black theatre
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Live to Tell: 25 Years After Genocide, Miracle in Rwanda Sheds Light on a Tragic Legacy
It’s been 25 years since the civil war that resulted in genocide against the Tutsi tribe of the East African nation of Rwanda. During a three-month period in 1994, as many as one million Rwandans were killed, including approximately 70 percent of the Tutsi population. Among those who lived to tell the massacre was Immaculée…
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Playing the Gentrification Game: In Ike Holter's Lottery Day, the Audience Wins
Gentrification continues to redistrict the boundaries of traditionally black and brown neighborhoods in urban cities across America—inevitably, pushing longtime residents and their stories to the fringes in favor of glossier, more palatable facades and narratives. Those stories have been the focus of playwright Ike Holter’s stunning seven-play “Rightlynd Saga,” focusing on the inhabitants of Chicago’s…
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For Colored Girls, Forever: With a Stunning Revival and New Work, Ntozake Shange's Words Remain Timeless
“…bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical dilemma/i haven’t conquered yet … my spirit is too ancient to understand the separation of soul & gender.” —Ntozake Shange, ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf’ text For Colored Girls… first arrived on the scene in December…
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Colorism and the Legacy of Plaçage: The House That Will Not Stand Revisits a History Still Relevant Today
Seven women, a segregated society, and an age-old means of survival. That’s the pretext behind the play The House That Will Not Stand, now in production at the New York Theatre Workshop in New York City. Written in 2014 by Marcus Gardley (whose credits include Showtime’s The Chi) and inspired by The House of Bernarda…