Black Nativity at Bishop Arts Theatre Center

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2. Black Nativity

Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Oak Cliff’s premiere performing arts venue, will be presenting their annual, holiday spectacular Black Nativity by Langton Hughes, directed by Jiles King. A fun, toe-tapping, foot-stomping, finger-snapping holiday event, Black Nativity interprets the Nativity story through gospel and contemporary music. Originally titled Wasn’t It a Mighty Day?, Black Nativity was performed Off-Broadway in 1961 at the 41st St. Theatre in New York, NY. At that time, it was one of the first plays written by an African American playwright to be performed Off-Broadway and at one point, gave rise to an upcoming new choreographer, Alvin Ailey. Hughes wrote the play as a means to engage the public and the African American community in his theatrical works. Originally, prominent members of the African American community would play the roles of the Three Wise Men to show their support of African Americans in the arts. Carrying on that tradition, BATC’s annual production of Black Nativity engages the Oak Cliff community by casting youth from local schools like W.E. Greiner Middle School Academy for the Arts and employing home grown directors and musicians to spearhead production. Hughes intentionally left the music and style up for interpretation to reflect the times and bring new artistic life into each reiteration. Each year brings new perspective and new life to the play making Black Nativity a truly special holiday event. Played in two acts, this holiday production promises to fill you with the holiday spirit. This year’s production will be directed by Jiles King. His gritty and fresh direction of the holiday favorite is sure to bring a new energy to this time-honored production. Founder of 7th Stage Productions and DFW Black Arts, he was the first Chief Executive Artistic Director of The Black Academy of Arts and Letters and also served as an Associate Producer with the Tony Award winning Negro Ensemble Company, Miller Theatre, Harlem School of the Arts and several other Off-Broadway companies. Music Director, Steven Taylor will make his debut on the BATC stage.

Authors

• Langston Hughes