Friday, February 24, 2012

TO BE YOUNG, GIFTED, AND BLACK in Philly



MAKE SURE YOU SEE THIS PLAY TONIGHT, TOMORROW AND SUNDAY AT CHRIST CHURCH NEAR 2ND AND MARKET! I am so grateful to witness this production by AND COMPANY THEATRE, at www.andcompanytheatre.org of Lorraine Hansberry's very seminal play TO BE YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK which was originally produced after her passing January 12, 1965, and is a medley of Hansberry's plays some published, some not published by her late husband Robert Nemiroff. Yesterday I talked with one of the performers in this piece, Walter Deshields, who plays Monasse, Walter and other characters in this piece. I hope to blog about what made And Company Theatre decide to produce this very important piece that speaks not only to individual freedom in characters like Beneatha and Candace who do not want to be held down by gender norms; but this also speaks to freedom from colonial domination that we see in characters like Tshombe and Hannibal who fight against European colonization. This is an eternal play that includes personal letters of Hansberry and fit into the theme of Hansberry's life from her rearing in Chicago to her having a national platform as a playwright in New York. A phenomenal play. MAKE SURE YOU SEE THIS PLAY TONIGHT, TOMORROW AND SUNDAY AT CHRIST CHURCH NEAR 2ND AND MARKET!

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