HARRISON DAVID RIVERS | PLAYWRIGHT

RUBY
“CAUSE CHANGE
DON’T NOTHING CHANGE
UNLESS WE CHANGE
UNLESS WE ENDURE
NO, MORE THAN ENDURE
WE’VE GOT TO GET BACK ON THE BUS
WE MUST GET BACK ON THE BUS
WE MUST
WE MUST…”

WE SHALL SOMEDAY
3M, 1W

The roots of resistance and resilience run deep in three generations of a Black family grappling with inequality, violence and oppression. This intimate new musical, asks us to contemplate the cycle of racism in America and how we might commit to creating real change.

Productions

World Premiere, Theater Latté Da, St. Paul, 2023: dir. Kelli Foster Warder

Concert, Joe’s Pub, NYC, 2023: dir. Ryan Dobrin

Concert, Signature Theater Company, D.C., 2022: dir. Kelli Foster Warder

Press

“The first thought I had when the enthusiastic applause subsided and the lights came back up at We Shall Someday was whether or not I could afford to buy tickets for every one of my friends to see this beautiful, emotionally rich, historically relevant new musical created by playwright Harrison David Rivers and composer Ted Shen, and being given a perfectly realized world premiere production by Theater Latté Da… We Shall Someday is a small musical in terms of cast and stage effects, but huge in terms of heart and the depth of its theme… We Shall Someday is without fault. It is brilliant in its conception, artfully staged, powerfully performed, and achingly relevant. See it.”
--Arthur Dorman, Talkin’ Broadway

“Powerfully affecting… Rivers draws his characters with humor and idiosyncratic specificity. And his words are sometimes more like the recitatives of opera than dialogue… Someday may be set in the past, but it feels painfully current.”
--Rohan Preston, Star Tribune

“It's an epic story told in an intimate, moving, and lovely way… unlike any musical I've seen.”
--Jill Schaffer, Cherry and Spoon

“I love this piece for the timeliness and timelessness of its narrative, for its humor and compassion, its candor and humanity, and, of course, for it gorgeous score.”
--Mary Aalgaard, Play off the Page