"EXHIBIT is art meeting purpose because now is not the time to be silent. The work is about getting people to use their voices—to get out and vote!" – Regina Taylor
The Apollo Works In Process series continues with a new one-woman play by acclaimed playwright and actor Regina Taylor. EXHIBIT takes us on a gripping journey through history and the present. At its heart is Iris, a powerful artist who relives the memories of a violently fractured civil rights era in America. But these memories are stirred by something unexpected—the resurgence of societal and political forces she never thought she’d witness again. As today’s hard-fought social tides of change are seemingly rolled back, EXHIBIT forces us to confront the echoes of our past in the fierce light of our present.
Winner of the Theatre Aspen Solo Flights Award, EXHIBIT was born at the Hermitage Retreat and is being shared with audiences in cities across the country during this momentous presidential campaign season. This is a play that blends artistry with civic engagement. More than a performance— this work is a movement, a moment, and a message.
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
Exhibit lives as a play that is performed in an actual space- theater, community center- museum gallery. There are slide and film projections throughout the play.
There are actual objects that are on display on the stage/lobby that might spread out into community spaces - storefronts... galleries.... streets… There are eclipse mason jars filled with Iris’s memories. There are photos/pictures- Vinyl records and cassettes peopled with voices and sounds from Iris’s past and present.
There are components that live online: Interviews of actual civil rights workers past and present here and abroad. Films and recordings of those characters are mentioned in the play.
This is created by the author and is a collaboration with other artists who want to add their voices to the topics brought out in the play. Exhibit is not only a play but an actual art showing and juried (audience) indictment of these times.
ABOUT REGINA TAYLOR
Actress/director/playwright/educator/activist
TV credits include : Taylor in her TV role as Lily Harper in "I'll Fly Away” received a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress, 3 NAACP Image Awards and 2 Emmy Award nominations. Taylor was first African American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s "Cora Unashamed”, starred as Anita Hill in HBO’’s “Strange Justice” (Gracie Award), “A Good Day to Die” (Sidney Poitier) “The Unit”, “CSI Vegas", “Justified”, “First Lady”, “Love Craft Country” and “The Wonder Years”
Film credits include: "The Negotiator,” (Samuel Jackson), "Courage Under Fire,” (Denzel Washington), ”Clockers,” (Spike Lee), “Losing Isaiah” (Halle Berry) "Lean on Me”, (Morgan Freeman) Saturday Church
Taylor was the first Black woman to play Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" on Broadway - to be lead actress in Master Peice Theatre presentation- “Cora Unashamed” and to win Golden Globe for best Lead Actress in an hour-long tv series.
Playwright credits include:“Crowns” (Helen Hayes award Best Director), "Oo-Bla-Dee,"(Jeff Award, Steinberg-ATCA award) and "Drowning Crow," (Broadway, MTC), “The Trinity River Plays” (Edgerton Award) and “stop.reset” (Signature Theater Residency Five) Bread” (Edgerton Award),
Deep appreciation to The Apollo Theater- Kamilla Forbes, Leatrice Ellzy, Cezar Williams, Kelley Girod, Teresa Cruz for guiding in this great and essential journey. I am honored.
Many thanks to Theater Aspen, Hermitage Artists Retreat, Phylicia Rashad…Jada Dixon… for your support and illumination!
ABOUT CEZAR WILLIAMS
Cezar Williams is an award-winning director. Recent credits include the Off-Broadway premiere of The Bleeding Class (59e59) and the Off-Broadway premiere of Dancing on Eggshells (Billie Holiday Theatre), Till: A Musical (American Theater Group), Mitchelville (Lean Ensemble Theatre), Sweat (Purchase Repertory Theater), Fucking A (Purchase Repertory Theater), The October Storm (Hudson Stage Company), Crowndation (National Black Theatre and CTG Digital Stage), The Hunting Season (Planet Connections Festivity, Award for Best Direction), You Wouldn’t Expect (American Bard Theater), How To Be Safe (The Dirty Blondes Theater), Dream, Girl! (Joe’s Pub), Lunchtime in Heaven (48 hours in Harlem), Nightfall, Slow Gin Fits, Ain’t No Mo’ (The Fire This Time Festival 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024). He is the Artistic Director of the Obie Award winning Fire This Time Festival, a New York University graduate, and an Adjunct Professor of Acting at SUNY Purchase College. Cezar is a NYSCA “Support for Artist Grant Recipient” and a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.
ABOUT GOLDIE PATRICK
Goldie E. Patrick is a playwright and television writer, and director originally from Detroit, Michigan. She is a creative partner, cultural worker and professor of performance in Black Theater and Hip Hop Culture and Theater, with over 20 years experience in community engagement and education. Former founder and executive artistic director of FRESHH Inc Theater company in Washington DC for close to a decade, Goldie has advocated and centered Black women and girls in her work and her art. Goldie holds a BFA from Howard University and MFA in playwriting from Columbia University. Her art and activism has forged relationships globally from Accra and Soweto to Trinidad to South Carolina. She is a staunch womanist committed to use art as a vehicle to liberation.
SOUND DESIGN
Joe Cerqua
MUSIC
Miguel de la Cerna
PROJECTION DESIGN
Jackson Knowles
ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Hermitage Artists Retreat
Theater Aspen Developmental
International Black Theater Festival// Garland Thompson Jr. Reader's Series
Curious Theater - Denver full production directed by Jada Wilson in May 2025
Apollo Works in Process Series is part of Apollo New Works - a program that expands our commitment to supporting creative innovation by emerging and established artists whose work challenges, reflects and is in dialogue with the most pressing issues within our communities.
Apollo New Works is generously supported by the Ford Foundation with additional funding from The Mellon Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
"EXHIBIT is art meeting purpose because now is not the time to be silent. The work is about getting people to use their voices—to get out and vote!" – Regina Taylor
The Apollo Works In Process series continues with a new one-woman play by acclaimed playwright and actor Regina Taylor. EXHIBIT takes us on a gripping journey through history and the present. At its heart is Iris, a powerful artist who relives the memories of a violently fractured civil rights era in America. But these memories are stirred by something unexpected—the resurgence of societal and political forces she never thought she’d witness again. As today’s hard-fought social tides of change are seemingly rolled back, EXHIBIT forces us to confront the echoes of our past in the fierce light of our present.
Winner of the Theatre Aspen Solo Flights Award, EXHIBIT was born at the Hermitage Retreat and is being shared with audiences in cities across the country during this momentous presidential campaign season. This is a play that blends artistry with civic engagement. More than a performance— this work is a movement, a moment, and a message.
PLAYWRIGHT’S NOTE
Exhibit lives as a play that is performed in an actual space- theater, community center- museum gallery. There are slide and film projections throughout the play.
There are actual objects that are on display on the stage/lobby that might spread out into community spaces - storefronts... galleries.... streets… There are eclipse mason jars filled with Iris’s memories. There are photos/pictures- Vinyl records and cassettes peopled with voices and sounds from Iris’s past and present.
There are components that live online: Interviews of actual civil rights workers past and present here and abroad. Films and recordings of those characters are mentioned in the play.
This is created by the author and is a collaboration with other artists who want to add their voices to the topics brought out in the play. Exhibit is not only a play but an actual art showing and juried (audience) indictment of these times.
ABOUT REGINA TAYLOR
Actress/director/playwright/educator/activist
TV credits include : Taylor in her TV role as Lily Harper in "I'll Fly Away” received a Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actress, 3 NAACP Image Awards and 2 Emmy Award nominations. Taylor was first African American lead in Masterpiece Theatre’s "Cora Unashamed”, starred as Anita Hill in HBO’’s “Strange Justice” (Gracie Award), “A Good Day to Die” (Sidney Poitier) “The Unit”, “CSI Vegas", “Justified”, “First Lady”, “Love Craft Country” and “The Wonder Years”
Film credits include: "The Negotiator,” (Samuel Jackson), "Courage Under Fire,” (Denzel Washington), ”Clockers,” (Spike Lee), “Losing Isaiah” (Halle Berry) "Lean on Me”, (Morgan Freeman) Saturday Church
Taylor was the first Black woman to play Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" on Broadway - to be lead actress in Master Peice Theatre presentation- “Cora Unashamed” and to win Golden Globe for best Lead Actress in an hour-long tv series.
Playwright credits include:“Crowns” (Helen Hayes award Best Director), "Oo-Bla-Dee,"(Jeff Award, Steinberg-ATCA award) and "Drowning Crow," (Broadway, MTC), “The Trinity River Plays” (Edgerton Award) and “stop.reset” (Signature Theater Residency Five) Bread” (Edgerton Award),
Deep appreciation to The Apollo Theater- Kamilla Forbes, Leatrice Ellzy, Cezar Williams, Kelley Girod, Teresa Cruz for guiding in this great and essential journey. I am honored.
Many thanks to Theater Aspen, Hermitage Artists Retreat, Phylicia Rashad…Jada Dixon… for your support and illumination!
ABOUT CEZAR WILLIAMS
Cezar Williams is an award-winning director. Recent credits include the Off-Broadway premiere of The Bleeding Class (59e59) and the Off-Broadway premiere of Dancing on Eggshells (Billie Holiday Theatre), Till: A Musical (American Theater Group), Mitchelville (Lean Ensemble Theatre), Sweat (Purchase Repertory Theater), Fucking A (Purchase Repertory Theater), The October Storm (Hudson Stage Company), Crowndation (National Black Theatre and CTG Digital Stage), The Hunting Season (Planet Connections Festivity, Award for Best Direction), You Wouldn’t Expect (American Bard Theater), How To Be Safe (The Dirty Blondes Theater), Dream, Girl! (Joe’s Pub), Lunchtime in Heaven (48 hours in Harlem), Nightfall, Slow Gin Fits, Ain’t No Mo’ (The Fire This Time Festival 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024). He is the Artistic Director of the Obie Award winning Fire This Time Festival, a New York University graduate, and an Adjunct Professor of Acting at SUNY Purchase College. Cezar is a NYSCA “Support for Artist Grant Recipient” and a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.
ABOUT GOLDIE PATRICK
Goldie E. Patrick is a playwright and television writer, and director originally from Detroit, Michigan. She is a creative partner, cultural worker and professor of performance in Black Theater and Hip Hop Culture and Theater, with over 20 years experience in community engagement and education. Former founder and executive artistic director of FRESHH Inc Theater company in Washington DC for close to a decade, Goldie has advocated and centered Black women and girls in her work and her art. Goldie holds a BFA from Howard University and MFA in playwriting from Columbia University. Her art and activism has forged relationships globally from Accra and Soweto to Trinidad to South Carolina. She is a staunch womanist committed to use art as a vehicle to liberation.
SOUND DESIGN
Joe Cerqua
MUSIC
Miguel de la Cerna
PROJECTION DESIGN
Jackson Knowles
ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Hermitage Artists Retreat
Theater Aspen Developmental
International Black Theater Festival// Garland Thompson Jr. Reader's Series
Curious Theater - Denver full production directed by Jada Wilson in May 2025
Apollo Works in Process Series is part of Apollo New Works - a program that expands our commitment to supporting creative innovation by emerging and established artists whose work challenges, reflects and is in dialogue with the most pressing issues within our communities.
Apollo New Works is generously supported by the Ford Foundation with additional funding from The Mellon Foundation and Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Step behind the curtain of the world-famous Apollo Theater. Located at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria’s Laura & Frank Baker Gallery, Got To Be There: The Apollo, Its People, and Its Stories is a first of its kind exhibition curated by The Apollo Archives. This collection of rare photographs, video recordings, and artifacts offers a rare glimpse into The Apollo’s 91 year history.
Free and open to the public with select viewings and conversations throughout the season, this stunning exhibition offers a glimpse into the many roles that The Apollo has played and continues to play in service to the arts, the Harlem community, and global pop culture at large.
Open Daily 10am – 6pm & 2 hours before curtain during performances
Featuring JOEY B., KHRISTIN Y.S.F. BROOKS, COMEDIAN BUDDY LOVE
HOSTED BY DREW FRASER
Turn down the lights and get ready for a night of Quiet Storm with singer and songwriter Alex Tyree. With lush vocals and unhurried melodies, Alex creates a night of music written in the sacred language of life and love.
The Story of Florence Mills by Renee Watson, is an electro-acoustic story experience, presented by sound scientist and imaginationist LaFrae Sci. Born to formerly enslaved parents, Florence Mills discovered early on that her light, birdlike voice captivated audiences. Her talent carried her to 1920s Broadway, where she inspired writers and performers alike. Despite her fame, she witnessed the impact of prejudice and used her platform to uplift Black artists and advocate for civil rights. Harlem’s Little Blackbird tells her inspiring story of justice, equality, and following one’s dreams.
Celebrate Women’s History Month with The Apollo and Harlem-based film collective Melanin Madness. After a sold-out 2025 Halloween-themed screening, we’re running it back, this time for the ladies. As always and in true Apollo fashion, the audience is a part of the experience so grab your crew and get ready to talk back, cheer and join the party in this evening of community, culture, and fun.
Featuring SOFIA NEGRON, DEZZ WHITE, SHAWN HARVEY
HOSTED BY LARRY LANCASTER
From Lotus Avenue to the A-train, ELHAE makes a quick stop in Harlem for an acoustic performance that blends alternative R&B with Hip Hop. His catalog includes thematic and seductive gems such as “Fun Fact”, “I Choose You (w. Ambre)”, “Doesn’t Matter (w. Kehlani)” and the deliciously pulsating dance hit “Touch (w. GoldLink)“.
The Girl Who Heard the Universe follows Zuri, a brilliant young sound scientist whose heart beats to rhythms no one else can hear. By day, she experiments with waves and vibrations in her Brooklyn bedroom-turned-laboratory, composing melodies that echo her boundless curiosity. By night, she gazes up at the stars, dreaming of how quantum particles might dance and sing across the cosmos. Blending music, science, and imagination, this story celebrates the power of wonder, the beauty of Black girl brilliance, and the belief that every sound—no matter how small—can change the universe.
Featuring DWIGHT PRYDE, CALVON BROWN, MIKE ROSS
HOSTED BY STILETTO
Accessibility
The Apollo is here for everyone. Artists, audiences, and all supporters should be able to experience The Apollo fully and in a way that is comfortable for them.
The Apollo has taken comprehensive steps to ensure that entrances, seating, restrooms, and more are as accessible and compliant as possible. Learn more about accessibility options and support services that might be right for you.
All persons and bags are subject to search. Bags that have passed inspection must fit comfortably under your seat. Oversized bags are prohibited.
No outside food or beverage. Accommodations are made for patrons with medical needs. Please email access@apollotheater.org or call the box office at (212) 531-5305 for assistance.
