In 2007 director/playwright Ricardo Pitts-Wiley was given a copy of Anita Diamant’s THE RED TENT. After reading the first chapter, he knew it could make a great stage play. The novel had all of the essential and captivating elements of drama; compelling
characters, pathos, conflict, intrigue and engaging dialogue.
The Red Tent is based on a small Old Testament reference to Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob. According to scripture, Dinah was raped by the son of a king in a nearby village. Two sons of Jacob avenge their sister’s honor by killing all the men in the village.
However, Diamant’s bestselling novel suggest a different telling of the story of Dinah and the result is a captivating and for some a controversial reimagining of the story. Perhaps it was not a violation, but an intense love story. Perhaps the sons of Jacob had an agenda other than revenge. Perhaps history would be shaped by forces other than the truth.
Diamant sets her story in a place and time where women celebrate the cycles of the moon together. The Red Tent is a sacred place of birth, death, tradition, music and the sharing of the unique experience of being a woman.
The novel is also about a time and place of great upheaval and change. Traditions and rituals are being challenged and new religious ideas are emerging that will become Judaism, Islam and Christianity.
Pitts-Wiley’s adaptation brings a group of modern women, and a few men, together to tell the story of Dinah as a way to connect with each other and rediscover the power of The Red Tent.
The Red Tent features Maureen Bodden as Dinah, Jeannie Carson as her mother Leah, Melody Vasquez as the beloved Rachel, Denyse Wilhelm as Zilpah, while Kiasia Boyer plays Bilhah. Melodie Thompson will play Jacob’s mother Rebecca, with Kathleen Russell as Re-nefer and Veronica Mays as the tragic Ruti. The men in the show include Jomo Peters as Jacob, Rudy Cabrera as Joseph, Ezekiel Olukoya is Re-mose and Delbert Collins as Laban.
