Look Back March Forward Play Series The presenting playwrights have attempted to expose important slices of history that seems to have disappeared from the consciousness of America. Young men and women during this time made great sacrifices so that we would be able to live the freedom that we know today. It would be an ungrateful act not to remember them and not to arm the next generation with the knowledge needed to look back and march forward. If you have children, we encourage you to bring them. If not, sponsor a child and we will distribute the tickets to those who would not otherwise be able to attend. About the Plays Mahalia and Martin by Roz White-Vincent "Mahalia and Martin...The Journey to Canaan" is a play with music concieved by Roz White-Vincent that takes a look at the companionship between Mahalia Jackson and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Roz explores the relationship of two friends, both destined for a greatness that is still celebrated decades after their lives have ended. The piece merges excerpts from "Mahalia A Gospel Musical" by (Tom Stolz) with original monolougues based on quotes from the undisputed Queen of Gospel music. Also infused are multi-media clips of Dr. King's most famous speeches and pivitol moments in the civil rights movement. This tapestry is all underscored by Mahalia Jackson's most memorable and soul stirring songs, performed live by Roz White-Vincent in a moving tribute to the heart and voice of the civil rights movement. Tickets $15 Jan. 20th @ 7:30PM Jan. 21st @ 7:30PM Doors @ 7PM ___________________________ Zulu Nation by Mark Williams In game two of the 1977 World Series legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell famously observed, "the Bronx is burning." The Bronx, and in particular, the South Bronx was a place on fire. The end of the Civil Rights Movement alongside the end of the Black Panthers, the infusion of drugs and guns, the migration of primarily white, former immigrants out of the Bronx and the influx of black and brown immigrant groups in, and public policy that was a precursor to what we know as gentrification, and arson, widespread arson, allegedly by the people living in the South Bronx themselves. The Bronx was indeed on fire. "Zulu Nation" follows a young man, Winston, aka "Zulu, his brother Rashid, a Black Panther, and their mother Rita, the owner of a neighborhood restaurant/bar, "Rita's", who amidst all of this try to hold on to one another, their place in this community and a connection to another place that lives inside all of them but becomes more and more faint against the noise of the Bronx and race in the United States. From all of this, a language, a talk back, a through line, a resistance began to be born which would eventually become the global phenomenon that we now know, as Hip-Hop, which in its original incarnation was perhaps the last vestige of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Tickets $10 Feb. 1st @ 7:30PM Feb. 2nd @ 7:30PM Doors @ 7PM *Talk back immediately following __________________________ In Love and War with Reign Falls by Tracie Jade J. This one act play is about the relationship between a female freedom fighter, Reign Falls, loosely based on Angela Davis, and an African-American soldier, Thomas Johnson and their fight for love in the midst of war. We are in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Reign and Thomas are on two different sides of the battle, one willing to sacrafice the love of a man for the freedom of her people and the other willing to sacrafice his life for a country that treats him as a second class citizen, in hopes of earning the right to a better life. The play explores the strength, tenacity, and hope of a people who still managed to love in the midst of darkness and despair. Tickets $15 Feb. 4th @ 7:30PM Doors @ 7PM Feb. 5th @ 4PM Doors @ 3:30PM
|



