The Shades of Black Theatre Showcase, presented throughout August at the Darkhorse Theater, concludes this weekend with the final performances of Shakin’ the Mess Out of Misery, a joint production of two local community theater groups, Sista Style and Collards & Caviar. Shay Youngblood’s play, concerning a young African American woman’s coming of age in the 1920s, opened last weekend on the heels of Dream 7’s mounting of Michael L. Walker’s original script Pulpits. The showcase opened on Aug. 3 with Candy Robins’ Gorgeous.
Shades of Black represents the first time Nashville’s African American community theaters have merged forces to promote their work. It’s a solid indicator that grassroots black theater is taking hold in Music City on a wider scale.
“The three companies had separately booked the Darkhorse for August,” says Shawn Whitsell, who starred in Pulpits and has served as the showcase’s PR director. “At the suggestion of Mary McCallum [from Sista Style], we decided to run things as a joint effort, to have a mini-theater festival. It happened by accident and we ran with it, despite not having much time to prepare. We’ve done the best we could under the circumstances, and this lays the foundation for next year. We have a whole year to plan—better shows, better promotion, more workshops.”
Amun Ra Theatre founder jeff obafemi carr will conduct a directing workshop on Aug. 26. An acting seminar with noted thespian Barry Scott was on Aug. 12.
Whitsell is a cultural arts staff specialist for Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation, where he also leads the Patterson Park Ensemble Players. “It’s always great to join forces with other companies that have similar goals, to combine resources, and to offer more variety for theatergoers,” he says. “We haven’t necessarily set defined goals for African American community theater, but we want to do whatever we can that’s positive and promotes networking—and not just with African American companies. Dream 7 has been a great place to learn, sharpen skills and experience the theater, but I’d like to see more formal training and learning opportunities available, with more professionals coming in to teach us some of the things we should be doing to improve our work.“
Shakin’ the Mess Out of Misery is directed by Eugenia J. Sweeney and features Yolonda Beech, Demetra Granberry, Loretta Huff, Tyese Hunter, Jene India, LaQuita James, Darlene Knight and Christan Riley. The show runs through Aug. 27 at Darkhorse Theater. For tickets and other festival information, phone (615) 781-3904 or write shadesofblackshowcase@yahoo.com.
Comments (0)