“Fear the Walking Dead” star Coleman Domingo swaps zombie hunting for the director’s chair as he teams up with the Huntington Theatre Company for “A Guide for the Homesick.”
The actor, who’s on screen credits also include “Lincoln,” “Selma” and “The Butler,” returns to Boston after previously appearing in Huntington productions “Journey to the West” and “Well.” Domingo tells Metro that he’s excited to be back in town to helm “A Guide for the Homesick,” which debuts at the Calderwood Pavilion on Oct. 6.
Written by local playwright Ken Urban, the play tells the tale of two strangers from Boston who end up having a meaningful encounter during a chance meeting at a hotel lobby bar in Amsterdam. While they try to avoid talking about their pasts, the duo is forced to confront their demons and dark secrets through their surprisngly intense conversation.
“They look at each other as an initial distraction,” Domingo says. “They find that they need each other.”
The director reveals that the men are each haunted by someone special in their lives whom they’ve wronged in some fashion. Although these characters aren’t present on stage, their presence is definitely felt.
“You should feel like a fly on a wall,” Domingo says. “It’s a very intimate hotel room and you’re learning about these four human beings at a crossroad in their lives.”
Domingo believes that “A Guide for the Homesick” is hitting the stage at a time when the country as a whole is trying to work through various shameful moments from America’s past that seem to be coming to the forefront today. The actor and director hopes that audiences will connect with the play’s theme of moving forward after horrific events.
“I think that’s the nature of America. Period,” Domingo says. “We live in a culture and a country that has an immense amounts of shame. Things keep bubbling up and we try to suppress it. This is something that’s very much on everyone’s minds right now.”
If you go:
Oct. 6-Nov. 4, Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St., Boston, huntingtontheatre.org
