The Negro Ensemble Company
Ntozake Shange,
J e Franklin
Sabura Rashid
McKenya Dilworth
Ms. N’Victas
March 15, 2015
7:30pm
This coming of age story focuses on a teen’s transition from girl to woman. The major character is caught between the life she has always known and the life she has always wanted in her search for the true meaning of love, self, and family. This generational piece deals with emotions, missteps, and discovery from grandmother to mother; and, from mother to daughter with true passion, pain and humanity. By J e Franklin. Directed by Jeannine Foster-McKelvia.
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Paradigm Shift
March 22, 2015, 7:30pm
A former radical Black activist is next in line for the chairmanship of the Department of Africana Studies at Stuyvesant Municipal College. Instead, a right-wing conservative woman new to the university system is hired as the acting department chair; creating new tensions on campus. Unresolved issues between the former lovers are discovered. Meanwhile, the two students mentored by the faculty rivals get caught in the crossfire. By Sabura Rashid. Directed by Pharah Jean-Philippe*. Featuring: Renee Flemings*, Donnell E. Smith, Monique A. Robinson, Jerome Preston Bates*, LisaRoxanne Walters*
*Members of Actors appearing courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association.
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Kul’cha and Contemporary Scenes of Age Old Ills
March 29, 2015, 7:30pm
Kul’cha highlights the path of a community riddled with problems as they learn to heal themselves through mutual support. Contemporary Scenes of Age Old Ills is a satirical one act performed in reverse minstrelsy—with Black actors in white face. The time: Now. The climate: Tense. The themes: “Age-Old American Ills” of racism, sexism, exploitation and disregard for people who have been known as Nigra-Nigger-Negro-Black-Afro-American-Black (again)-African-American-Person of Color-Member of the African Diaspora. By McKenya Dilworth. Directed by Anderson Johnson.
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A Photograph: Poetry In Motion
April 12, 2015, 7:30pm
In the fluid, sexually liberal San Francisco art scene, two young black artists, Sean, an ambitious photographer, and Michael a street dancer, struggle to define their relationship. Between their love of art and of each other, the relationship flies into untamed places, where they discover the hidden emotional wounds each carries and the violence lurking beneath. By Ntozake Shange. Developed and Directed by Ifa Bayeza.
The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
at The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street