Carnaval

Carnaval has been extended through March 17th

* Click here for a downloadable flier *

by Nikkole Salter

A year ago in Brooklyn, two young men mourned the untimely loss of their best friend. In his honor they decided then and there that, despite their differences, no matter where life took them, they would take care of his younger brother and get together on the anniversary of his death to celebrate the life he should have had. So, on a cold day in the winter of 1996, these three twenty-somethings board a plane for Rio De Janeiro for a taste of the good life: sun, fun and, of course, women paid to serve – What better way to pay homage to a fallen friend? But what starts out as a joyride takes an unexpected turn and the three sex tourists find themselves in a situation that will change their friendships and their lives forever.
*Please Note: this play contains explicit content and language

Starring Anton Floyd, Jaime Lincoln Smith * and Terrell Wheeler

C. Murdock Lucas – set designer
Deborah Caney – costume designer
Jorge Arroyo – light designer
Steve Brown – sound designer
Liz Cesario – production manager
Mary Ellen Allison * – stage manager

* member of equity

The Reviews Are In For The World Premiere of Carnaval

Meet The Cast of Carnaval

Click On Each Actor’s Photo To Hear Them Talk About Why They Wanted To Do This Play…

Anton Floyd, known for his charm and quick wit has been gracing stages nationwide. This Texarkana, Arkansas native decided to pursue acting while attending Alabama State, after four years of service in the United States of America Marine Corp. He attended Penn State for Masters Training. While at Penn State, he completed two years of study and decided it was time to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional actor. Anton Floyd’s professional roles include: Grant Wiggins, A Lesson Before Dying; Cory, Fences (Black Theatre Troup, AZ); Darren Lemming, Take Me Out (Provincetown Theatre, MA); Booth, TopDog UnderDog (New Horizon Theatre, PA); Sterling Johnson, Radio Golf; Toledo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Kuntu Repertory Theatre, PA).

Jaime Lincoln Smith: Recent Theatre Credits: Holla’ if Ya’ Hear Me (Wkshp) dir. Kenny Leon, SEED (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Felony Friday, (feat. John Amos) NYC Fringe Festival, Ruined (original cast)
Manhattan Theatre Club, Lights Rise on Grace – 45 Bleeker Street, Birthright – Billie Holiday Theatre. Regional: Gleam – Baltimore Centerstage, Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet – City Theatre, PA. TV/Film: NYC 22, Law and Order, Knights of Prosperity, Titans of G.E.F.A., As the World Turns, MTV’s Human Giant, 14085, Shades of Brooklyn, Remember the Titans. Education: MFA – Rutgers University, BA – Clark Atlanta University.

Terrell Wheeler attended Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and recently made his Off-Broadway debut in Katori Hall’s “Children of Killers” as Vincent. Other credits include “Kings River” (Foxhole Entertainment, Medicine Show Theatre), “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” as Pontius Pilot (Wide Eyed Productions, Richmond Shepard Theatre) and “Mourning Sun” (Shaggae’s Song Performing Arts Collective, Five Angels Theater).

Artistic Director Jane Mandel Discussed Carnaval

Watch this Q&A with Playwright Nikkole Salter

Listen To An Interview With Nikkole Salter

Please Click Here To Read Nikkole Salter’s Interview On The Patch…

Playwright’s Bio:

Nikkole Salter is returning to Luna Stage after her performance in their inaugural production of THE OLD SETTLER. As an emerging playwright, CARNAVAL marks Ms. Salter’s second produced play. Hailed by Variety as “thoroughly convincing”, Los Angeles-born, OBIE Award-winning actress and writer, Nikkole Salter, exploded onto the professional scene with her co-authorship and co-performance of the play, In the Continuum (ITC). For its Off-Broadway run and international tour, ITC received an OBIE Award (2006), and the NY Outer Critics Circle’s John Gassner Award for Best New American Play (2006) to name a few of its many accolades. Miss Salter also received Helen Hayes and Black Theatre Alliance nominations for Best Actress for her performance. ITC, published by Samuel French, was pronounced - by New York Times, Newsday and New York Magazine – as one of the best plays of 2005, and was featured in numerous esteemed media outlets including Essence Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and NPR’s Leonard Lopate Show. Also as an actress, Miss Salter can be seen in Gavin O’Connors feature film “Pride & Glory” starring Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight, and heard as the voice of ‘LATICIA’ in Rockstar Games’ video game release, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. In 2011, Ms. Salter received an IRNE award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in STICK FLY at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, directed by Kenny Leon. Ms. Salter’s play, REPAIRING A NATION, a funny family dramedy about the essence of reparations and the complexity of inheritance, received its first reading through a partnership with the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Target™ Sunday initiative and was a the featured work with readings at The Cell Theatre Company’s BlackBoard Reading Series in NYC and at Luna Stage’s New Moon Reading Series. Her most recent written work, CARNAVAL, was selected to be a part of The New Black Fest 2011-2012 season and will receive its world premiere production in Luna Stage’s 2012-13 season. Upcoming, as the 2012 Duncanson Artist In Residence at the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, OH, Miss Salter will write and perform a one-person piece to commemorate the life and accomplishments of pioneering 19th century African American landscape painter, Robert S. Duncanson. Miss Salter was most recently seen performing the role of ‘LUCY’ in the world premiere of Huntington Theatre’s production of Kristen Greenidge’s LUCK OF THE IRISH, directed by Melia Bensussen.

Miss Salter is an active member of the Actors Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Dramatists Guild. She received her BFA in theatre from Howard University and her MFA from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program. Read more…