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2009 – 2010
Department of Theatre Arts
Theatre Season
ANNA IN THE TROPICS
by
Nilo Cruz
November 11 - 15, 2009
A poignant and poetic new play set in Florida in
1929 in a
Cuban–American cigar factory, where cigars are still rolled by
hand and "lectors" are employed to educate and entertain the workers.
The
arrival of a new lector is a cause for celebration,
but when he begins to
read aloud from Anna Karenina,
he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the
lives of his avid listeners,
for whom Tolstoy, the tropics and
the American
dream prove a volatile combination.
Tickets: $8.50 - $15.00
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THE SIRENS
by
Richard Wesley
(a joint production with The Howard Players)
A penetrating study of
character and the destructive cycle
which so often characterizes life in a
big city black ghetto.
Employing a series of interlocking vignettes,
made up
of street encounters, dialogues and monologues,
the author counterpoints the
lives of two young prostitutes;
the man who earlier deserted one of them;
and a high school age couple whose future is surely shadowed
in the present
existence of the others. Deftly mixing humor and sadness,
the play captures
the feel of the streets and of a way of life
in which people are so scarred
and trapped by their experiences
that hope and self-confidence are stunted
and betrayed
in the bitter search for simple dignity, happiness and
individual fulfillment.
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BINGO LONG TRAVELING ALL-STARS & MOTOR
KINGS
(based on the novel by William Brashler)
Adapted into a musical by Michael Bobbitt
Music and lyrics by John Cornelius
March 3 - 6, 10 - 13, 2009
Set in the segregated south of 1939,
African-American baseball pitcher
Bingo Long, tired of being jerked around
by the less-than-ethical managers
of the Negro League teams, forms his own
barnstorming ball club.
Though boycotted by powerful Negro League manager Sallison Porter,
the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings
flourish,
gaining a loyal fandom with every new game and cutting into the
League's profits.
Finally, Porter offers Long a deal: if the Motor Kings
can
win one big game with the Negro All-Stars,
Long's team will be allowed to
join the League.
Tickets: $8.00 - $15.00
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2010
Spring Dance Concert
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF DANCE: Dr.
Sherrill Berryman-Johnson
APRIL 2010; Ira
Aldridge Theater
DANCE...
a timeless tradition, speaks the
voices of our people…
It parallels the circle of our
culture:
the continuum of our roots as
People of African Descent.
It mirrors from generation to
generation our power and strength in politics:
where we stand, what we believe,
and our strong will to do.
It signifies the foundation and
wisdom of family and life.
Dance is our language, speaking the
voices of our people, our culture.
Each choreographer communicates a distinctive voice and style shaped and
molded
through the body, mind, soul of Howard University Dance Majors. These
students
are learning and working through a range of studio technical languages in
addition
to discovering their own capabilities to hear, see, and speak as individuals,
yet
being guided to synthesize as one; the visionary message being delivered.
Tickets: $15.00 - $25.00
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ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN
by
Charles Fuller
October 9 - 15, 2009
October 10 - 11, 2009 - 2:30pm matinee
"Zooman" is a black teen in Philadelphia who
senselessly
terrorizes his community without regard to race.
His most recent
crime is the killing of a 12 year-old black girl
on a street filled with
witnesses all of whom are afraid to talk.
The dead girl's bereaved father
posts a sign accusing
the entire community of cowardice in the face of the
ever escalating violence.
Tickets: $7.50 - $12.50
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