In January, I had the pleasure of taking part another discussion about science and theater. This one was hosted by the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a program of the National Academy of Science (NAS). Their mission is to bring scientists together with directors, producers, and writers. As with the Drama of DNA workshop at the NIH, JD Talasek, Director of Cultural Programs at the NAS, gathered D.C. area artists, administrators, and scholars to gauge their interest in producing and writing plays about science.

After a round table of introductions, choreographer, performer, and educator, Liz Lerman spoke about her recent project, The Matter of Origins. Here are key points that resonated with me:

• Both theatre and science come to the art and work in a space of inquiry. Artists and scientists are seeking knowledge, comprehension and understanding about the world through their work. 
  
• The arts can help scientists communicate thoughts, discoveries, and challenges to the community. 
  
• Scientists can help artists see the power and impact of the research and discovery. (I would also add that science can help artist understand the importance of failure in the development of a new work.)
  

Liz also shared a number of compelling questions that arose in her work:

• In the creation of art and sharing of information, there is sense of awe and wonder in the moment of discovery. With regards to the human condition, how does this new knowing or unknowing invoke sadness or empower our position in the world/understanding of where we are in the universe?
  
• When engaging stories about science and ethics, how do we tell stories in a way that honor the individual and share the knowledge?
  
• What happens when artists draw a conclusion about the research that makes the scientists uncomfortable? 
  

Next, Ann Merchant, Deputy Executive Director for Communications for NAS, shared more about the mission and vision of the Science & Entertainment Exchange. I was particularly struck by the following:

• Risk is a space of vibrancy in the world of science. (How can theatre benefit from this?)
  
• How can we raise awareness about what artists are doing in the same space where scientists are sharing the knowledge they have?
  
• How do we access and evaluate the success and also the cognitive and creative outcome? What is the goal and objective?
• While story trumps science, science can improve the story. Still, what is the ethical question around accuracy? 

Ann then shared thoughts from scientist, professor and writer Sidney Perkowitz, on the idea of getting it right:

“You have to bend accuracy. Entertainment starts with an assumption that a lot of scientists don't start with: The story and the science have to somehow blend. You can't just insist the science be 100% accurate. It's better to have some science in there that's more or less accurate, than to have it badly done or not there at all. So [as advisors] we'll bend some in return for having some input.”

We ended the meeting contemplating ways that theatre artists, especially playwrights, and scientists could collaborate:

• We can create a space where entertainment presents information and become accidental curriculum.
  
• We can create residencies where artists can be embedded in lab or where scientist can work with a theatre. 
  
• We know that high school and colleges are interested in plays about science and history. Playwrights can think about plays for educational purposes, for young audiences and performers.
  
• We can work together to develop TED talks and podcasts.
  

I was thrilled to continue this conversation. It gave me an opportunity to discuss next steps for my new play, AMONG THESE WILD THINGS, which I’m researching and writing. I have the great fortune of working with Dr. Jim Evans, who you’ll remember from the Drama of DNA workshop, on getting the science right in this play. I hope to have two drafts completed by May. Also, I was able to share ideas about the cross-disciplinary science/theatre initiative that I’m working to cultivate at UNC-Chapel Hill. I’m the fundraising and resource gather stage for this initiative, but can hardly wait to share more as it comes together.

This week, I'm at James Madison University serving as the 2014/15 Cultural Connection Artist-in-Residence for the School of Theater and Dance. Over the next several days, I'll be taking part in various classroom visits, a playwriting workshop, and brown bag lunches where we'll discuss the Power of Theatre to Impact Social Change, the Business of Show Business: Marketing/Branding, and the Dramaturg-Director/Choreographer Relationships. What's more, I'm holding a masterclass on Arts Leadership and Advocacy and a faculty meeting on Diversity in Theatre and Dance Education and in the evenings, I'll be working with students to create a devised play. Finally, there will be a staged reading of The Hampton Years to wrap things up. The following events are open to students and faculty across the campus, so please feel free to stop by!

It's been an honor bring HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments to the Triangle community. Congratulations to everyone involved and especially to Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Monet Noelle Marshall, Jules Odendahl-James, Ana Radulescu, Jeri Lynn Schulke and Devra Thomas for coming together in the spirit of collaboration and the desire not only to create, but also build community in response to human tragedy. Our cast, what can I say, these young men leaving it all on the stage. We've had packed houses and powerful post show discussions. It's been an enlightening and transformative experience. If you're in the area, there's one more performance tonight at 8:00pm. For those unable to attend, please enjoy these photos by Kenneth Campbell that capture moments before, during, and after from our opening night performance.

Event Details
HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments 
Written by Dennis Allen, Idris Goodwin, Glenn Gordon, ​Eric Holmes, Nathan James, and Nathan Yungerberg
Directed by Monet Noelle Marshall
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James and Jacqueline E. Lawton
Featuring  Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer
Stage Manager: JaMeeka Holloway
Produced by ArtsCenter Stage

Plan Your Visit
What: HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
When: February 5-7 at 8:00 pm
Where: Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd, Durham
Cost: $8.00
RSVP: (919) 384-7817
Online Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/4916
Directions/Parking: http://www.cgtheatre.com/directions 
 
*HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments is produced in association with the New Black Fest. 

In preparation for Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments, which is being presented by ArtsCenter Stage and Common Ground Theatre with the support of MOJOAA Perfoming Arts Company and in conjunction with the Ladies of the Triangle Theatre (LoTT), I had a chance to speak with our wonderful, talented, and hardworking cast members. Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer, each share what connects them to their monologue and why it was so important to take part in this play. I'm honored to share their responses with you along with a handful of gorgeous photos from last night's final dress rehearsal. Please enjoy!

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
Malcolm Evans: I knew the director Monet and it seemed like a play with a strong message worth getting behind.

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
ML: I am reading “Holes In My Identity”. I relate to my characters lack of cultural 
identity. Before I went to an HBCU. I lived in Hawaii where I was the only black kid in
my graduating class. So being the sore thumb was something I am greatly familiar
with.

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?
ML: I hope the audience can look past there own personal experiences and see 
something real.

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
Kenneth Lampkin: I feel like it was my duty to do this production. There's alot that comes with opening up and speaking the truth about topics like these, that alot of my peers ignore, don't care or runaway from. I'm taking a stand and doing this monologue to hopefully impact a someone and change the perspective of a black man.

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
KL: I have alot to do with the monologue I'm reading. I've been stop and harass by the police several times so it was kinda easy putting myself in his shoes.

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?
KL: I hope the audince realize that rasicm and discrimination isn't dead.. and the only way we can move forward is if we come together as a human race. Not a white Vs black Vs yellow Vs purple thing but as humans all focus on one goal and that is peace..

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
JM: It is important for me to take part in this performance because I feel that I can bring raw emotion to the piece. I strongly think, rather i know that i can step into the shoes of the man in my piece and become him and convey his feelings to the crowd.

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
JM: I am reading the piece "abortion," I feel that I can relate to the main character in this piece because at times I also have the same feelings of "I dont want a child of my blood to be raised in this world. This world of hate and negativity."

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?
JM: I hope that everyone who sees this piece will walk away with the perspective of my character. I wish only that they not only hear my piece but that they understand my piece.

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
Justin Peoples: Its important because as an African American Artist our voices must be heard and shared with the world.  

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
JP: My piece is titled "Hands Ups" And a lot of the dialogue in this piece i can relate to because it is me.  I have often wanted to say these same things aloud and now i have the opportunity.

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?
JP: That this is very real and has been going on for centuries, so we're frustrated and angry.  So listen and take heed because our voices are strong and have to be heard.

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
CJ Suitt: It is important for me to be a part of this production because as a black man in this country I will have a black son and it is important that the world see him.

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
CJ: I'm reading "They Shootin' or I ain't neva scared: A reverberation in 3 parts." I connect with this piece because as a Black man I know what its like to feel the gravity and juxtaposition between how you are seen and how you see yourself.

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?

CJ: I hope viewers will walk away with a deeper understanding of the context that we are living in. A world that is both personal and political. 

Jacqueline Lawton: Why was it important for you to take part in this production?
Marcus Zollicoffer: This play is a collection of African American voices about issues in our country and those voices deserve to be heard. I want to help those voice be heard.

JL: Which monologue are you reading? What, if anything, do you have in common with him? 
MZ: I am reading "Walking with Micheal Brown" I believe I can fix the Black Man vs. Police problem, I could be right or I could be completely wrong. 

JL: What do you hope audiences walk away thinking about after experiencing these monologues?
MZ: Those guys made me think about some things, and I want to start a dialogue with others about it.

Event Details
HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments 
Written by Dennis Allen, Idris Goodwin, Glenn Gordon, ​Eric Holmes, Nathan James, and Nathan Yungerberg
Directed by Monet Noelle Marshall
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James and Jacqueline E. Lawton
Featuring  Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer
Stage Manager: JaMeeka Holloway
Produced by ArtsCenter Stage

Plan Your Visit
What: HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
When: February 5-7 at 8:00 pm
Where: Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd, Durham
Cost: $8.00
RSVP: (919) 384-7817
Online Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/4916
Directions/Parking: http://www.cgtheatre.com/directions 
 
*HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments is produced in association with the New Black Fest. 

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Glenn Gordon NSangou: I blame it on my older brother.  He was doing plays in high school and my parents would always throw him a big theatre party afterwards and invite the whole family over the house.  I wanted that.  So when he went to college, I was entering middle school and decided to audition for a play.  I got in, thinking this would be my chance for my party.  Then I realized this was what I wanted to do.  I don’t think I got the party, actually.  Maybe soon hahaha.

JL: Next, tell me a little bit about your writing process. Do you have any writing rituals? Do you write in the same place or in different places?
GGN: Haha.  Now I can’t reveal my secret recipe.  I don’t know all of how I do it, actually.  I do know it comes from knowing what I want to say, and why I want to say it.  That’s critical.  No matter what the story is, I’d like it to resonate with people.  So it’s important that as I talk with family and friends and maybe strangers, I need to be listening to what’s said and not said.  That’s where the truth comes from.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of the New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments? 
GGN: I called Keith Josef Atkins up during the Ferguson coverage and said “Man, the artists have to say something to this. “  He eventually came up with the idea for this and asked me to contribute.  Artists are the eyes of the society.  We can help see the past, assess the present, and envision possible futures.  It’s important for me because we need to see through the lens of men of African descent who live in this country.

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
GGN: I wrote this piece to explore a possible solution someone might take if they felt things have gone too far.  A piece about what happens when you love life so much you would do anything to protect it.  I didn’t want to just express feelings.  I wanted to go further to exploring solutions or consequences of not doing anything about it.  I want people to consider a simple theme: “those who make peaceful revolution impossible only make violent revolution inevitable.”  We should look to make change before somebody does something extreme.  Sadly that has already happened.  So we better get moving.

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
GGN: We are the ones who envision the kind of world to advocate for.  In my humble opinion, people know what they don’t want, but have a hard time envisioning what they do want.  What kind of world they want to live in.  Theatre makes those visions come to life in a tangible way to see if we, as a society, truly want that.  We bring the vision to life.  Especially as Africans, our theatre is always functional.  It’s meant to solve social issues and remember our past.  Theatre without purpose is entertainment. 

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
GGN: Well, as a playwright I am a part of the Emerging Writer’s Group at the Public Theater.  I have a Hip Hop Theatre piece called “Syncing Ink” that will get a reading in the Spring.  I also have a commission from Penn State University, where I had students take DNA tests to explore their ethnic make up.  My play will be focused on exploring how knowing your roots may change your views on race and racism.  It will be performed in South Africa and later at Penn State in the Fall.  I’m also an actor, and will be performing in HANDS UP at the National Black Theater in February, doing my piece.  Finally, I am traveling to Cameroon (my ancestral homeland) to study the performance traditions of my people, the Tikar.

Glenn Gordon (NSangou Njikam)- is an actor and playwright from Baltimore, MD. He is a current member of the Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater. His acting credits include Henry V (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Deep Azure (Congo Square Theatre Company), Revenge of a King (NYC Fringe) and The Actor's Rap. He wrote and performed Re:Definition, as a part the Hip Hop Theater Festival. Glenn is also co-founder of The Continuum Project, Inc., a company using the Arts and African Ancestry DNA testing to foster healing and empowerment in communities. He has traced his ancestry to the Tikar people in Cameroon.

In preparation for Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments, which is being presented by ArtsCenter Stage and Common Ground Theatre with the support of MOJOAA Perfoming Arts Company and in conjunction with the Ladies of the Triangle Theatre (LoTT), I had a chance to speak with playwright Nathan Yungerberg, author of  “Holes in My Identity”, about his writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social change. Please enjoy this wonderful interview!

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?  
Nathan Yungerberg: I was inspired to start writing plays about six years ago. I had relocated to NYC from Minneapolis about four years prior to that and the energy of the city and the expansive artistic influence started banging on my front door! 

JL: Next, tell me a little bit about your writing process. Do you have any writing rituals? Do you write in the same place or in different places? 
NY: Typically, I spend several months just living with the characters and letting them rise up within me. I then spend some time creating an image book. I spend hours on Google images, saving hundreds of pictures and symbols that resonate with each character. I then cut those images out and paste them into a book, when I am done I start writing. I am a morning writer, I like to write a coffee shops. I will usually sit for 3 hours a day when I am in my process.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of the New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments? 
NY: The tension in the air is so thick at this moment in time and there needed to be a release. 

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it? 
NY: I was adopted and raised by white parents in a predominantly white community so I present a perspective of a black man who was sheltered from the experience of racial profiling. I have had to find a way to listen and acknowledge the racial experiences of my black friends and peers that are beyond my personal reality. I hope that people will leave with the desire to become better listeners and work hard to not dismiss the experiences of others.    

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work? 
NY: One of the other writers said it best at a talkback in NYC; he said that theater is an important tool because you go to sit and listen. In emotionally charged times like this, with never ending conversations that often end in gridlock, theater is helpful because sometimes people just need to sit, listen and absorb another person’s perspective. 

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
NY: I am in the middle of my very first production of my play called Pousada Azul, which is being presented at the Kraine Theater in NYC by The Fire This Time Festival. I have recently defected from social media but you can find about my happenings at www.nathanyungerberg.com 

Nathan Yungerberg lives between Brooklyn and Oakland. His plays: The Son of 
Dawn and Pousada Azul have had readings at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, The Lorraine Hansberry Theater and Z Below in San Francisco, The National Black Theater, Classical Theater of Harlem and the Blackboard Reading Series in NYC. Nathan was a season 4 playwright for The Fire This Time festival, which featured his ten minute play Orchids and Polka Dots. He participated in the 3rd annual 48 Hours in Harlem Festival with his ten minute play Brush Strokes, which went on to the win the third annual Ken Davenport 10 minute play festival in NYC.

Event Details
HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments 
Written by Dennis Allen, Idris Goodwin, Glenn Gordon, ​Eric Holmes, Nathan James, and Nathan Yungerberg
Directed by Monet Noelle Marshall
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James and Jacqueline E. Lawton
Featuring  Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer
Stage Manager: JaMeeka Holloway
Produced by ArtsCenter Stage

Plan Your Visit
What: HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
When: February 5-7 at 8:00 pm
Where: Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd, Durham
Cost: $8.00
RSVP: (919) 384-7817
Online Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/4916
Directions/Parking: http://www.cgtheatre.com/directions 
 
*HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments is produced in association with the New Black Fest. 

In preparation for Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments, which is being presented by ArtsCenter Stage and Common Ground Theatre with the support of MOJOAA Perfoming Arts Company and in conjunction with the Ladies of the Triangle Theatre (LoTT), I had a chance to speak with playwright Nathan James, author of  “Superiority Fantasy”, about his writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social change. Please enjoy this wonderful interview!

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?   
Nathan James: I was being promoted from Beltzhoover elementary school in Pittsburgh, and I had to choose a middle school.  I didn’t want to go to the neighborhood school, Knoxville (which is what it was called back then).  My brother went to Rogers CAPA for Visual Art, and since I followed him around everywhere…quite naturally I wanted to go to school with him.  The only problem was, I had no talent (or so I thought).  My mom remembered that I did good in all the church plays.  She went out and got me a monologue from the library, “You’re a good man Charlie Brown”.  I used that as my audition monologue for Rogers CAPA, and the rest is history.

JL: Next, tell me a little bit about your writing process. Do you have any writing rituals? Do you write in the same place or in different places? 
NJ:  My writing ritual is really random.  There are random pieces of paper all over the place in my apartment with my handwriting on it.  I’ve started to consolidate by typing everything in the notebook app for iPad.  I have a bunch of random playlists on my phone, and I usually listen to whatever type of music goes with the writing I’m doing (along with candles, incense, and beer/wine).  I write as much at home as I can.  Then I end up getting Cabin Fever and heading to a coffee shop.  If I get stumped, I put it down and come back to it later.  Usually I’ll be riding the subway and I’ll see a person with the mannerisms of one of the characters I’m writing, and I’ll pull out my phone and start writing immediately. 

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of the New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments? 
NJ: It is important for me to show that even though we are all black men, we are not all the same.  These are not one-noted monologues.  These are 6 different perspectives out of the many more experiences by black men everywhere.  We are not all one monolith.  And until people can start seeing us as human beings with differences and complexities in what makes us tick, no real change can happen.  I think this collaborative effort on behalf of The New Black Fest is a brilliant way to open up this dialogue in the community.  I’ve respected Keith Joseph Atkins and the New Black Fest for quite some time now.  To be asked to be a part of this, with other writers I hold in an extremely high regard, is an honor and a privilege. 

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
NJ: I want the audience to see the vulnerability inside my anger.  I want them to see a person.  I want them to see a man.  A proud man.  A proud man at his breaking point about apologizing for something as ridiculous as the pigment of his skin.  I want them to feel the hurt, and the fear.  I want them to feel my urgency in demanding change NOW…not later.  My play is very unapologetic and honest.  Most of all, it is my truth.  But, I also want people to know that it is a state of mind that is not unrepairable.  I just need more than a bone thrown to one black person here and there, before we start patting ourselves on the back for how “racially progressive” we are.  Part of the reason I celebrated when Barack Obama became president was not because I believed the sickness that is racism was finally cured, but that the idea that a black man is not capable of running this country was put to bed.  Yet, because we rejoiced, people took that to believe that all of our problems are over and we’re making excuses about everything.  I want people to see that racism is an idea, and an idea that must die. 

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
NJ: I think theater plays a major role in advocacy work.  Playwrights have been jailed and killed because of their words throughout history.  The theater plays a major role on how we define ourselves as a society.  It helps us learn about one another.  It encourages dialogue about critical human issues, and starting the dialogue is the first step towards change.  My aim is to show black people as human beings.  This starts by changing the images of black people on stage and in film.

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
NJ: Right now I am currently working on a tour of my one man show, GROWING PAINS.  It was just recently part of the 2014-2015 season for The Billie Holiday Theater.  I am also working on a book series called “The Man-up Manifesto”.   You can keep up with me through my website www.officialnathanjames.com and Twitter: @ImNateJames

Nathan James is a proud native of Pittsburgh, PA, where he began his career with Kuntu Repertory Theater. He has most recently appeared Off-off Broadway in a one man show written and performed by Nathan, Growing Pains, at The Gene Frankel Theater. Prior to Growing Pains, he appeared as Ellis in August Strindberg’s “Easter”, (in which The New York Times considered him a “Standout actor”) and in the Off-Broadway production, Playing with Fire, with The Negro Ensemble Company and The August Strindberg Repertory Theatre for which he and his cast had been nominated for an AUDELCO Award 2012 for “Best Performance by an Ensemble”. Nathan is a recent recipient of the August Wilson Playwriting fellowship from the August Wilson Cultural Center, and his play Contrary to Popular Belief was featured in the Reader’s Theater at the National Black Theater Festival, The Blackboard Reading Series, The Standardized reading series at Center Stage NY, and in the Cultural Conversations Festival at Penn State University. In 2005, Nathan was ranked as one of the top 15 slam poets in the Nation by Poetry Slam Incorporated, and he performed his Langston Hughes inspired poem I too Sing America 2 on the 2006 Emmy Award nominated documentary soundtrack Torch Bearers. He has been a featured Poet at the South Africa International Theater Festival, as well as many Universities and Poetry 
venues in the United States. He has also been commissioned to write and perform poems for some of America’s premiere black pioneers, most notably Mae Jemison, Roy Ayers, and Angela Davis.

Event Details
HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments 
Written by Dennis Allen, Idris Goodwin, Glenn Gordon, ​Eric Holmes, Nathan James, and Nathan Yungerberg
Directed by Monet Noelle Marshall
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James and Jacqueline E. Lawton
Featuring  Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer
Stage Manager: JaMeeka Holloway
Produced by ArtsCenter Stage

Plan Your Visit
What: HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
When: February 5-7 at 8:00 pm
Where: Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd, Durham
Cost: $8.00
RSVP: (919) 384-7817
Online Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/4916
Directions/Parking: http://www.cgtheatre.com/directions 
 
*HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments is produced in association with the New Black Fest. 

In preparation for Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments, which is being presented by ArtsCenter Stage and Common Ground Theatre with the support of MOJOAA Perfoming Arts Company and in conjunction with the Ladies of the Triangle Theatre (LoTT), I had a chance to speak with playwright Eric Holmes, author of  “Walking Next to Michael Brown”, about his writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social change. Please enjoy this wonderful interview!

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Eric Holmes: “Six Degrees of Separation” by John Guare was the first play I saw, at 14, that introduced me to a world of storytelling that popular entertainment had sheltered me from. It made me uncomfortable. I felt like I was in the presence of something beautiful and unknowable and very dangerous. I hunt for that danger every time I see a new play.

JL: Next, tell me a little bit about your writing process. Do you have any writing rituals? Do you write in the same place or in different places?
EH: I have to write from my apartment because I scream and kick things.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of the New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments? 
EH: Because it’s so rare that advocacy work is combined with a clear artistic focus.  “Hands Up” defies the false-choice many theaters force audiences to make.  All the playwrights I’m honored to share the stage with possess smart, nuanced, politically engaged minds – they are also gifted craftsmen who love the art of theatre.

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
EH: “Walking Next To Michael Brown: Confessions Of A Light-Skinned Half-Breed” asks questions about my complicated relationship with racial profiling.  As someone who “passes,” how do I contribute to the conversation if I’ve never been arrested for the color of my skin. And how do I balance my privilege while honoring the psychic-wounds of my inheritance?

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
EH: I think every play is making some kind of social critique whether the playwright thinks it does or not.  Even if the play doesn’t present or take a side on this or that political issue, ambivalence or omission is still an argument – perhaps the most persuasive kind. I could argue that the decision to make art in the first place is a social gesture.  In “Hands Up,” all of us were inspired to make art in response to a series of racial injustices in the past year but I think audiences might be surprised by how unique each of our responses are – and how each of us, as individuals, are rattled by conflicting views and intensions. Our outrage and humor, our victimhood and complicity, and our moments of clarity and profound confusion, all play a role in advocacy.

Eric Holmes is currently a second year MFA Playwriting candidate at University of Iowa’s Playwrights Workshop. Former residencies and fellowships include Space At Ryder Farm (The Stick Up) and LaGuardia Performing Arts Playwriting Lab (Falls For Jodie.) His work has been seen and developed at New York Theatre Workshop (Nimpsey Pink), Lark Play Development Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source, Sonnet Repertory, Stony Brook Southampton Playwriting Conference, Space 55 in Phoenix, and University of Washington where he was a guest artist. His monologue, W.F.C., is published by The Good Ear Review. Holmes co-founded Team Play, a theatre-for-young adults education program at Primary Stages Theatre Company and served on the LARK Play Development Center’s LitWing.

In preparation for Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments, which is being presented by ArtsCenter Stage and Common Ground Theatre with the support of MOJOAA Perfoming Arts Company and in conjunction with the Ladies of the Triangle Theatre (LoTT), I had a chance to speak with playwright Dennis A. Allen II, author of  “How I Feel”, about his writing process, inspiration for the play, and the power of theatre to serve as a tool for social change. Please enjoy this wonderful interview!

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Dennis A Allen II: My mother would take me to see broadway shows when I was younger and I distinctly remember going to see August Wilson's Piano Lesson and it having an emotional effect on me that no other show I had seen previously had. In hind sight I realize it was the first time I saw a play with an all black cast and that was focused specifically on the African American experience. I didn't make the decision consciously that theatre would be my career goal but that show definitely planted the seed. It wouldn't be until I was 27 years old and fired from a corporate job that I took the chance at pursuing theatre as a profession. I always loved the written word and performing but I bought into the lie that the entertainment business is not a reliable source of income and therefore not a logical life pursuit. 

JL: Next, tell me a little bit about your writing process. Do you have any writing rituals? Do you write in the same place or in different places?
DAAII: If waiting until the last minute can be considered a ritual, then that is mine. I tend to be a perfectionist procrastinator, so unless I feel the pressure of a deadline I find myself avoiding the act of sitting and writing. That being said, once I have an idea for a play I am constantly drafting scenes and dialogue in my mind so by the time I sit down I have a pretty clear vision of the world and characters. I don't have one set location but It does need to be outside of my home to avoid distractions. 

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of the New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
DAAII: I believe in the work that Keith does as a artist and through the New Black Fest. I think it is always work that is crucial to the black community and the theatre community overall so it was important to me because he made the call 

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
DAAII: If I can briefly get the audience to experience physically and emotionally the frustration and exhaustion and pain that black men experience living in a land based in white supremacy then I think I was successful. 

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
DAAII: To influence decisions within political and social systems and institutions one must be able to change the heart and minds of individuals and in my experience theatre is the perfect vehicle to spark that sort of change. 

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
DAAII: March 20th I have a new play being read at the Lark through the New Black Fest. March 22nd I have a ten minute play going up through Working Theater's Directors Salon. And in August Atlantic Theater company will present a reading of a new play that they commissioned me to write. dennisaallenii.com

Dennis A. Allen II was born and raised in Hempstead, New York. His play The Mud is Thicker in Mississippi was a winner at the 35th annual Off Off Broadway Samuel French festival in 2010 directed by Dennis’ frequent collaborator Christopher Burris. He’s been the recipient of the Himan Brown Creative Writing Award two years running, and has developed and produced plays with Sanctuary NYC, Variations Theatre Group, The Bowery Poetry Club (Sticky), JACK, Liberation Theatre, National Black Theatre and the Classical Theatre of Harlem. He has kept up his cutting exploration of racial interaction and black identity in plays like Where the Sun Don’t Shine, a new work inspired by Raisin in the Sun at the Harlem9!s 2013 48 hours in 
Harlem, MOTHER at the 2013 Fire This Time festival, collaborative writing projects with The American Slavery Project’s 2012 Unheard Voices, 2014 Schomburg Junior Scholars theatrical reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and The New Black Fest's Hands up: Six Playwrights, Six Testaments. He is a recipient of Atlantic Theater Company's inaugural 2014-15 Launch Commission. Dennis received his MFA in playwriting from Brooklyn College in 2013.

Event Details
HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments 
Written by Dennis Allen, Idris Goodwin, Glenn Gordon, ​Eric Holmes, Nathan James, and Nathan Yungerberg
Directed by Monet Noelle Marshall
Dramaturgy by Jules Odendahl-James and Jacqueline E. Lawton
Featuring  Malcolm Evans, Kenny Lampkin, Jordan Marshall, Justin Peoples, CJ Suitt and Marcus Zollicoffer
Stage Manager: JaMeeka Holloway
Produced by ArtsCenter Stage

Plan Your Visit
What: HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments
When: February 5-7 at 8:00 pm
Where: Common Ground Theatre, 4815B Hillsborough Rd, Durham
Cost: $8.00
RSVP: (919) 384-7817
Online Tickets: https://www.artful.ly/store/events/4916
Directions/Parking: http://www.cgtheatre.com/directions 
 
*HANDS UP: 6 Playwrights, 6 Testaments is produced in association with the New Black Fest.