‘Ain’t No Mo” earns more time on Broadway but raises questions about gatekeeping

By Uwa Ede-Osifo, NBC News

Broadway play “Ain’t No Mo’” has been extended to Dec. 23 after its cast and fans mobilized online support to prevent the show from closing just two weeks after its debut at the Belasco Theatre.

The #SaveAintNoMo campaign began once cast and crew learned the play would end production on Dec. 18 instead of the initially planned Broadway run, which was scheduled through March. 

The comedy described as a blend of “sketch, satire, avant garde theater, and a dose of drag” imagines what would ensue if the U.S. government offered the descendants of enslaved Black people a one-way ticket to Africa, according to the play’s website.

Playwright and star Jordan E. Cooper, the youngest Black American playwright on Broadway, took to social media to plead for the public’s help in resisting the “eviction notice” and to #SaveAintNoMo: “in the name of every story telling ancestor who ever graced a Broadway stage or was told they never could, PLEASE SUPPORT THIS PRODUCTION.”

As word quickly spread of the play’s impending end, the hashtag circulated through social media. Passionate fans and theater newcomers alike galvanized the public to fill the seats. 

“Industry” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies” actress Myha’la Herrold advocated for the play on Instagram, praising it as “very fun and very queer and very VERY Black.”

“They deserve better, the people who haven’t had the chance to witness this greatness deserve better,” Herrold wrote. 

Learn who else lent their support.