By Matthew Decker, Associate Producer

(l-r) Kes Khemnu (Simon/Rex/Jesse), Walter Dallas (Director), Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. (Lewis)

The three men involved in Blue Door - Walter Dallas, Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. and Kes Khemnu- have almost twenty years of history between them. For this article, I had the pleasure of sitting down with them and learning about their past endeavors.

Friends as well as colleagues, their collaboration began in the early 1990’s when Walter was named the Artistic Director at Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia. Freedom was where Johnnie Hobbs began his celebrated career as an actor, working on multiple productions at the theatre. The first collaboration with Walter Dallas was a production called Black Picture Show in 1994, which garnered Johnnie a Barrymore award nomination. This was just the beginning of a long partnership between the actor and the director, working on at least fifteen productions together.

Dallas credits the immediate trust between the two that’s fostered their great partnership. “Johnnie is a receptive actor who takes direction beautifully and is willing to try new things. He is fun to be around, always receptive to new ideas, and has a sharp sense of humor. But after it’s all said and done, the trust factor that he and I share is my favorite thing about Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. as an actor.”

“Walter is a very insightful, clever and provocative director who always asks interesting questions,” says Hobbs. “He creates a challenging, creative environment. And above all, he is great storyteller.”

Johnnie and Walter told many stories together at the Freedom Theatre, as well as at the sadly defunct Philadelphia Drama Guild. Highlights of their collaborations include productions of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Philadelphia Drama Guild and Sty of the Blind Pig by Phillip Hayes Dean at Freedom.

Another collaborative highlight was a play called Spunk at the Philadelphia Drama Guild, where the two first worked together with a young, exciting actor named Kes Khemnu.

“Kes is a director’s dream,” says Dallas, ”His energetic ability to trust my suggestions, embrace them, and then take them to a level of brilliant execution that always surpasses the original idea.”

Hobbs adds, “I loved working with him from the start. Kes is a very creative, whimsical and intelligent actor.” Dallas continues, “He just gets it while jokingly bringing fun and factoring his sharp creative prowess into the creative equation.”

The three gentlemen’s lives interlace further with their affiliation with the University of the Arts, where Kes attended as an undergraduate. Walter Dallas taught at the college for ten years and created the School of Theatre. Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. has been teaching for twenty-seven years as an Associate Professor of Theatre, and is the current head of the acting program.

Though all were at the university at the same time, Hobbs or Dallas never formally taught Khemnu. The way he talks, he didn’t spend much time in the classroom at all. “I was usually found wondering the hallways,” Khemnu says with a grin. (Perhaps he fared better while getting his Masters at Yale University – which is where, coincidentally, Walter also holds his M.F.A.)

Following Kes’ time at University of the Arts, other projects together emerged, most notably various incarnations of the annual Black Nativty at the Freedom Theatre, which was directed by Walter and featured Johnnie, Zooman and the Sign at the Walt Whitman Art Center featuring Johnnie and Kes, and Arden’s The Piano Lesson, directed by Walter and featuring Kes in 2008.

The three have not worked together in almost fifteen years, so it seems kismet that Blue Door has provided that opportunity. It’s fitting that a play about a man who is discovering his past should bring together three colleagues who are so closely linked.

Dallas shares that sentiment, “When I was in Accra, Ghana last summer, I took a photograph of three fishermen working together in an effort to pull in a net full of fish from the sea. The three generations of this family (son, father and grandfather) remind me of my connection with Johnnie and Kes.”

That connection is palpable when in the presence of the three gentlemen. You can feel their deep affinity for one another. They are aware of that bond, and hope that it will help bring Blue Door to life.

Dallas adds, “Each of us brings years of experience, a dynamically shared relationship and extremely unique perspectives to the creative challenge of [presenting Blue Door]. By joining forces, we can create an ultimately rich history, and the possibility of powerful, living theatre about [fathers and sons].”

We are lucky to have this rich, beautiful partnership working at the Arden, as well as in the Philadelphia theatre community. I look forward to future stories they tell together.