By Matt Morris
The U of L theater department unites six productions for this academic year with a theme of liberation, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the school”s African American Theater Program (AATP).
The AATP, directed by Lundeana Thomas, is a specialized program within the theater department that allows students the opportunity to be trained in the traditions of African American theater. The program has several events taking place this academic year.
The theater season on campus is scheduled to run six plays from early October to late April. The dark comedy by Alan Acykbourn, ‘Woman in Mind,’ will begin the season in Thrust Theater running from the first of October through the fifth. The play is about an addled Englishwoman”s crafting of an imaginary family to replace her own reality.
‘The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,’ a Jerome Lawrence-Robert Edwin Lee play will show in the Playhouse on campus from October 29 to November 2. This play will tell the story of a writer”s civil disobedience in refusing to pay taxes to support war. This cast of 17 for the production will be composed of 13 undergraduate students, two graduate students, a student from Jefferson Community College, and a one and a half year old child.
‘Black Nativity’ will retell the Christmas story with gospel concert and dance, modeled after the concept by Langston Hughes. This play will be shown in the Playhouse as well, from December 3 to 7.
The AATP will host a ‘talk back’ session on December 4 in conjunction with U of L”s Commission on the Status of Women as well as the Commission of Diversity and Racial Equality.
From February 4 to 8, ‘Night, Mother’ will be shown in Thrust Theater. This show is a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about hopelessness, family and suicide written by Louisville native and U of L alumni Marsha Norman.
Also in February, a gala on the 28th is expected to feature well-known actors as well as a speech from actress Hatie Winston of CBS-TV”s ‘Becker’ series. Winston will be an honorary cochair of the AATP celebration along with John O”Neal, a visiting professor from the New Orleans Arts Organization Junebug Productions.
The next month, March 3 through 7, Euripides’ classic lamentation ‘The Trojan Women,’ telling the story of the Trojan War”s aftermath, will be shown in the Playhouse.
The final show of the season will run from April 21 to 25 in Thrust Theater. ‘Middle Passage: A Ritual of Healing’ is a Fatima Dike drama that tells the story about slavery”s disruption of families told from African and African American perspectives. The students and faculty from U of L that make up the cast for the finale of the theater season had the opportunity this past summer to study and perform in a South African arts festival. All plays will begin at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m.
The box office is open an hour before curtain, and reserved tickets can be picked up 30 minutes early. Season tickets cost $45 for the public, $40 for U of L employees as well as people over 65, and $30 for students. Individual show prices are $10, $9, and $7 respectively. For more information, call the box office at 852-6814.
