A play inspired by the Supreme Court confirmation hearing testimonies of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford will run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music this fall. The Ford/Hill Project will be led by Elizabeth Marvel (House of Cards, Homeland) as Ford and Tony nominee Gabby Beans (The Skin of Our Teeth, Romeo + Juliet) as Hill. The Ford/Hill Project, produced by Waterwell, will run September 8–20.
The work centers on the headline-making Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas in 1991 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Both men were accused of sexual assault, and the women involved—Hill in the case of Thomas and Ford in the case of Kavanaugh—testified in front of Congress. The play, created by Obie-winning Waterwell Artistic Director Lee Sunday Evans (who’s also directing) and Marvel, is made up of verbatim passages from the hearings’ transcripts.
The show first premiered in 2024 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.
Teagle Bougere (currently in The Winter’s Tale at Free Shakespeare in the Park) will play Thomas and Josh Hamilton (What We Did before Our Moth Days, 13 Reasons Why) will play Kavanaugh.
“The Ford/Hill Project has always been about bringing these two extraordinary testimonies into the room and allowing Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford’s words to speak for themselves—to listen across time, and to sit with the complexity, courage, and humanity in their stories,” says director Evans in a statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome Gabby Beans to this incredible ensemble for our BAM run. Gabby is one of the bravest actors I know, with riveting emotional depth and an electric, unflappable presence. She has an overarching vision for what live performance can do in and for the world. I can’t wait for audiences to experience what this ensemble can do together.”
“BAM has always been a place where artists can ask big questions, take risks, and invite audiences into the conversation—and The Ford/Hill Project does all three,” adds Amy Cassello, BAM’s artistic director. “Lee Sunday Evans and Elizabeth Marvel have made something that is both deeply theatrical and wonderfully alive: it takes two extraordinary pieces of testimony and gives us the chance to really listen, together, in a room—with curiosity, openness, and care. We’re delighted to welcome this remarkable company and especially thrilled to have Gabby Beans joining them.”
The creative team includes production stage manager Tia Harewood-Millington, co-sound designer and audio editor Jeffrey Salerno, co-sound designer Mikhail Fiksel, lighting designer Oona Curley, costume coordinator Amanda Roberge, associate directors Francesca Sabel and Rachel Gita Karp, and original prop designer Faye Armon-Troncoso. ShowShow serves as co-producer.