Red Tails: the Tuskegee Airmen are coming to a theater near you thanks to George Lucas

Any retelling of this story is good, even if it's Star Wars meets World War II.

The New Black Playwright's Fest looking for one-act plays

THE NEW BLACK PLAYWRIGHT'S FESTIVAL LOOKING FOR ONE-ACT PLAYS! (Atlanta, GA)

The New Black Playwright's Festival returns to Actor's Express this fall and they are looking for new one-act scripts to be produced as staged readings. The exciting series brings back to the Atlanta theatre community the opportunity to hear from new writers with great stories. The festival endured a long absence from the Atlanta theatre scene.

"It has certainly been way too long but I am very excited about our re-launch," says Founder Karen Horne Seymour.

The festival enjoyed several years of progress and success when it first began in 1997. The following six years, the Festival presented more than twenty-seven playwrights and twenty-nine plays. The stage readings have a scheduled three night run beginning Sunday, September 18, 2011 at Actor's Express 887 W. Marietta Street in the King Plow Art Center. For information on submitting your play please contact by phone or email: The New Black Playwright's Festival 404-399-0604newblackplaywrights@hotmail.com Visit their facebook page Freddie Ashley Artistic Director Actor's Express 887 West Marietta Street NW, Suite J-107 Atlanta, GA 30318 404-875-1606 administrative office 404-607-SHOW box office

The Science of Acting: The Biograph

The Biograph.

Before you apply this to a character, do the exercise on your own life and realize that everything that you know about yourself, your character knows about his or her self.

The numbers across the top signify years of age.

The words down the side signify the "arenas of life" - the things which we all have in common yet which for each of us are unique and in turn make each of us unique and give us our quirks.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 - up to your characters' current age

Parents
Mother
Father
Grandparents
Homes
Siblings
School
Education
Grades
Food
Religion
Sex
Parties
Hobbies
Work
Dating
Vices
Clothing
Health

Add to this list as things occur to you.


For more information on the science of acting, contact

Jaz Dorsey
Dramaturg
The African American Playwrights Exchange
www.africanamericanplaywrightsexchange.blogspot.com
jazmn47@aol.com

AAPEX Book Review: Dr. Frank E. Dobson, Jr's RENDERED INVISIBLE: STORIES OF BLACKS & WHITES, LOVE & DEATH

Dr. Frank E. Dobson, Jr.

The African American Playwrights' Exchange

Recommended Reading

RENDERED INVISIBLE: STORIES OF BLACKS & WHITES, LOVE & DEATH

by Dr. Frank E. Dobson, Jr.,

Director of Vanderbilt University's

Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center

& Adjunct Professor at Fisk University

Intense in both style and subject matter, RENDERED INVISIBLE is a collection of one novella and five shorter pieces which, collectively, offer insight into America's "culture of race" as it impacts all of us, both psychologically and emotionally. The protagonists are African American men ranging from the blue collar anti-hero of the title piece to a fatherless child named "junior" to a fellow who seeks to balance his own life issues when faced with the life of another man who has escaped the genocide of Rwanda. Dobson's skills as a dramatist infuse all six pieces with a powerful sense of personality, drawing the reader into each character's unique emotional turmoil. Throughout is the thread of social alienation which continues to haunt this country, where the promise of equality can't shake free from the enigma of race.

The stories in RENDERED INVISIBLE all have strong cinematic qualities. One piece, BLACK MESSIAHS DIE, has already made the transition to stage play under the title YOUNG MESSIAHS FLY.

The collection is also sure to find a place on the reading lists for courses on contemporary American and African American literature.

Dobson's strong connection to his material no doubt has its roots in a career which spans forty years and fuses outstanding academic achievements with a clear passion for community involvement and mentoring, and a life which has journeyed from the working class streets of Buffalo, NY to the prestigious halls of Nashville's Vanderbilt University to classrooms across the country.

For more information on Dr. Dobson and RENDERED INVISIBLE, visit www.frankedobsonjr.com

To order the book, please click the post's title.

Book review by Jaz Dorsey,

AAPEX Dramaturg

Atlanta Playwright Calvin Ramsey Wins AAPEX New Voice 2011 Award

Calvin Ramsey

The African American Playwrights' Exchange is pleased to recognize Atlanta based playwright and author Calvin Ramsey as AAPEX's New Voice of 2011. This recognition goes to Calvin for the outstanding job he has done of parlaying his research on The Negro Motorists Green Book into successes on two fronts - a drama, THE GREEN BOOK, which opens at Atlanta's Theatrical Outfit on August 17th - and an award winning children's book, RUTH AND THE GREEN BOOK, which has received a bronze medal in the Childrens' Picture Book category of the ForeWord 2011 Book of the Year Awards. In addition to his accomplishments as a writer, Calvin is also a significant force in the Atlanta theatre community, as indicated by the numerous conversations I have had with actors and other artists who have worked with him over the years - and the upcoming run of THE GREEN BOOK will surely shine a light on the amazing work being done in theatre in what is possibly the most fascinating city in the United States. Come to Atlanta and Go to the Theatre

Jaz Dorsey

Dramaturg AAPEX

Owa's A PARADISE LOST reading at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture -- July 11th (Pittsburgh)

Please click image to enlarge. 

Alicia Keys to produce Lydia R. Diamond's STICK FLY on Broadway

Diamond’s drama tells of an upscale African-American family that has a home on Martha’s Vineyard. One adult son is an affluent plastic surgeon, while the other is a not-yet-published novelist. Both bring their girlfriends for the weekend; that one is white will lead to complications.

The play will be staged by Kenny Leon, one of the comparatively few directors to have guided two Tony-winning revivals: “Fences” in 2010 and “A Raisin in the Sun” in 2004. He has yet to cast the show.

Previews begin November 18th with the opening scheduled for December 8th.

Please click the post's title to visit the "Stick Fly" website.

AAPEX Book Review: Dr. Henry Miller's THEORIZING BLACK THEATRE

Subway Reading: THEORIZING BLACK THEATRE

I thought that I would read Dr. Henry Miller's new book from cover to cover before writing a review, but I quickly discovered that THEORIZING BLACK THEATRE is not that kind of book.

THEORIZING BLACK THEATRE is the kind of book that you KEEP in your backpack and take out on the subway with pen in hand so you can take notes. Every couple of pages you will go over enough material to constitute an undergrad course in African American theatre and dramaturgy.

For instance, I have had the book for several months and have made it to Chapter 2, page 77. For every hour I have spent reading, I have spent 5 at the computer googling a whole new world of American theatre artists whose contributions have not been recognized in any theatre history book I have ever read. At this point, I am fixated on a playwright named Angelina Grimke (1805 - 1879) and her circle and the movement of African American dramaturgy from musicals to drama, as it is recognized in Grimke's anti-lynching drama RACHEL.

Theoretically, THEORIZING BLACK THEATRE is about the dialectic between Art & Propaganda in African American drama, but in pursuing this line of discourse, Dr. Miller gives us a whole new look at out country and begins to undo the damage that segregation has done to our historical perspective, especially as it is taught to us as students of American history and culture. Anyone who is fascinated with who we are needs to grab a copy of Dr. Miller's book & a pen and just get on the A train and read.

Jaz Dorsey
Dramaturg
The African American Playwrights Exchange
Nashville, Tennessee

Please click the post's title to buy the book on Amazon.com.

Jamal Williams' play about Pearl Bailey ("Cooking With Pearl") opens July 13th (Harlem)

Jamal Williams

If you happen to be in New York around the middle of July, please come check Pearl out in the play, "Cooking With Pearl" which makes its world premiere on Wednesday July 13, 2011. The cast is a fabulous veteran group of actors. I hope everyone can make it to this limited run (12 shows over two weeks.) We have a fabulous cast and a perfect Harlem location at the Harlem School of the Arts Theatre. I'll be coming up from Atlanta to be present. Hope to see you there.

Jamal Williams


To learn more about The Harlem School of the Arts, please click the post's title.


Congratulations, Jamal!
AAPEX staff

Book Review: Henry Miller's Theorizing Black Theatre

Please click to enlarge.

From the Spring 2011 edition of Broadside, the journal of the Theatre Library Association. To learn more about the TLA, please click the post's title.