Step Afrika!'s 'The Fruits of Our Labor' Takes Its Final Bow at Arena Stage on Sunday
Step Afrika!'s world premiere The Fruits of Our Labor plays its final performance Sunday at Arena Stage, closing a run that opened the theater's 2026/27 season with a percussive meditation on building, belonging and America's 250th year.
The Fruits of Our Labor, the Step Afrika! world premiere that opened Arena Stage's 2026/27 season, plays its final performance on Sunday, November 1, on the Fichandler Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 Sixth Street SW. The production has run since September 10.
Created in collaboration with Jakari Sherman, Conrad R. Kelly II and Vusi Mdoyi, the work was made to commemorate America's 250th anniversary. Step Afrika! describes it as an examination of what it means to build, to belong, and to believe in a nation still in the making, pushing the boundaries of percussive dance while drawing on traditions that shape Black expression across the diaspora. The performance runs approximately 75 to 80 minutes with no intermission.
Sunday's closing is not the end of the road for the production. Following its inaugural run in the nation's capital, The Fruits of Our Labor heads west on a three-city national tour kicking off in January 2027, Arena Stage said. The show is the latest installment of a multi-year partnership between the Tony Award-winning theater and Step Afrika!, the DC-based company founded by C. Brian Williams. Tickets for the final performance started at $47, according to DC Theater Arts.
