and tears, will their “blood quilt” bring them together or tear them apart forever? There’s only one way to find… Book your tickets now to watch the story unfold.
The Blood Quilt Tickets
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“An excellent family drama overflowing with wonder. You need to see it!” – Theater Mania
“A fascinating sisterly drama” – Culture Source
The Blood Quilt at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
The Blood Quilt is playing at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. Located at the Lincoln Center, the theater is an intimate space that seats around 300 people. The small venue gives theatergoers the opportunity to be close to the actors and all the action. Opened in 1967, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is a nonprofit organization for Off-Broadway productions. Located on the lower level of the building, the venue is known and loved by audiences for exploring cultures, family, and community. Over the years, they have hosted The Waverly Gallery by Kenneth Lonergan, The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, Tiny Beautiful Things by Nia Vardalos and Cheryl Strayed, 4000 Miles by Amy Herzog, and The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Coble (just to name a few!). The Heidi Chronicles by Wendy Wasserstein also had its highly anticipated revival at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center.
“A deeply enjoyable and engaging play with relentlessly watchable performances.” – Theatrely
Synopsis
The Blood Quilt is set in a country cabin off the Georgia coast, and follows four half-sisters who have come together to honor their late mother. The play features Clementine (Crystal Dickinson), the eldest daughter who was the mother’s caretaker; Gio (Adrienne C. Moore) who is the second-eldest child and a highly temperamental cop who is in the midst of a divorce; Cassan (Susan Kelechi Watson) who is an army nurse and mother to 15-year-old Zambia (Mirirai); and Amber (Lauren E. Banks) who is the overachieving youngest child who works as an entertainment lawyer in California.
The Jernigan sisters spend their time trying to piece together a quilt. This is an annual tradition which is interrupted as they discover a nest of family secrets. They find out the contents of their mother’s will. She leaves her entire collection of priceless quilts to one daughter. And she leaves nothing to another daughter. To complicate matters even more, their mother didn’t pay property taxes for the last seven years. At the time of her death, she owed a quarter-million dollars in back taxes. Will the Jernigan sisters sell their mother’s quilts to settle her debts? And will their family survive if they do?
Cast and Creative Team
“About as powerful a cast as you could hope to assemble on a New York stage” – New York Magazine
The Blood Quilt is a play written by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall, and produced by Lincoln Center Theater. The cast includes Lauren E. Banks as Amber, Crystal Dickinson as Clementine, Mirirai as Zambia, Adrienne C. Moore as Gio, and Susan Kelechi Watson as Cassan. The understudies include Eboni Edwards, Lynnette R. Freeman, and Maya Jackson. The creative team includes Katori Hall (Author), Lileana Blain-Cruz (Director), Adam Rigg (Sets), Montana Levi Blanco (Costumes), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting), Palmer Hefferan (Sound), Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (Projections), and Theresa Flanagan (Stage Manager).
History and Awards
The Blood Quilt is written by Katori Hall. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, she is a playwright who is known and loved for works like The Mountaintop and the TV show P-Valley. The Blood Quilt had its first performance at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. It played there from 24 April to 7 June 2015. It was directed by Kamilah Forbes and supported by the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Fast forward to 2024 and the play returned to the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. The new show opened at the center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater in November 2024. The cast included Crystal Dickinson, Adrienne C. Moore, Susan Kelechi Watson, Lauren E. Banks, and Mirirai Sithole. The play was such a hit that it took home the esteemed Edgerton Foundation New Play Award for its first production. How amazing is that?
“Highly proficient cast hardly upstaged by a series of awesome quilts” – New York Theatre Guide
Review
“Quilting is about more than just fabric and stitches; it’s about blood, love, memory and trauma. That’s the premise at the center of Katori Hall’s “The Blood Quilt” at Lincoln Center, about four sisters gathering to complete a quilt three weeks after their mother’s death. The play itself a beautiful patchwork of themes and ideas that feel packed to the seams. The world of “The Blood Quilt,” which opened Thursday, is inviting: Hall’s characters are fully formed and clearly motivated, the family’s history is rich and Kwemera feels alive, in part thanks to the eclectic homespun set design by Adam Rigg. Quilts are draped everywhere in this tiny cabin, which is so close to the water that the front of the stage drops off into a grassy basin. Hall, who won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play “The Hot Wing King,” uses the same level of artistry and meticulousness in crafting a metaphor that the sisters do in crafting their quilts. Their roles and quilting preferences mirror their places within the family.”
– Maya Phillips for The New York Times