Howard University Spearheads Cross Collegiate Collaboration Around the EVERY28HOURS Plays

Following successful and inciting on-campus presentations and filming of the Every 28 Hours (E28H) Plays at Howard University on October 21st and Bowie State University on October 31st, Howard alums and E28H producers Maleke Glee and Tevin Giddens will spearhead a digital and cross-collegiate initiative across social media platforms to encourage an open dialogue that further expands awareness, and provides a space for activism, healing, and psychological resilience in the face of systemic violence against black bodies. To begin this endeavor, Williams College, a liberal arts institution of higher learning in MA, will join forces with their DC counterparts and produce an event that will spark conversation online.

The Every28Hours plays are a collection of 70+ one minute shorts written by playwrights from across the nation who respond to the murder of blacks at an unproportionate rate at the hands of protectors of the state and vigilantes. Writers who have lent their voices to this call include luminaries Lynn Nottage, Neil LaBute, David Henry Hwang, amongst local and emerging playwrights from places like St. Louis, where these plays began.

Supported in partnership with Woolly Mammoth Theater, this E28H happening is part of the national civil rights theater initiative. This October and November, theaters and universities across the country are engaging with these plays within their communities. Howard University's Department of Theatre Arts students shaRed Footage from their engagement with the Williams College organizers, made up of representation from student multi-cultural and theater establishments. And on Saturday, October 29th Williams began responding by filming one-minute plays on different sites around their campus. This will culminate in a live event at Wednesday, November 9th 2016 at 6pm in Paresky Hall on the Williams College campus, where filmed shorts, consisting of plays from Howard's and Williams' activist efforts, will be presented for their student and faculty population. This date is significant for the students because, being the day after the election, the message displayed is that no matter who is elected as president the work of civil rights in the name of those targeted by violent systemic injustices must continue. There will be a social media component planned for this live campus event as well, including a Facebook livestreaming of the presentation.

Starting on Wednesday, November 9th - interested online audience members will be able to see the films on these sites:

http://davis-center.williams.edu/

http://www.williams.edu/

http://theatre.williams.edu/

https://www.facebook.com/Every28HoursPlays/

To join in the growing conversation online employ the hashtag #Every28Hours and seek the Twitter and Instagram pages: @every28hrsplays.

As the discussion continues, Bowie State University will add their voice and films to this important online space.

Every 28 Hours (E28H) is a national theater partnership focused on the widely shared and contested statistic that a black person is killed by the police every 28 hours in the United States. The full collection of Every 28 Hours plays consists of 70-plus one-minute plays inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. Every 28 Hours is produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival under the leadership of OSF Community Producer Claudia Alick, and developed with Dominic D'Andrea (producing artistic director of The One-Minute Play Festival), artists from across the nation and in association with local St. Louis theater makers.

Howard University's Department of Theatre Arts is an internationally acclaimed leader and producer of artistic merit. Each season the Department of Theatre Arts presents classical and contemporary plays in its two-theatre complex. These plays offer not only entertainment, but also a forum for ideas and discussion. The Department of Theatre Arts is committed to the training of knowledgeable theatre artists, theorists, historians, and teachers in the theatre arts. The Department is dedicated to the principle of developing the highest quality of theatre art, and to the serious investigation and perpetuation of the experiences and aesthetics of Black theatre.

Williams College - SISTERHOOD is a student organization that caters to black females at Williams College whose goal is to empower black women by providing a space that supports them in all their endeavors.

Williams College - CAP AND BELLS Since its formation in 1898, Cap & Bells has been devoted to providing student directors, designers, actors, and stage managers with the opportunity to produce their own plays for the Williams campus and the Berkshire community. Essential to this endeavor are the resources of the state-of-the-art '62 Center for Theatre and Dance, which hosts the Tony Award-winning Williamstown Theatre Festival every summer.

Bowie State University Theater Arts is a program to prepare students for successful entrance into the professional theatre and/or advanced academic study. Through mentorship, practical training, and academic rigor, the program produces graduates with a unique artistic vision, a strong work ethic, and an appreciation for theatre as a dynamic cultural force.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Now in its 37th Season, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company continues to hold its place at the leading edge of American theatre. Acknowledged as "one of the most influential outposts for the best new American plays" (The Washington Post) and "known for its productions of innovative new plays" (The New York Times), Woolly Mammoth is a national leader in the development of new works and one of the best known and most influential mid-sized theatres in America.

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