Feed Your Mind: THE HAMPTON YEARS by Jacqueline E. Lawton

On Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 8pm and Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 2pm, Mirror Stage will present a staged reading of The Hampton Years at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre. Under the direction of Artistic Director Suzanne M. Cohen, the cast features Elena Flory-Barnes, Ron Hippe, Corey Spruill, Jon Stutzman, and Ayo Tushinde.

Set in the 1940s in Virginia, The Hampton Years follows the development of African-American artists John Biggers and Samella Lewis in a still segregated society under the tutelage of Jewish painter and educator Viktor Lowenfeld, who fled Austria in 1939. Named curator of the distinguished collection of Black African Art in 1945, Lowenfeld’s passion, determination and talents introduced African-American Art to the United States. The Hampton Years celebrates how together, these passionate and brilliant artists rose above all that was standing in their way to create beautiful, poignant, and lasting works of art.

Mirror Stage’s innovative Feed Your Mind series of staged readings examines topical issues from different perspectives. Presented without costumes or sets, the emphasis on the text encourages audiences to create their own imagined world inhabited by the play's characters. Following every performance, a moderated discussion with the audience and artists explores the issues raised in more depth. The Hampton Years examines African-American art, segregation, African American and Jewish relations, art history and art education.

Admission is $15; $10 for students and seniors. Every performance has 10 Pay-What-You-Can rush tickets ($1 minimum) for purchase.

​Free parking is available in University of Washington’s lot W12, located at just south of the Ethnic Cultural Theater on Brooklyn Ave NE. Click here to learn more.


About Mirror Stage
Mirror Stage reflects the diversity of our community onstage in high-quality, progressive, thought-provoking productions that play it smart without always playing it safe. We nurture unique artistic voices while providing opportunities for newly-emerging artists to work alongside more seasoned professionals. With the goal of increasing empathy and tolerance, Mirror Stage opens doors to new ways of seeing and thinking—entertaining while enlightening, and bringing us to a place of common understanding.