Homeward
a play by Anna Pond directed by Monica L.Williams
Homeward
a play by Anna Pond directed by Monica L. Williams
An invitation-only virtual reading of “Homeward” took place THURS. MAY 27, 2021 7:30pm.
Since Vietnam, Rufus Jefferson has felt lost, PTSD crippling his interactions with those he loves. Everyone, including his beloved wife and best friend, think a near-death experience in war caused his recurring trauma. For most of his life he keeps secret how his white commanding officer actions resulting in Rufus’ less-than-honorable discharge traumatized him, and why he doesn’t tell anyone the truth. It’s not until his daughter convinces him to testify to his story and fight the “bad paper” symbolizing his dishonor that he finds his way home.
Credits and Biographies
Playwright: Anna Pond started her acting career in Los Angeles as a member of the award winning City Garage theater company. After a quick pass through Boston's theater scene, she made her way to NYC where she joined the Michael Chekhov Theatre Company and performed across the city in classical to contemporary plays.
More recently, Anna has focused on producing and writing. With two other actresses, she formed Working Girls Productions, a production company dedicated to expanding works for female actresses by presenting women in roles written for men. With another actor colleague, Anna formed Lamb Pond Productions to produce a show as a fundraiser to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Anna is grateful to be part of AQAIK, and couldn’t have written Homeward without the creative guidance and support of Monica Williams. In addition to Homeward, Anna is working on a novel, and another play focused on race justice issues.
Stage Manager: Saori "CEL" Yokoo has worked with West Side Story, Ghost the Musical, Bring It On The Musical!, Oliver!, Aladdin (Shiki Theatrical), Seeing You, 42nd Street, Phish New Year’s Gag at Madison Square Garden, The Demise.
Director: Monica L. Williams is a conceptual performance artist and artistic leader who specializes in cross-sector collaborations.Her work has been presented at various community-based organizations, festivals, Off-Broadway theaters and major cultural institutions including The 'World Famous' Apollo Theater, John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, TED Women Conference, and the National Black Arts Festival. Her latest work, In Love and Struggle, produced with The Meteor, is currently streaming on Audible.
Ms. Williams’ arts-based engagement with families of the incarcerated is practiced within community-based organizations in New York, California and Louisville, Kentucky with The Special Project, a 10 year public installation designed with the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Arts-based engagement with youth and community is a career long practice and includes her 8 year relationship with Bailey’s Café as a program advisor and artistic director. In 2013, in an effort to address the need for more balance in her life, she created #LoveHustle, an artist-led, multi-platform conversation about pursuing our dreams while balancing life, love, family, relationships and work. She is the founder of Create Legacy, the Chief Curator and Director of Programs at 651Arts. She is a 2020 MAP Fund recipient, a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and was a 2016 CCCADI Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellow and Rockwood Leadership Institute Arts and Social Justice Fellow.