Debra Ehrhardt and The Playground Theatre presents
Look What Fell Out De Mango Tree
25-26 SEPT | 7pm & 27 SEPT | 4pm
Actress-playwright Debra Ehrhardt has made her home in the U.S., while maintaining an unquestionable passion for her native land. She has performed her own stories all over the world based on her colorful life in Jamaica. Debra is the recipient of several awards and has garnered rave reviews of her plays over the years. Previous solo productions include Mango Mango, Invisible Chairs, Cock Tales: Shame on Me! and Jamaica Farewell which was produced by Rita Wilson- Hanks and Garry Marshall and has been optioned for film. She received a Proclamation from the City of New York for her “Outstanding Contribution to the Jamaican community” and was named one of Jamaica’s top ten news makers for 2010. In addition, Ehrhardt has performed at the storytelling center in Jonesboro, Tenn., the Taos Storytelling festival in New Mexico, Ojai storytelling Festival in California, and she was the winner in 2017 for the Best Storyteller in Long Beach, Calif. Ehrhardt founded “What's Your Story Jamaica," a million-dollar storytelling competition in Kingston a few years ago and returns to Jamaica every year to produce and promote the competition. Debra maintains the fundamental belief that content is king, and to that end she imbues her work with tenderness, subtlety and intensity, striving tirelessly to emphasize what makes art meaningful: honest emotion.
Actor Christopher Grossett is a graduate of the Julliard School. He is known for the films Last Life, Something About a Business, and Speed of Life, among others. He was in a production of the award-winning A Raisin in the Sun at Syracuse Stage. At New York's Lincoln Center he performed in A Wrinkle in Time. He also performed in productions of Lynn Nottages Intimate Apparel at the Nevada Conservatory Theatre and in Shrinks at the L.A. Hudson Theatre.
Director Paul Williams is a composer, singer, songwriter, actor, and is known for writing and co-writing iconic songs such as Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song" and "Out in the Country,” Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World,” Biff Rose's "Fill Your Heart,” and the Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" and "Rainy Days and Mondays.” Williams is also known for writing the score and lyrics for Bugsy Malone and his musical contributions to other films, including the Oscar-nominated song "Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie, and the lyrics to the #1 chart-topping song “Evergreen.” He won a Grammy for Song Of the Year for the love theme from the Barbra Streisand film, A Star Is Born, as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Williams said although he is writing two musicals and had very little time to spare, he was so impressed with the material and quality of the actors, he wanted to direct this piece
BOOKING INFORMATION
Start Time: 25-26 Sept | 7pm & 27 Sept | 4pm
Duration: 85 min
Interval: No interval
Content Warnings: N/A
Accessibility: n/a
Recommended for 16+
Tickets (All unreserved)
General Admission £25
Concession | Senior over 60 £20
Access for All | Unemployed | Student £20
Access for All Note: Please contact boxoffice@theplaygroundtheatre.org.uk for your complementary ticket for a career/companion/friend
A New Play by Debra Ehrhardt
Directed by Academy Award and Grammy Award Winner Paul Williams
Every family has secrets. Some are worth keeping. Some can change your life forever. What happens when the truth you've been searching for is the one thing your family has spent generations trying to hide?
In Look What Fell Out De Mango Tree, award-winning playwright and storyteller Debra Ehrhardt delivers her most intimate and emotionally powerful work to date. Inspired by extraordinary true events, this riveting new play spans continents, generations, and decades of buried family secrets, taking audiences on an unforgettable journey filled with laughter, heartbreak, revelation, and hope.
Set between Jamaica and America, the story follows a woman determined to uncover the truth about her past. But as long-buried secrets begin to surface, she discovers that the stories we inherit can either imprison us—or become the very key to our freedom. To move forward, she must confront painful truths, break generations of silence, and find the courage to reclaim the story of her own life.
Blending Debra Ehrhardt's signature wit with profound emotional honesty, Look What Fell Out De Mango Tree explores the lasting impact of inherited trauma, the complexity of family loyalty, the possibility of forgiveness, and the remarkable resilience of the human spirit. Rich with Jamaican humor, unforgettable characters, and surprising twists, the play is at once deeply personal and strikingly universal.
The production is directed by Academy Award and Grammy Award winner Paul Williams, who was so moved by the script that he chose to direct the production despite an already demanding schedule. Ehrhardt stars alongside Juilliard-trained actor Christopher Grossett in this compelling two-person theatrical event.
Audiences who embraced Ehrhardt's acclaimed Jamaica Farewell—produced by Rita Wilson and Garry Marshall and later optioned for film—will recognize the vibrant storytelling, warmth, and humor that have become her hallmark. But Look What Fell Out De Mango Tree reaches even further, exploring identity, belonging, family, love, loss, and the extraordinary courage it takes to face the truth.
One story. Two actors. A lifetime of secrets.
Recommended for audiences 16 and older due to mature themes.