BLACK SPARTA Opens Off-Broadway at the Actors Temple Theatre

Black Sparta is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female official frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

They existed from the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. While European narratives refer to the women soldiers as "Amazons," because of their similarity to the semi-mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia, they called themselves "Mino" (our mothers) in the Fon language.

Black Sparta will play a limited Off-Broadway engagement June 30th - August 18th at the Actors Temple Theatre In New York City - Saturdays @ 4:30pm. The play is written and directed by award winner Layon Gray.

Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense fighting method and sense of collectivism. Tough, violent blood-and-guts women single-mindedly devoted to hardening themselves into ruthless instruments of battlefield destruction, these machete-sword, slinging lady terminators were rightly-feared throughout Western Africa for over 250 years, not only for their fanatical devotion to battle, but for their refusal to back down or retreat from any fight. Their motto was "conquer or die".

Black Sparta begins in 1892; thirty years after the transatlantic slave trade has been virtually at an end. France has already taken over apart of Dahomey and has established a colony called Porto-Novo. They have made it very clear that they want more. Their invasion is unwelcome and the Dahomeans will not go quietly.

Actors Temple Theatre is located in Manhattan at 339 W. 47th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) Show dates and times: Saturdays @ 4;30pm. Tickets priced $39.50 and $69.50 (including facility fee), are available at www.TeleCharge.com, or by calling (212) 239-6200. For more information log on to www.BlackSparta.com