If “The Birdcage” and “Abbott Elementary” had a baby and that child grew up with no home training, “Bocking” would be the whimsical and profound result. The play’s first draft even took playwright Preston Crowder nearly nine months to birth.
Opening Baltimore Center Stage’s 2026-27 season, the world premiere of “Bocking” is directed by Stevie Walker-Webb, and backed by heavy-hitter Lena Waithe as presenting producer. Waithe is known for her multiple television and movie credits, including “Master of None,” “The Chi.” “Queen & Slim,” and dozens more. She made her theatrical playwriting and acting debut at BCS in February 2026 with “Trinity.” Waithe explains why “Bocking” spoke to her in the short reel below.
The plot revolves around a conversation the audience never hears between two children the audience never sees. Call it a game of NSFW telephone. One overhears their parents (played by Sis Thee Doll and Christopher Sears) engaged in the throes of an amorous embrace and innocently repeats the X-rated dialogue on the playground. Awkward hilarity ensues, as both sets of parents are called to the office of the elementary school guidance counselor (Kalen Allen) who has an interesting family tree. Throw in a chicken named Danalana Parmesana, and all bets are off.
“This is a risqué play,” Walker-Webb told a group of media invited to the first table read. “This is a risky season, and I hope people take that risk with us for good reason.”
Multiple truths are exposed and examined, none of the characters stay where they were in the beginning, though no one’s strides are the same length. One set of parents is outwardly traditional and conservative, the father a preacher in rural Tennessee. The other parents are interracial and queer, the mother carrying the double societal burden of living as a Black trans woman while her husband is a white man. For all the hilarity and farce, one must break eggs to make an omelet, and serious issues are addressed.
“Everyone in this play is so complicated in what they’re dealing with, and I think, as a playwright, that’s been the best part about writing it, like trying to really dig into them and figure out, ‘How do I get them from A to Z?’ without feeling like I’m rushing it or without stumbling over the necessary steps that they need to take,” Crowder told Baltimore Fishbowl.
Crowder and Webb have been developing the play since 2022, and Crowder wrote it for his master’s thesis at The New School for Drama in New York City. It grew out of Crowder’s interest in exploring the shame associated with kink, conversations with friends about dating and the masks people wear.
“What does it mean to take that mask off and be authentically you and stand in the things that you want and the things that you desire?” Crowder asked. “And so, that’s really what drove the play. And from there, I was just like, ‘Alright, yeah. I mean, that’s a lot to explore, but I also want to laugh.’”
Building on a comment of Walker-Webb’s, Crowder continued, “I think while this play is very funny, it’s very satirical, it’s very farcical, there are also a lot of nuggets in there about how we talk to each other, how we talk to ourselves.”
These nuggets are everywhere in the play. For example, it is easy to overlook the deeper message to be found in the comedy of Moore’s character, Stacey, being a teacher who holds literally 30 additional jobs. The absurdity is comical but the message is there: teachers do not get paid NEARLY enough.
Waithe did not hesitate when Crowder asked her to come on board as producer.
“Really I’m here because of Preston, literally and creatively, because of the work, because of the courage, the vulnerability, the humor that’s on the page,” Waithe said. “I think as I move forward in my career, particularly in theater, I try to be really thoughtful about what I attach my name to and what I champion because it is a part of my legacy. It was a part of my brand. It is a part of my ethos.”
The production has attracted world-renowned talent in the cast, too. Kalen Allen, Adrienne C. Moore, and Sis Thee Doll are among the actors in the seven-person play, each of whom are blazing their own unique creative paths.
Allen is known for his “Kalen Reacts” viral videos to food and recipes, became a regular on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” has his own weekly digital series, and appears as a judge on Food Network shows.
Moore plays the teacher with 30 additional jobs. She is known for her work as Cindy (“Black Cindy”) on “Orange is the New Black,” and appeared in shows like “Homeland,” “30 Rock,” and the films “Shaft” and “Juror #2.”
Doll is a theater and television actress with a résumé that includes “American Horror Story: NYC” and “Pose,” and in 2021 she starred as Ado Annie in the Broadway National Tour of “Oklahoma!”
The cast also includes two Baltimore School for the Arts alumni, Rebecca L. Hargrove and Lance Coadie William. Marchánt Davis rounds out the cast as a fire and brimstone preacher and father to one of the students, with Hargrove as his wife who comes perilously close to aviary-adjacent infidelity. William plays Reverend White, who attempts to “pray the gay” out of Christopher Sears’ character, Peer Day, in an exorcism scene that rivals Linda Blair’s wildest dreams.
Crowder drew two significant parallels between Baltimore and his childhood hometown of Nashville, Tennessee: the food scene first, then the fact that both cities have storied Black communities.
“Both have great food and both have a strong Black community here, which I think is important, particularly doing this type of work,” Crowder told Baltimore Fishbowl. “I think making sure that we’re bringing Black theater to the theater is important.”
Walker-Webb explained his motivation for opening the season with “Bocking,” and its place within his vision for the rest of the BCS season.
“This year, more than any other season, we are trying to program in a way where there can be a cross pollination of cultural experiences,” Walker-Webb said. “So, someone who wants to see a funny, risqué, satirical farce like ‘Bocking,’ we’re encouraging them to come and see Betty Buckley, too, later, right? And to have conversations in our lobby spaces. Because in this time of deep political polarization, it’s important that we become a catalyst for conversations and deeper community connections.”
“It’s risky to believe that we can all exist together in one place, in one time, in one building,” he continued. “If we don’t start taking that seriously, our country will continue to be the kind of country that it is. So, this season is a testament to my deep faith and belief that if we create spaces where people who have disparate experiences can come and exist together, we might be able to get somewhere better as a society.”
“Bocking” runs from Aug. 14 through Sept. 6, 2026, and tickets are available now on Baltimore Center Stage’s website.
BCS WARNING: This play contains EXPLICIT content and is very risqué. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny, deeply real, and confronts feelings of guilt and shame surrounding sex.
