What happened to Mr. Joy? A Harlem community is disrupted when a Chinese immigrant’s shoe repair shop, a neighborhood pillar for decades, does not open its doors. Playwright and artist-in-residence Daniel Beaty (Breath & Imagination, Emergency), returns with another moving reflection on transforming pain into power, this time through the lens of nine shop customers. Tangela Large performs them all—from eleven-year-old Clarissa, to a budding shoe designer, to “gangsta granny” Bessie. Together, they reflect on the shop owner’s impact on their lives, and discover how a community can learn to heal in order to dream again.

“Tells a tale which manages to be at once both inspiring and achingly sad.” – Pittsburgh City Paper

About the Artist

Daniel Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, writer and motivational speaker. His critically acclaimed plays Through the Night, Emergency, Mr. Joy, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest - Paul Robeson, have been performed at venues ranging from Lincoln Center to the White House, and garnered numerous awards including an Obie Award for writing and performance and two NAACP Theatre Awards. Beaty has worked throughout the United States, Europe and Africa, speaking and performing on programs with luminaries such as Deepak Chopra, Hill Harper, Jill Scott, Donnie McClurkin and Ruby Dee. In fall 2013, Beaty launched a nationwide initiative funded by the W.K. Kellogg and Ford Foundations (among others) that uses the tools of storytelling to help individuals and communities heal from trauma. He holds a BA with Honors in English and Music from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater.