Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Aurin Squire: I decided to get into theatre when I was in college. I would go to see my friend’s in shows because it was cheaper than a movie. I was in a creative writing in the media focus my last 2 years and I had to take a quarter (Northwestern is on a 3 quarters a year system rather than 2 semesters) of playwriting.  I received a lot of encouragement from our teacher (Susan Booth) and then went away for the summer and read August Wilson’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” while out in LA. That’s when I decided to write a full-length play and send it in. This was the play that got me a workshop at a small theatre in Chicago and gave me a scholarship to go to grad school.

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?
AS: If I’m writing without an outline, then usually I begin with a riff. It can be a word, sound, phrase, or image. It’s like a single thread that appears in empty space and then I start weaving until I have a whole story.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of American Theatre Company’s 10 x 10 Festival? 
AS: I discovered theatre while in Chicago. And I found that theatre tends to be more meat-and-potatoes and about social issues. I love that kind of theatre. I just saw “The Iceman Cometh” which was a Goodman Theatre transfer to BAM, and “Rasheeda Speaking” which also came out of Chicago. Both productions were so rich and layered. American Theatre Company is doing great work that fits into the mold of progressive art in the Windy City.

JL: Tell me about your plays. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
AS: The first play I finished was “Mississippi Goddamn” and it’s about a couple watching the news, rediscovering the Nina Simone song that the play is named after, and how they work through the police shooting that’s similar to Ferguson. It’s a reflective piece with an older couple that I want to slip under the audience’s skin.

The second piece is “Putting Wings on a Pig” and it’s about two black cops trying to work and not get entangled in office politics, as well as the occasional run in with fellow white officers. As the title implies I want this to really get in people’s faces about the racism that’s so severe in some precincts, black cops are more scared of their white colleagues than of the criminals.

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
AS: Theatre is the original herald of truth. Beyond the daily news and gossip, theatre took the events of the day and expounded upon their greater meaning and context. In this age of rapid news and shock, I think theatre is vital to ground us in the larger trajectory of human history that is bending before us.

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
AS: I’m in my last semester at Juilliard and have a few different fellowships in New York City. I have an artist in residence at Brooklyn Arts Exchange and I present my year-long project in May. I’ve been working on “The Gospel According to F#ggots” which is a radical queer reinterpretation of the Bible. It’s a multimedia piece that’s in verse.  Here is my BAX page: http://artistservices.bax.org/residencies/aurin-squire/

And then I have a residency at National Black Theatre in Harlem where I’ll be doing workshops throughout 2015 for “The Zoohouse” which is a radical absurd comedy set in a dystopia that has asylums for the ‘black and criminally insane.’ The Zoohouse is one of those places and we see how history, suppression, and expression play themselves out in this very warped way.

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Akin Salawu: At 4 years old my parents took me to see The Wiz and I was smitten. Out of the blue a few years ago, I got an email from my preschool teacher recalling me desperately fighting to get my classmates (who were all older than me) to perform The Wiz. I apparently failed all year and have not tackled The Wiz since. 

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?
AS: Usually it begins with me scribbling notes on the backs of receipts on the subway. Then I sit at my iMac and make sense of my pile of receipts. Each receipt yanks me back to the particular day that the idea gifted itself to me. Instrumental music is usually playing as well; unless it’s Nina Simone. You make an exception for her.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of American Theatre Company’s 10 x 10 Festival?
AS: As a Black American man, I’ve had more than my fair share of unearned harassment from police officers so this was not only a cathartic experience but an opportunity to really respond to the inhumane manner in which Black Male life is demonized. With all the seething anger in and around each of us, it was really liberating to step back and recalibrate. I also can’t wait to be in the space with a bunch of socially conscious artists gathered together for this festival.

JL: Tell me about your plays. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
AS: “the mice will play” was the first one I wrote. The noise about Michael Brown’s dangerous living body seemed to silence the treatment of his dead body left in the street for hours. I hope the audience will question their own perceptions of big scary Thuggish Negros with breathe in our lungs. I had the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra’s rendition of James Horner’s End Credits theme to the film Glory playing which really freed me to let Juice fly. 

"Locatelli's Caprice in D major” was inspired by my disdain for subway performers. My subway rides are for reading or writing. But this one young guy played the shit outta his violin and his mastery shifted my understanding of him. As well as the rest of his kind. This piece is about what it takes to achieve those shifts in understanding. Locatelli's Caprice in D major” was written in silence. I haven’t written in silence since the days of dead AA batteries in my cassette tape walkman.

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
AS: Narratives teach us how to live better lives; how to be better to ourselves and to each other. I’ve worked in politics where you have 8 people doing something while 800 bitch and moan about the way it got done. . Thanks in part to cable news and social media we are becoming a culture that consumes itself with sideline chatter about events somewhere over there. 

Theater is here. Theater is now. Theater is immediate. Living people bring theater to life right before your eyes. And when you experience it, you are a part of it. It becomes a part of you. Music infects us without our permission. Theater infects us with our permission. If the audience gives you their permission, you can lift them up. And that’s when you open them up. Battered down people batter others down. Lifted up people, lift others up. Opened people open others up. We in the theater must earn permission to open people up.

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
AS: The Public Theater had a playwright/ composer speed dating event where I met Australian composer, Greta Gertler Gold. We just began Ars Nova’’s UNCHARTED musical theater residency to continue developing our original musical, “The Real Whisper”. 

10 outstanding playwrights tackle race, police brutality, and community in Ferguson, New York City, and around the world. 10 inspired directors bring their work to life. 

Join us on Monday, March 9th at 7:30pm for a uniquely challenging one-night-only engagement at the American Theater Company, as we are proud to present our annual short plays festival, 10x10. 

Tickets are free but seats will fill up fast. To make a reservation, send us an email at [email protected]. Due to high demand, we are only able to reserve up to two seats per request. 

At the door, we suggest a $10 donation to help us cover the cost of supporting the festival, though we welcome you to pay what you can.

This Year's Playwrights:
Jeff Augustin. Kristiana Rae Colón. Matthew-Lee Erlbach. Jacqueline E Lawton. Bonnie Metzgar. Dominique Morisseau. Lucas Neff. A Rey Pamatmat. Akin Salawu. Aurin Squire.

Our Directors:
Kaiser Ahmed. Grace Cannon. Amanda Delheimer Dimond. Matt Dominguez. Azar Kazemi. Reed Motz. Hutch Pimentel. Tlaloc Rivas. Samuel Roberson. Conner Wilson.

Jacqueline Lawton: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
Kristiana Colón:  I’ve been writing and acting since I was a toddler. It was always second nature. My mother was also an actor and I’d attend rehearsals with her as a kid. I’d write skits for my stuffed animals and make them perform for me.

Pursuing playwriting as a career grew out of my burgeoning career as a performance poet. One of my mentors through Young Chicago Authors, Idris Goodwin, was my poetry slam coach and a playwright whose early work I helped develop and performed in. He was the first person who really inspired me to write plays from my poetic voice and helped guide my process when I started writing my first full-length 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?
KC: I wish I had a writing process. It’s mostly: overcommit, set panic deadlines, freak out, ignore emails, overcaffeinate, repeat.

JL: Why was it important for you to be a part of American Theatre Company’s 10 x 10 Festival? 
KC: ATC is one of the first companies in Chicago to support my work and invite me to be apart of its 10 x 10 Festivals; this will be the third one in which I have work included. This one in particular means a lot to me because I’ve been volunteering in Ferguson since August and the protest movement there galvanized me into action in a way that has completely changed my life. Along with other poets and friends, I launched the #LetUsBreathe Collective (www.letusbreathecollective.com), which began as a fundraising initiative to bring tear gas remedies and medical supplies to protesters in the wake of a militarized police response to their resistance. We partnered with a group of young protesters, Lost Voices,  who vowed to camp out in the protest area until Darren Wilson was indicted and produced a documentary on their experiences. We’ve traveled back and forth to Ferguson about 15 times; I’ll actually be making the 16th trip in a few hours, after I send this email! We’ve brought Lost Voices to Chicago for screenings of the documentary and to lead demonstrations here four times and now, #LetUsBreathe organizes and leads protest actions on its own.

Making sure that their voices are heard and that people hear from those making huge sacrifices on the ground was paramount in my involvement in this festival. While making art about political resistance is important, it’s more important to center the voices and stories of those who have to live that experience and deal with its real costs every day. 

JL: Tell me about your play. What do you hope the audience walks away thinking about after experiencing it?
KC: florissant & canfield  is directly inspired by members of the Lost Voices. My collaboration with them to amplify their stories aims to combat the one-dimensional ways the protest movement have been approached by mainstream media. There’s an overwhelming tendency to analyze activist resistance through the lens of respectability politics, to lump people into binary groups of “looters and thugs” or “peaceful protesters;” what happened in Ferguson is much more complex than that. My intention is to highlight that complexity.

JL: What role does theater have in advocacy work?
KC: Theater has the enormous power to build empathy. In that way, activism and theater and intimately linked.

JL: What next for you as a writer? Where can we follow your work?
KC: I’ll be re-imagining my play the darkest pit in Stage Left’s LeapFest this summer; it’s a play that takes place in a college classroom as a school shooting unfolds. After that, I’ll be headed to London for the world premiere of my award-winning play Octagon, a play that takes place in the world of poetry slam. 

10 outstanding playwrights tackle race, police brutality, and community in Ferguson, New York City, and around the world. 10 inspired directors bring their work to life. 

Join us on Monday, March 9th at 7:30pm for a uniquely challenging one-night-only engagement at the American Theater Company, as we are proud to present our annual short plays festival, 10x10. 

Tickets are free but seats will fill up fast. To make a reservation, send us an email at [email protected]. Due to high demand, we are only able to reserve up to two seats per request. 

At the door, we suggest a $10 donation to help us cover the cost of supporting the festival, though we welcome you to pay what you can.

This Year's Playwrights:
Jeff Augustin. Kristiana Rae Colón. Matthew-Lee Erlbach. Jacqueline E Lawton. Bonnie Metzgar. Dominique Morisseau. Lucas Neff. A Rey Pamatmat. Akin Salawu. Aurin Squire.

Our Directors:
Kaiser Ahmed. Grace Cannon. Amanda Delheimer Dimond. Matt Dominguez. Azar Kazemi. Reed Motz. Hutch Pimentel. Tlaloc Rivas. Samuel Roberson. Conner Wilson.

On Monday, March 9th at 7:30pm, American Theater Company will present their annual 10 x 10 Play Festival. I'm honored to join fellow playwrights Jeff Augustin, Kristiana Colón, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Bonnie Metzgar, Dominique Morisseau, Lucas Neff, A. Rey Pamatmat, Akin Salawu, and Aurin Squire in writing short plays that offer perspectives and visions of Ferguson. 

American Theater Company's mission is to inspire and challenge our community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?"  The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri and the conversations surrounding those events genuinely challenge our understanding of what it is to be an American. 

"In order to create the fullest possible picture of the American experience of Ferguson, we want to incorporate playwrights' immediate reactions to Ferguson as well as their thoughts on the subject with more distance from the crisis, said Sam Weiner (Literary Management Apprentice).  "To that end, each playwright was tasked with writing two pieces, one completed in mid-October and a second to be completed in mid-February.  By presenting these pieces together, we hope to both refresh the community's memory of Ferguson and to offer insight into how the passage of time alters our perceptions of social and political crises in the United States." 

10x10 Play Festival
March 9th at 7:30pm 
American Theater Company (1909 W. Byron St, Chicago IL 60613)

Sidetrack and Stop & Frisk 
by Jeff Augustin
directed by Grace Cannon

florissant & canfield
by Kristiana Rae Colón
Directed by Samuel Roberson, Jr.

Representation and Words
by Matthew-Lee Erlbach
Directed by Reed Motz

Black Lives, White Chalk and A New Sense, A New Direction
by Jacqueline E. Lawton
Directed by Amanda Delheimer Dimond

I'm So Hungry and I Can't Breathe
by Bonnie Metzgar
Directed by Kaiser Ahmed

Jezelle The Gazelle
by Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Tlaloc Rivas

How To Make A Black Boy Disappear and Respectability Politics
by Lucas Neff
Directed by Conner Wilson

I Am In A Dark Place Today And Am Unable To Write A Play and Winning
by A. Rey Pamatmat
Directed by Hutch Pimentel

the mice will play and Locatelli's Caprice in D major
by Akin Salawu
Directed by Azar Kazemi

Mississippi Goddamn and Putting Wings on a Pig
by Aurin Squire
Directed by Matt Dominguez

Tickets can be reserved by emailing [email protected]
Recommended donation of $10 at the door.

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.