black theater
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Reparations Reminds Us That There Is Still Plenty Left Unsaid
“Reparations” is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged.” It is defined by black folk as any number of possibilities: free education, free health care, 40 acres and a mule. It is fitting…
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Brother’s Keeper: Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size Explores the Mythology and Painful Reality of Brotherhood
To say Tarell Alvin McCraney is masterful at articulating black male coming-of-age stories in America would be an understatement. His play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue (now better known as the 2017 Academy Award-winning screenplay Moonlight) gave us a lens onto a black boy’s reckoning with emotional abandonment and his burgeoning sexuality in the…
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Homecoming: A Powerful Pair of Revivals Prove Chicago a Mecca for Black Theater
There was palpable energy in the theater on the opening night of Drury Lane Theatre’s revival of The Color Purple—and a hallelujah chorus of shouts and co-signs from the audience, no doubt a rarity in the predominantly white suburb of Chicago known as Oakbrook Terrace. But the black theatrical community was out in force to…
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Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Is Set for a Rare Revival On the Stage Where It All Began, NYC’s Public Theater
While it’s widely celebrated as a major work of American theater, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf is rarely professionally performed onstage. That’s changing beginning in October when the choreopoem will be revived at New York’s Public Theater, the stage where For Colored Girls premiered over…
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Hercules Goes Black and Doesn’t Look Back in Rousing Production of Disney’s 1997 Animated Musical
In an age where superheroes reign supreme thanks to a successful, multibillion dollar Marvel movies run, New York City’s Public Theater’s Public Works chose to take it back, way back, in terms of an O.G. superhero, in their delightful, multiracial, community-fueled production of Disney’s animated 1997 musical Hercules. While the film Hercules only flirted with…
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True West: With a Reimagined Revival, a Classic Sam Shepard Play Reminds Us That We, Too, Are America
“It’s a very universal story. It’s a play about brothers,” says actor Namir Smallwood when asked about his role in True West, Sam Shepard’s classic play about toxic sibling rivalry, now in production at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. Despite the universally relatable theme, there is something distinctly different about this critically acclaimed revival; it’s the first…
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P-Valley: Loretta Devine to Portray Everybody's 'Grandmuva' in 'Trap Music Meets Film Noir' Adaptation
Whenever I sum up Loretta Devine’s highly respected, dense and ongoing career, I cite her as “Everybody’s Mama.” No one can portray a matriarch quite like Ms. Devine can. Don’t believe me? Clock her IMDb page. Next up, she’ll be portraying the queen of the strip club industry in a new drama based on Katori…
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Director Kenny Leon and Danielle Brooks Bring Blackness to Shakespeare in the Park
As actor Danielle Brooks sings and shines as Beatrice in director Kenny Leon’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, the director can’t help but feel pride in his vision of staging an all-black production in the famed Shakespeare in the Park coming to fruition. Running through this final weekend on June 23 in New York City,…
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‘I Can’t Stop’: With Ms. Blakk for President, Moonlight Writer Tarell Alvin McCraney Campaigns as an Unlikely Candidate
“The most transparent way is the truth.” Tarell Alvin McCraney is telling me about the circuitous journey that led him and longtime collaborator Tina Landau to the real-life character of Ms. Joan Jett Blakk. That’s “two t’s, two k’s,” as she reminds us during her run for president at Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre, where McCraney…
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'There Is Rhythm in the Language': Actress Christiana Clark Finds the 'Jazz' in Shakespeare in The Winter's Tale
There’s a moment during Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale when pivotal character Paulina pauses in the midst of imploring an obstinate king for compassion to roar at the lords attempting to restrain her, “What needs these hands?” before resuming her pleas. As played by Christiana Clark (opposite Dan Donahue as King Leontes) in the Goodman Theatre’s…