LATEST NEWS
Broadway SIX star Brittney Mack will lead the company of a new staging of The Color Purple at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, starring as Celie. Performances will run June 21–July 27, with opening night set for June 30. Lili-Anne Brown is directing the musical, adapted from Alice Walker's Pulitzer-winning novel.
The cast will also feature Aeriel Williams as Shug Avery, Evan Tyrone Martin as Mister, Nicole Michelle Haskins as Sofia, Gilbert Domally as Harpo, Shantel Renee Cribbs as Nettie, Daryn Whitney Harrell as Squeak, Jos N. Banks as Grady, Curtis Bannister as Buster, Sean Blake as Ol Mister, Sharriese Hamilton as Darlene, Ariya Hawkins as Olivia, Reneisha Jenkins as Jarene, Eric Lewis as Bobby, Michael Earvin Martin as Pa, and Juwon Tyrel Perry as Preacher. Ensemble member Aalon Daeja Smith and swings Marta Bady, Richaun Shamar Stewart, and Shelbi Voss will round out the company. Casting is by Lauren Port.
Read the Playbill article here
The cast will also feature Aeriel Williams as Shug Avery, Evan Tyrone Martin as Mister, Nicole Michelle Haskins as Sofia, Gilbert Domally as Harpo, Shantel Renee Cribbs as Nettie, Daryn Whitney Harrell as Squeak, Jos N. Banks as Grady, Curtis Bannister as Buster, Sean Blake as Ol Mister, Sharriese Hamilton as Darlene, Ariya Hawkins as Olivia, Reneisha Jenkins as Jarene, Eric Lewis as Bobby, Michael Earvin Martin as Pa, and Juwon Tyrel Perry as Preacher. Ensemble member Aalon Daeja Smith and swings Marta Bady, Richaun Shamar Stewart, and Shelbi Voss will round out the company. Casting is by Lauren Port.
Read the Playbill article here
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March 15th, 2025
This debut picture book by author and illustrator Sandra Dieckmann is adapted by ensemble member Amanda Link. Featuring a polar bear on their quest to return home, and the young crow who finds it within herself to help them, Leaf centers on the importance of compassion for each other and our planet, cooperation with others, and sharing one’s story. Recommended by The Chicago Reader and NewCity Stage "Jake Busse’s Squirrel and Ariya Hawkins’s Fox provide cunning and witty support," "But there was no denying when Jake Busse and Ariya Hawkins took the stage as Dad and Mom Crow, respectively, as they loudly cawed their way into our hearts." More information on Lifeline Theatre's Leaf here |
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January 26th, 2025
JEFF RECOMMENDED Trish and Josh are friends. They’re also the top two salespeople in their small insurance agency. When they find out they’ve each been offered a shot at the same big promotion, their friendly workplace rivalry implodes. Now they'll have to figure out what they really want.. and how badly they really want it. A dark comedy about race, gender, and upward mobility in the 21st century. Learn more about the production here |
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Dec 18th, 2024
Ariya spoke with undergraduate students at 3 different universities about her work as teaching artist, and her focus on crafting accessible learning environments: UIC School of Theatre and Music, Northwestern University, and The University of Chicago (not pictured). Read Ariya's Instagram post here 
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Celebrating after making a rainbow at the Bucktown-Wicker Park CPL Branch
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June 10th, 2024
"Created in collaboration with undergraduates enrolled in the Theatre for the Very Young course and 2-5 year olds at Total Child Preschool. After Imagine That opened at Northwestern University, the show toured to six branches of the Chicago Public Libraries" Directed by Ellie Levine |
Performance at Little Italy CPL Branch
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February 3rd, 2024
"The Kit Kat Club dancers, beautifully played by a sextet of athletic wonders-- Logan Farley, Jaylon Jazz McCraven, Stella Schwartz, Oliver Ball, Kate Carpenter, and Ariya Hawkins-- are sensational, their dancing otherworldly." Read the production's Broadway World review here 
Ariya Hawkins rehearsing in The Goodman Theatre's Healy Rehearsal Room with Celeste Williams and J. Nicole Brooks, directed by Lydia R. Diamond
September 17th, 2023
Artemisia Theatre has finally closed their production of a hit dog will holler by Inda Craig-Galvan, featuring Ariya Hawkins U/S Dru. "When racism and oppression manifest in a scary, physical form, a social media influencer and a boots-on-the-ground activist form a complex bond of friendship to help each other survive. What happens when there’s no more outside space for the growing monster that is American racism?" 
June 22, 2021
“What does it look like to have predominantly people of color onstage saying these words? It felt like a future,” Drakes says of her vision for the production. “With Black futures, anything is possible and the liberation for all is possible. So we’re really trying to bring that and Shakespeare’s words together, to show that without gatekeepers we can all be free.” Olney Theatre looks to the future, with free Shakespeare — and a new focus on greater inclusion, by Thomas Floyd of the Washington Post Read more of the article here 
February 9th, 2021
"Taking inspiration from Diana Son's STOP KISS, SHUT UP KISS ME is a love story set in the hours and days after the first date of two millennial/Gen Z women. With heart and humor, this world premiere play by Chicago native Sophia Zinger and Claire Dobbs further explores what it means to find one's self and heal from a past, queer trauma, within a budding relationship." 
April 30, 2020
Despite the production's initial cancellation due to health & safety concerns regarding COVID-19, the cast of Marisol joins us remotely for a virtual staged reading over Zoom! 
Hawkins speaking while devising with classmates at Millikin University
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Ariya Hawkins as Frenchie in Cabaret
September 28th, 2023
"Experience an exciting staged reading of Pearl Cleage's POINTING AT THE MOON directed by award-winning playwright Lydia R. Diamond." Read more information about the staged reading and the Pearl Cleage Festival at the Goodman Theatre here 
Hawkins during an understudy rehearsal for A Hit Dog Will Holler
June 4th 2022
Theatre Review: ‘A Raisin in the Sun,’ National Players at Olney Theatre Center by Susan Brall of MD Theatre Guide "Ariya Hawkins, as the intelligent and clever Beneatha, presents her character as the antithesis of Ruth. She has time to go to college and does not contribute financially to the household. She has boyfriends who want to marry her and offer her a better life. When Beneatha’s life comes crumbling down, Hawkins gives us a window into her character’s despair." Read more of the review here 
June 1st, 2021
Ariya will be starting a year-long contract with the National Players at Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, playing Beneatha in A Raisin in the Sun and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. National Players is America's longest-running classical touring company, with an ensemble of ten actors across the country for over 70 years, she is honored to be joining them for Tour 72! 
June 26th, 2020
"Join us for a special LIVE-ONLY event delving into intergenerational themes in playwright August Wilson’s body of work. Established and emerging artists will explore short scenes from some of Wilson's most notable plays followed by a discussion with Goodman Resident Director Chuck Smith, Walter Director of Education Willa Taylor and Dr. Khalid Long, assistant professor of theater at Columbia College. Featured actors include Tony nominee Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lisa Gaye Dixon (chair of the Acting Program at the University of Illinois) and Chicago-based artists Ariya Hawkins and alfonzo kahlil." 
The first rehearsal of Millikin University's "Marisol" through Zoom
February 1, 2020
Ariya had the opportunity to collaborate with fellow classmates & theatre makers, which led to the creation of For Real For Real, a devised piece focused on the experiences of incarcerated women in the Decatur Correctional Center. Read more about the production here |
