Black theatre has long lent its stage to the presentation of these issues. This year, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theatre in Harlem dedicates its 47th season to “The Policing of the Black Body.”  The mainstage productions include a New York premiere of Dead and Breathing, written by Chisa Hutchinson and directed by Jonathan McCrory. The show, through surprising humor and persistent questioning, investigates morality, mortality and the intense tug-of-war between the right to die with dignity and the idea of life as a gift. Previews for the show begin October 28 and it runs through November 23, 2015.

Look who's opening what's bound to be an explosive season @NatBlackTheatre … http://t.co/cjvQgivINZ

— Chisa Hutchinson (@chisahutchinson) September 9, 2015

Blood at the Root will also make its debut premiere in New York. The show was written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Steve H Broadnax III, in co-production with HiArts. Blood at the Root has begins previews on April 19  and will run through May 15, 2016. This show was inspired by the events surrounding the “Jena Six,” six black teenagers convicted in the beating of Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, on December 4, 2006. Playwright Dominique Morisseau uses this historical event as a platform to develop the fictitious story that explores the experiences of a group of high school students desperately trying to define themselves and navigate around those who identify themselves differently. When the desire for change erupts within them individually, they find themselves powerless and are thus forced to confront and engage “the other” in order to move their community forward. 

This year’s workshop production runs February 24 – 28, 2016. The play is Zoohouse and was written by Aurin Squire and directed by Ebony Noelle Golden. The play is set in a dystopic future in an asylum for the criminally insane. Zoohouse is a twisted tale about who has narrative authority, where we keep history, and whose lives matter.  The psychological and social, sexual and political, public and private fuel the inmates on a dark and surreal ride toward an explosive conclusion.

#IfIDieInPoliceCustody I didn't commit suicide. I was not resisting arrest, I have never owned or used a weapon. I am a non-violent activist

— Aurin Squire (@AurinSquire) July 19, 2015

The post National Black Theatre Probes The Policing of Black Bodies appeared first on Broadway Black.

Blue (Underwood), a gifted trumpeter, contemplates selling his once-vibrant jazz club in Detroit’s Blackbottom neighborhood to shake free the demons of his past and better his life. But where does that leave his devoted Pumpkin, who has dreams of her own? And what does it mean for the club’s resident bebop band? When a mysterious woman (Aziza) with a walk that drives men mad comes to town with her own plans, everyone’s world is turned upside down.

Emmy-nominated actor Ruben Santiago-Hudson is no stranger to the stage. In 1996, he won the Tony

Ruben Santiago Hudson

Award as Best Actor (Featured Role – Play) for August Wilson‘s Seven Guitars, and also performed the role of Ricky Roma on Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross. In addition, he originated the role of Buddy Bolden in Jelly’s Last Jam, directed by George C. Wolfe, at The Mark Taper Forum, and continued this role as a member of the original Broadway cast.

Santiago-Hudson also has several film and television projects coming up, including a new TNT TV series executive produced by Stephen Spielberg entitled Public Morals, as well as a brand new follow-up to his acclaimed multi-award-winning play Lackawanna Blues.

The post Ruben Santiago-Hudson Directs Blair Underwood & De’Adre Aziza In Paradise Blue appeared first on Broadway Black.

In addition to visionary, Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, the creators of NBT also included Adetunde Samuel, and Fredrica L. Teer; each with an award to be given at the gala. In addition to those three awards, there is also recognition for contributors to NBT and the community.

This year’s Trailblazer recipient is playwright, Dominique Morisseau (Detroit ’67). The Pioneer Award will honor Carmen de Lavallade, Rosalba Rolón, and Sydne Mahone. The Adetunde Samuel Award will go to directors Kwame Kwei-Armah and Kamilah Forbes. Mary Schmit Campbell and Roberta Uno will receive this year’s Frederica L. Teer Award; and the Honorable Chief Nike Davies-Okundaye will receive the Dr. Barbara Ann Teer Spirit Award. Live entertainment for the evening will feature music led by Bert Price, Nsangou Njikam, and Rain Pryor who is currently performing her one-woman show, Fried Chicken and Latkes, at NBT now until June 28.

For tickets and more information about the TEER Spirit Awards Gala and the National Black Theatre, visit www.nbtf.org.

The post The National Black Theatre TEER Spirit Awards appeared first on Broadway Black.

From that moment forward I felt I owed it to myself, and the many black female playwrights out there to find as much content as I could. Insert Dominique Morisseau, a Detroit native making a name for herself all across New York City and beyond.

Her playwriting credits include Detroit ’67 (Public Theater; Classical Theatre of Harlem/NBT; Northlight Theatre), Sunset Baby (Labyrinth Theater Co – NYC; Gate Theater- London), and Follow Me To Nellie’s (O’Neill; Premiere Stages). As well as having produced other original works with the Hip Hop Theater Festival, Penn State University, American Theatre of Harlem, and The New Group.  Her work has also been published in New York Times bestseller, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul and the Harlem-based literary journal, Signifyin’ Harlem.

Most of her inspiration for her plays is a result of conversations in communities and the people that she is writing about. Where a common process of playwriting is overhearing dialogue on a train or a bus, Morisseau takes it one step further.

“I have to be able to engage with people and have a conversation with them and be able to go into the community to feel like I can truly bring justice to them.”

Once she does that she begins her writing process, which includes lots of color and music.

“Music really lands me in the time period or region. It helps me recapture the dialect and the words that are popular, the isms, the sayings. That process gets me textured in the world I’m writing about,” she tells the American Theatre Wing.

Well that process seems to be working for her, as her play Detroit ’67 earned her the prestigious Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama in 2014. Her play was unanimously voted on by jury members who stated her play “explores an explosive and decisive moment in a great American city. The jury was completely drawn into the world of Detroit ’67, whose compelling characters struggle with racial tension and economic instability. The jury also felt strongly that the play powerfully exemplifies the goals of the Kennedy Prize. Detroit ’67 is a work grounded in historical understanding that also comments meaningfully on the pressing issues of our day.”

Detroit ’67 had its world premiere at The Public Theater in 2013 and was presented in association with the Classical Theater of Harlem and the National Black Theater.

The Public Theater characterized it as the following:

It’s 1967 in Detroit and Motown music gets the party started. Chelle and her brother Lank transform their basement into an after-hours joint to make ends meet. But when a mysterious woman winds her way into their lives, the siblings clash over much more than family business. As their pent-up feelings erupt, so does their city, and the flames of the ’67 Detroit riots engulf them all.

The play is the first of a 3-play cycle on her hometown Detroit, entitled The Detroit Projects, which is still in development.

Morisseau, who is an alumni of the Public Theater Emerging Writer’s Group, the Women’s Project Playwrights Lab, and Lark Playwrights’ Workshop, has an extensive list honors to her name including; a Jane Chambers Playwriting Award honoree, a two-time NAACP Image Award recipient, a runner-up for the Princess Grace Award, a recipient of the Elizabeth George commission from South Coast Rep, a commendation honoree for the Primus Prize by the American Theatre Critics Association, winner of the Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwriting Award, the Weissberger Award for Playwriting, the U of M – Detroit Center Emerging Leader Award, a Lark/PoNY (Playwrights of New York) Fellow. With awards like that, it would be hard to ignore her. In an interview with the American Theatre Wing she expressed what it meant to be a woman of color working in theatre.

“I’m a woman of color, a black woman playwright. I’m a part of a marginalized class in theatre right now, we are still working to make space for ourselves, to be seen on stage, and produced on stage. That means I have to get in conversation with theaters often and advocate for my work and advocate for a new audience. So that what’s in theaters right now, is not the only audience that has to exist. So that, theatre audiences can start becoming more diverse just like the writers who are writing for theatre – which I’m apart of. So, it’s about making space for everyone’s voice to be heard.”

Well Ms. Morisseau, I hear you loud and clear and I can’t wait for Dominique’s upcoming projects. Which include the world premiere of Paradise Blue, the second installment of her 3-play cycle, The Detroit Projects. The play will be premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Tony Award-winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson and starring Tony Award-nominee De’Adre Aziza, Golden Globe-nominee Blair Underwood, and Andre Holland. The play runs from July 22 till August 2. Tickets can be purchased on the Williamstown Theatre Festival website, here.

Blue (Underwood), a gifted trumpeter, contemplates selling his once-vibrant jazz club in Detroit’s Blackbottom neighborhood to shake free the demons of his past and better his life. But where does that leave his devoted Pumpkin, who has dreams of her own? And what does it mean for the club’s resident bebop band? When a mysterious woman with a walk that drives men mad (Aziza) comes to town with her own plans, everyone’s world is turned upside down. This dynamic and musically-infused drama shines light on the challenges of building a better future on the foundation of what our predecessors have left us.

Also in the works, as recently published by Broadway Black, Morisseau is guest curator for The New Black Festival, which just commissioned five black playwrights for UN-TAMED: HAIR BODY ATTITUDE, coming this fall.

2015 is surely to be a year for black female playwrights and I’m glad to be able to witness it. So that when I’m teaching in my performing arts classes in Brooklyn in the fall, my students will not have to feel like I did. They will have a range of black playwrights and artists to draw inspiration from and be inspired by.

It’s clear that she is an artist who believes wholeheartedly in the power and strength of community and diverse storytelling.

Dominique Morisseau, thank you for being Broadway Black.

The post Making Space for Brown Girls: Dominique Morisseau appeared first on Broadway Black.