First Episode Of NOT A MOMENT, BUT A MOVEMENT Features Angelica Cheri's Play CROWNDATION; I WILL NOT LIE TO DAVID

Center Theatre Group launches Not a Moment, But a Movement, a series of events that amplify and center Black artists.

The first episode, premiering on demand beginning January 21 at 5 pm Pacific, and available through March 22, 2021, is introduced by Vanessa Williams, hosted by Bruce A. Lemon Jr. and features a reading of Angelica Chéri's one-person play "Crowndation; I Will Not Lie to David" paired with the music of Jessica Lá Rel and the work of visual artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle.

The video will be free to Center Theatre Group subscribers and supporters and $10 for all others - except on Martin Luther King Day January 18, 2021, when the event will be offered free to the public in a sneak peek streaming at 6 pm Pacific. Not a Moment, But a Movement will be available at www.CTGLA.org/NotAMoment.

Also on January 18, Center Theatre Group will hold a preshow panel discussion at 4pm Pacific. Part of The Forum, a series of deep and uplifting discussions with artists and creators as we move American Theatre forward, the discussion titled "The Forum: Amplifying the Roots of the Movement" will be moderated by SoulCenter founder Erin Michelle Washington and features three influential Black theatre practitioners Woodie King Jr., Rhodessa Jones and Nancy Cheryll Davis-Bellamy. The discussion will also be available on demand at www.CTGLA.org/NotAMoment.

In addition, a special video was created in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Twenty one artists and arts leaders including Keith Josef Adkins, Stori Ayers, Jozben Barrett, Freedome Bradley-Ballentine, Wren T. Brown, Pj "Tru" Bucknor, Andi Chapman, Paige Hernandez, Isaiah Jaay, Jerrie Johnson, Daniel Alexander Jones, Lakisha May, Roberto Antonio Martin, Courtney Peck, Larry Powell, Brandon Rainey, Nikkole Salter, Michael Wayne Turner III, Akilah A. Walker, Chris Webb and Tobie Windham, recite Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legendary I Have A Dream speech. That video, titled "I Have A Dream: His Words, Our Voices" is available at www.YouTube.com/CTGLA.

Directed by Cezar Williams and performed by Sheria Irving, "Crowndation" is a one-woman show following 29-year-old Fatima Seed. Now the same age as her mother when she died of breast cancer, Fatima battles her inner-contradictions, yanked in multiple directions by her faith, her sexuality, her purpose and a secret she discovers about her father, all in pursuit of becoming whole before her time runs out.

Presented in conjunction with Watts Village Theater Company and The Fire This Time Festival, Not a Moment, But a Movement events feature a host who guides the audience through the work of a visual artist, a musician and a theatre artist. Each event is paired with a panel discussion to create a uniquely comprehensive cultural experience.

"I am excited to be partnering with The Fire This Time Festival and Watts Village Theater Company to create and curate this series that amplifies, centers and celebrates Black voices," said Center Theatre Group Associate Artistic Director Tyrone Davis. "There is so much insightful, inspiring and illuminating work for us to choose from that it would be impossible to fully represent the breadth of Black artists but I feel that these three women, expressing and exploring their own unique voices and experiences, offer an excellent start to the countless conversations that our theatre and our community needs to have."f life, love and justice.

To post a comment, you must register and login.