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Edward Lewis Black Theatre Festival

Grand Theatre, People Productions, Plan-B Theatre Company, Pygmalion Productions and Utah Contemporary Theatre, present THE EDWARD LEWIS BLACK THEATRE FESTIVAL.

A conversation sprung up when Grand Theatre, Plan-B Theatre Company, Pygmalion Productions and Utah Contemporary Theatre discovered that, serendipitously, they had independently programmed four plays about the black experience in America, all scheduled to run during the first quarter of 2010.  It became clear that, working together, we had a rare opportunity to offer the community an extended celebration of Black History Month.

But how?

It all came together in a discussion about the future viability of People Productions following the death of its founder Edward Lewis. Why not connect the already scheduled productions with a series of readings offered by People Productions?

Five theatre companies.  Four free readings.  Three full productions.

Ticket sales to each full production are independent.  All readings are free.

The Shows

HAVING OUR SAY...THE DELANY SISTERS' FIRST 100 YEARS

by Emily Mann | January 26-February 6
Grand Theatre, Salt Lake Community College

The oral history of the centenarian sisters Sadie and Bessie Delany - ordinary people who realize extraordinary achievements - for more than 100 years. This simple story typifies the essential human condition of struggle and achievement. "A window on a world now lost, full of love, a little pain and a wondrous deal of hope." - The New York Post.

(Tickets here - ask for the FESTIVAL discount to get 25% off.)

MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM

by August Wilson
Free Reading | Monday, February 8, 7pm
Black Box, Salt Lake Community College, hosted by Grand Theatre

A 1927 recording studio in Chicago. Downstairs in the band room, Ma’s musicians wait for her, their conversation focused on what it means to be a black man in America. Upstairs the white record producers fret because the country’s taste in music is changing, and Ma, their meal ticket, is losing her appeal. And Ma herself is a force of nature who understands the power of her music and the money it makes.

Email richard.scharine@utah.edu for reservations.

NEGLECT

by Sharyn Rothstein
Free Reading | Monday, February 22, 7pm
Salt Lake Acting Company, presented by Utah Contemporary Theatre

Rose is an elderly African-American woman.  Her once middle-class Chicago neighborhood has become rundown and overrun with street thugs. During the 1995 Chicago heat wave that left over 700 residents dead, circumstance and desperation force Rose to come face to face with her own vulnerabilities of fear and isolation.

Email kurtuct@gmail.com for reservations.

THE TALENTED TENTH

by Richard Wesley
Free Reading | Monday, March 1, 7pm
Studio Theare, Rose Wagner, hosted by Plan-B Theatre Company

Inspired by W.E.B. DuBois' admonition that it was the duty of successful blacks to lend a helping hand to their less fortunate brothers and sisters. College revolutionaries in the 1960s (now well up the corporate ladder) find themselves asking how much of their success is an imitation of white culture they once rebelled against and what is their debt to the class from which they escaped?

Email richard.scharine@utah.edu for reservations.

WALLACE

by Jenifer Nii & Debora Threedy
World Premiere | March 4-14
Studio Theatre, Rose Wagner

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner is the dean of Western writers. Wallace Thurman was a young, gay black man at the heart of the Harlem Renaissance. Both called Salt Lake City home. Their lives intertwine in this rumination on the power of place and the meaning of home.

Tickets here - use promo code FESTIVAL to get 2-4-1 tickets.

LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL

by Lanie Robertson
March 25-April 10
Black Box, Rose Wagner

1959: Billie Holiday in the last year of her life, in one of her last gigs. Billie is joyful as she tells her life's bluesy tale in song and story during this lovely cabaret-style evening. Featuring more than a dozen songs that made Billie a legend.

(Tickets here - use promo code FESTIVAL to get 2-4-1 tickets.)

WEDDING BAND

by Alice Childress
Free Readng | Monday, April 5, 7pm
Black Box, Rose Wagner, hosted by Pygmalion Productions

In 1918 Charleston, South Carolina, the ten-year relationship of Julia and Herman, forbidden by law, faces its greatest threat - not from the force of the law or the spurning of those around them - but from the prejudices they have yet to admit to themselves.

Email richard.scharine@utah.edu for reservations.