Ed Bullins' The Taking of Miss Janie-Free Pro Perf in FL
By: Beau Higgins Apr. 16, 2006
RACIAL TENSION, POLITICS, RELIGION AND INTERRACIAL LOVE IS EVIDENT
IN AAPACT'S LATEST PRODUCTION OF ACCLAIMED PLAYWRIGHT ED BULLINS'
MOST CONTROVERSIAL PLAY THE TAKING OF MISS JANIE.
presents its production of The Taking of Miss Janie, written by the
award-winning playwright Ed Bullins. The play stars some of South
Florida's finest actors, Erika Robel, Reiss Gaynard, Matthew
McCullough, Kevin Johnson, Christina N. Alexander, Dyani Batcheller,
Nick Volker, Cary Hart and John Wendell. Directed by Teddy Harrell, Jr. Performances will run Now through April 23, 2006 at the
Carrie P. Meek Senior and Cultural Center at the Charles Hadley Park
Black Box Theatre, 1300 NW 50th Street, Miami, Florida. Regular evening performances are 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Matinee Performances are Sundays at 3 pm.
The Taking of Miss Janie is a theatrical drama that displays the
relationship between a black revolutionary and a white liberal woman
whose rape becomes the play's core symbolism. Set at a party in California; the play follows the lives of nine
young college students trying to make sense of the confusion around
the drastic changes and movements of the 1960s. Janie (Robel), wide-
eyed and bushytailed happens upon a brand new world on the Southern
California college scene when she meets Monty (Gaspard) a smooth,
black revolutionary poet. Janie is welcomed into a world unlike
anything she has ever experienced. She meets Monty's roommates Rick
(McCullough) the aggressive, radical who dispels pure hate for Janie
and Len (Johnson) the intellectual-artistic-politically-aware
brother. Monty's sometime girlfriend Peggy (Alexander) is a strong
but tender black woman all the while dealing with Monty's lust for
her thirsty for-sex girlfriend, Flossie (Hart). Janie has her
skeletons as well, having aborted children from her boyfriend Lonnie
(Volker). Rick's temper is tested when he meets Len's girlfriend
Sharon (Batcheller) a jewish girl who is fighting her own demons,
while getting a wake up call from Mort (Wendell) a beatnik bum.
thought-provoking plays, which stirred strong feminist disapproval.
The audience will feel the characters frustration, anger, and pain
as the relationship between Janie and Monty which develops into more
than Janie can control. Karen Feldscher, writer for NU Magazine wrote that Ed Bullins has
been called "one of the most powerful black voices in contemporary
American theater". America's greatest living playwright. Prolific.
Influential. Gifted. Legendary theater critic Clive Barnes has
said "he writes like an angel." You've probably never heard of Ed
Bullins. But those who know something about African-American
theater, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, surely have. They
regard him as a founding father. Bullins, who taught at Northeastern University since 1995 and
currently holds the title Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, has
written more than a hundred plays. Having a healthy measure of
accolades already come to him this former Black Panther has produced
many works including a trilogy of plays—A Son, Come Home, The
Electronic Nigger, and Clara's Ole Man which earned him the 1968
Vernon Rice Drama Desk Award. In 1971, he earned an Obie Award and
the Black Arts Alliance Award for both The Fabulous Miss Marie and
In New England Winter. The Taking of Miss Janie garnered him an Obie
Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1975.
technical theatre professionals, writers and other artists to see
The Taking of Miss Janie and meet and greet playwright Ed Bullins.
Kindly call (866) 390-4534 or email to aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. Advance tickets are $20.00 and at the door $25.00. Student
rate with valid ID is $15. Senior rate with valid ID is $15. Rates
for groups of 30 or more $10 per person. Tickets can be
purchased on-line at www.aapact.com through PAY PAL or by calling 866-390-4534.The African American Performing Arts Theatre Company was founded in
1999. The company is composed of local black actors, directors and
stage technical professional who strive to enhance and promote
cultural awareness and education through the performing arts to
inner city youth and theatergoers in the surrounding Miami-Dade
County community. AAPACT is a not-for-profit 501(3) c organization,
all contributions are tax deductible.
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