Shadow And Act has the exclusive teaser trailer and premiere date announcement for Starz’s upcoming drama series, P-Valley. The eight-episode first season premieres July 12 on Starz.

From showrunner and executive producer Katori Hall, the series is based on her acclaimed play, Pussy Valley.

The official description: Down deep in the Mississippi Delta lies an oasis of grit and glitter in a rough patch of human existence where beauty can be hard to find. This southern-fried, hour-long drama tells the kaleidoscopic story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors—the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful, and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that dares to ask what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

The series stars Brandee Evans, Nicco Annan, Shannon Thornton, Elarica Johnson, Skyler Joy, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Parker Sawyers, Harriet D. Foy, Tyler Lepley and Dan J. Johnson.

Women directors helmed the entire season. Famed Drake music video director Karena Evans directed the pilot, while further episodes were directed by Kimberly Peirce, Millicent Shelton, Tamra Davis, Geeta V. Patel, Tasha Smith, Sydney Freeland and Barbara Brown.

Check out the teaser trailer below:

On the journey of bringing the acclaimed play to the small screen, Hall told Shadow And Act, “Bringing P-Valley to the small screen has been a trip and a half, ten years in the making. I traveled all across America, visiting strip club after strip club and interviewing dozens of dancers. Six years of research culminated in my play Pussy Valley, which premiered at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. The moment I saw the play on stage I said, “uh-oh, I think I done wrote a tv show.” The world was sprawling and the characters begged for further exploration. I pitched an adaptation of the play in 2015 to Starz, which kicked off a life-changing process. Over the course of a five year period, this Black lady playwright transformed into [a] first-time showrunner. It was challenging, arduous even. I remember watching every single tape—thousands of them, in fact—submitted during our nation-wide casting search, because I owed it to the women I was writing about to get them right. The women who I had broken bread with starting in 2009, deserved to have their stories told with honesty and dignity. I took my time, being led by a dedication to authenticity. I couldn’t be happier that finally, the world is headed down to P-Valley.”

“I am so proud that this project is a humanizing one,” Hall said in regards to what people should look forward too most in anticipating the show. “Too often dancers are dismissed, shamed, and looked at as if they are only breasts and booty on a stage. But this series goes behind the masks and the fake names to get to the core of who these women are—human beings who love, fight, make mistakes, and need to survive just like our mothers, sisters, and daughters. By putting their lives at the center and telling their stories without shame or derision, we are embracing a female gaze in a world that has historically been an exploitative, males-only space. Here, dancing can lead to liberation. The athleticism, skill, and flexibility these women have cultivated to practice this art form is on full display. This is a place where women climb up a pole only to fall 30 feet headfirst into a pile of Tubmans. Cirque du Soleil ain’t got nothin’ on the Pynk! I want people to appreciate not how these women’s bodies look, but what their bodies can do.”

On changes between the play and the series, Hall added, “Long-form storytelling is such a blessing. I’ve been able to add new characters, change the genders of others, and create whole new storylines. The play has been a diving board, and with the series, I feel like I’ve just jumped into an ocean. The possibilities are endless for the framily of characters at the core of the series, and I hope to continue telling their stories for seasons to come.”

READ MORE:

‘P-Valley’: Loretta Devine Joins Starz’s Mississippi Delta Strip Club-Set Drama Where ‘Trap Music Meets Film Noir’

‘P-Valley’: Starz Orders Gritty, Mississippi Delta Strip Club-Set Drama Where ‘Trap Music Meets Film Noir’

Starz Developing Gritty, Mississippi Delta-Set Strip Club Drama From Katori Hall; Open Casting Call For Actresses And Dancers

Whoa! 50 Cent Signs New $150M Deal With Starz, Which Includes A Three-Series Commitment

Photo: Starz

Elarica Johnson

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