Stage Black, MPAACT 2009

Written by Lydia R. Diamond

Directed by Mignon McPherson Nance

In Stage Black a well-respected but under-produced African-American playwright, attempts to write the “perfect producible black play”. As the writer attempts to script the black play that falls within the comfort zones of white and black audiences, her subconscious leaps to the fore and her characters rebel. The rest… well, you’ll just have to see it to believe it.

according to Kerry Reid of the Chicago Tribune,

“Playwright Lydia Diamond’s sharp self-deprecating broadside against the worn-out tropes of African-American theater features a saintlike, albeit catatonic, black matriarch on a couch. This dig at the theatrical images of long-suffering black women, such as those found in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” isn’t completely original with Diamond. George C. Wolfe covered similar territory in 1986’s hit comedy revue “The Colored Museum” with his biting sketch, “The Last-Mama-on-the-Couch Play.” But Diamond brings her own unique spin to exploding the stereotypes.”

Performances

Thursdays & Fridays @ 8:30pm
Saturdays @ 7:30pm
Sundays @  3:30pm

through March 1st

The Greenhouse Theatre – 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL

about MPAACT:

“MPAACT exists to develop, nurture, and sustain Afrikan Centered Theatre (ACT), an artistic expression grounded in the many cultures and traditions of the Afrikan continent and its Diaspora” — The MPAACT website

mpaact.org