Join us for an exciting evening at "Dear God," a play by emerging black playwright Lisa Langford, presented by Different Strokes Performing Arts Collaborative in Asheville. Before the play, we'll gather for a casual social and dinner at White Duck Taco Shop, just next to the theater.

Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025
6 p.m. pre-show gathering
7:30 p.m. show starts

Pre-Show Gathering
White Duck Taco Shop
12 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
Maps and Directions

Wortham Center for the Performing Arts
18 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
Maps and Directions

Please purchase your tickets by Wednesday, Feb. 5. Whether you join us for dinner, the show or both, we look forward to a great evening of theater and connection. Don’t miss this chance to enjoy a compelling new play and engaging conversation with fellow Davidson alumni.

About the show:
Aliens have arrived from space, and they are turning Rev. Vonnie Braxton’s world upside down. Her congregation is freaking out; her husband is distant, and her faith is challenged. When someone from her past shows up, Vonnie must choose between the way things are and her commitment to social justice. Dear God is part of the Emerging Black Playwrights New Play Series and first debuted in the development phase, as a staged reading in November 2023.

About the playwright:
Lisa Langford earned a B.A. from Harvard University. She studied acting at The Juilliard School and completed her theatre training at The American Repertory Theater Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard. After working with Dr. Maya Angelou to develop Dr. Angelou’s line of social expressions, “Life Mosaics,” she received her M.F.A. in play-writing from Cleveland State University. Her play, Rastus and Hattie, received a Joyce Award (w/ Cleveland Public Theatre) and was a 2019 finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her play, The Art of Longing, was a finalist for the Leslie Scalapino Award for Innovative Women Performance Writers. Her ten-minute play, The Bomb, about the Black Lives Matter movement, is published in the anthology, Black Lives, Black Words. She is an Artistic Associate of Black Lives Black Words and a member of Dobama Theatre’s Playwrights’ Gym in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Questions? Please contact Jenny Reinoehl Purtill '96 at jennypurtill73@gmail.com. 

Asheville Regional Team
Mary Jo Clark '79, Alan Thornburg '89, Linda Tatsapaugh '88, Leah Waits Lambert '00 and Jenny Reinoehl Purtill '96

P.S. Join our Regional Chapter of Asheville Davidson Connect group to stay in touch.