NYC Black Theater Network Presents BLACK PLAYWRIGHTS: THEY SPEAK, WHO LISTENS?

Today, influencer and talent manager ChiChi Anyanwu of the NYC Black Theater Network, Marcia Pendelton, President of Walk Tall Girl Productions/Black Theater Online, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (Kevin Young, Director, Schomburg Center) announced BLACK PLAYWRIGHTS: THEY SPEAK. WHO LISTENS? A Black Theater Winter Preview: Broadway and Off-Broadway Edition. The event is scheduled at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd) on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. Four-time Tony Award-winning producer Ron Simons of SimonSays Entertainment (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Porgy & Bess, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Jitney) will host the program whose purpose is to bring attention to the unprecedented number of plays by black playwrights being produced on Broadway and Off-Broadway this season.

This groundbreaking event will feature performances from the current Broadway hit Choir Boy, and the highly anticipated production of Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, conversations with Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks (White Noise), and breakthrough writer Jeremy O. Harris (Daddy), and much more. Additionally, those attending the event will have access to a theater marketplace that will offer production details, discounts, and information from Black Theater service organizations.

A number of theater companies will participate in this evening of conversation, commentary and performance involving playwrights, performers, and other artistic personnel. The plays/companies that will be showcased as part of the black theater winter preview will include:

"Choir Boy" by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Trip Cullman
MTC, Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway, December 12, 2018 -February 24, 2019

"Behind the Sheet" by Charly Evon Simpson
Directed by Colette Robert
Ensemble Studio Theatre, January 9-February 3, 2019

"The Light" by Loy A. Webb
Directed by Logan Vaughn
MCC Theater, January 23-March 17, 2019

The 10th annual The Fire This Time Festival (6 playwrights: Kendra Augustin, Adrienne Dawes, Francisca Da Silveira, Samantha Godfrey, Garlia Cornelia Jones, Bernard Tarver, York Walker, and Kezia Waters.)
Directed by Kevin. R. Free
Kraine Theater, January 21-February 3, 2019

"By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Kamilah Forbes
Signature Theatre, January 29-March 3, 2019

"Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations" Book by Dominique Morisseau,
Musical Director by Kenny Seymour
Directed by Des McAnuff
Imperial Theatre, Broadway, Previews begin February 28, 2019

"Daddy" by Jeremy O. Harris
Directed by Danya Taymor
The New Group, co-production with Vineyard Theatre, February 12 -March 31, 2019

"The First Deep Breath" by Lee Edward Colston II
directed by Malika Oyetimein
National Black Theater - Feb 13 - 17, 2019

"If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka" by Tori SampsonDirected by Leah C. Gardiner
Choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly
Playwrights Horizons, February 15 - March 31, 2019

"White Noise" by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Oskar Eustis
The Public Theater, March 5 - April 14, 2019

"The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or 'iNegro')"
by Kareem Lucas
Directed by TBA
Cherry Lane Theater (Mentor Project) February 20 - March 2, 2019

"Surely Goodness and Mercy" by Chisa Hutchinson
Directed by Jessi D. Hill
Keen Company (Theater Row), February 26-April 13, 2019

"Letters to Our Daughters," curated by Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Indira Etwaroo
The Billie Holiday Theatre, March 2019

"CULLUD WATTAH" by Erika Dickerson-Despenza
Director: Candis C. Jones
The Public Theater, Public Studio, Shiva Theater, March 7-10, 2019

"Ain't No Mo'" by Jordan E. Cooper
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
The Public Theater, March 12-April 21, 2019

Audience Development Committee aka The AUDELCO Awards

Participants and program subject to change.

The series title "Black Playwrights: They Speak, Who Listens?" is based on an article written about Black women playwrights by Dr. Barbara Molette, the late playwright, actress, director, scholar, educator and author whose career spanned over five decades. The article, published in 1973for "Overtures: A Black Theater Annual, 10th Anniversary Edition," was presented in conjunction with the annual AUDELCO Awards (Audience Development Committee). Based in New York City, the AUDELCO Awards honor excellence in black theater.

Black Playwrights: They Speak, Who Listens? A Black Theater Winter Preview: Broadway and Off Broadway Edition is free. Seating is limited. RSVPs are required. For reservations visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/theater-talks-black-theater-winter-preview-tickets-54174095177?aff=ebdssbdestsearch