The Stained Glass
Playhouse celebrates
Black History Month
with its first production
of 2011: Sandra
Fenichel Asher’s
historical drama A
Woman Called Truth,
which opens Friday
at the Playhouse
(4401 Indiana Ave.,
Winston-Salem).
The story is inspired by the life of Sojourner
Truth (1797-1883), an abolitionist and early
proponent of women’s rights. Born into slavery
as Isabella Baumfree, she is perhaps best
known for her historic “Ain’t I a Woman?”
speech, which she delivered at the Ohio
Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio
in 1851.
Jae Campbell makes her Stained Glass Playhouse debut in the pivotal role of Sojourner Truth, as the play dramatizes her life from the day she is sold into slavery, her tireless struggle to free herself and her son from the misery of servitude, and her eventual emergence as one of the principal abolitionists and activists of her time. The play combines Sojourner’s actual words with real slave songs, spirituals and folk songs of her era, and has been recognized and honored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the UIPUI Children’s Theatre Symposium and American Alliance for Theatre and Education.
Many of the supporting actors play multiple roles: Teanue Vinson, Joyce Allen, David Webster, Patrick Ferrara and Melvin Massey Jr.
The production is directed by Flonnie Anderson, noted actress and director who organized the Community Players Guild, the first black community theater in the South, in 1952, which presented such productions as Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and South Pacific, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and many others. Anderson was also the first black actress cast by the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem in its production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Later, she became the first black director of a Little Theatre production and has continued to be a vibrant force in live theater with her own company, the Flonnie Anderson Theatrical Association (FATA).
She has performed her one-woman show adapted from The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman at the Reynolda House of American Art in Winston-Salem and other venues, and she herself portrayed Sojourner Truth in the PBS Bicentennial special. A Woman Called Truth is scheduled to run through Feb. 20. Showtimes are 8 p,m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $12 (adults) and $10 (senior citizens and students with valid ID). For reservations, call 336.499.1010. For more information about the Stained Glass Playhouse, call 336.661.4949.
Twin City Stage, formerly the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, serves up mirth and merriment with its latest production, David Bottrell and Jessie Jones’ Southernflavored farce Dearly Departed, which opens Friday at the Arts Council Theatre, 610 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem. The story focuses on the members of the Turpin family, a dysfunctional Southern clan reunited for the funeral of family patriarch Bud Turpin, who has unexpectedly keeled over at the kitchen table. What should be a time of reflection and compassion instead becomes an utter disaster, as old grudges and resentments come boiling to surface, and it’s only a matter of time before the Turpins are at each other’s throats — with the bereaved, bewildered widow (Carole Midura) caught in the middle. “Almost every family in the South has the ‘crazy uncle’ or ‘drama queen’ who shows up at funerals and weddings and puts on a show,” observes director Gene Johnson, a long-time Twin City Stage/Little Theatre veteran.
“Dearly Departed has an entire cast of ‘crazies’ and the good news is, they’re not related to you!” Dearly Departed is scheduled to run through Feb. 13. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $22 (adults), $20 (senior citizens), and $18 (students with valid ID). Reservations are suggested. There will be a special champagne reception prior to the opening-night performance, beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 4. For tickets or more information, call 336.725.4001 or visit the official Twin City Stage website: www.twincitystage.org.
Jae Campbell makes her Stained Glass Playhouse debut in the pivotal role of Sojourner Truth, as the play dramatizes her life from the day she is sold into slavery, her tireless struggle to free herself and her son from the misery of servitude, and her eventual emergence as one of the principal abolitionists and activists of her time. The play combines Sojourner’s actual words with real slave songs, spirituals and folk songs of her era, and has been recognized and honored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the UIPUI Children’s Theatre Symposium and American Alliance for Theatre and Education.
Many of the supporting actors play multiple roles: Teanue Vinson, Joyce Allen, David Webster, Patrick Ferrara and Melvin Massey Jr.
The production is directed by Flonnie Anderson, noted actress and director who organized the Community Players Guild, the first black community theater in the South, in 1952, which presented such productions as Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and South Pacific, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and many others. Anderson was also the first black actress cast by the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem in its production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Later, she became the first black director of a Little Theatre production and has continued to be a vibrant force in live theater with her own company, the Flonnie Anderson Theatrical Association (FATA).
She has performed her one-woman show adapted from The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman at the Reynolda House of American Art in Winston-Salem and other venues, and she herself portrayed Sojourner Truth in the PBS Bicentennial special. A Woman Called Truth is scheduled to run through Feb. 20. Showtimes are 8 p,m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $12 (adults) and $10 (senior citizens and students with valid ID). For reservations, call 336.499.1010. For more information about the Stained Glass Playhouse, call 336.661.4949.
Twin City Stage, formerly the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, serves up mirth and merriment with its latest production, David Bottrell and Jessie Jones’ Southernflavored farce Dearly Departed, which opens Friday at the Arts Council Theatre, 610 Coliseum Drive in Winston-Salem. The story focuses on the members of the Turpin family, a dysfunctional Southern clan reunited for the funeral of family patriarch Bud Turpin, who has unexpectedly keeled over at the kitchen table. What should be a time of reflection and compassion instead becomes an utter disaster, as old grudges and resentments come boiling to surface, and it’s only a matter of time before the Turpins are at each other’s throats — with the bereaved, bewildered widow (Carole Midura) caught in the middle. “Almost every family in the South has the ‘crazy uncle’ or ‘drama queen’ who shows up at funerals and weddings and puts on a show,” observes director Gene Johnson, a long-time Twin City Stage/Little Theatre veteran.
“Dearly Departed has an entire cast of ‘crazies’ and the good news is, they’re not related to you!” Dearly Departed is scheduled to run through Feb. 13. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $22 (adults), $20 (senior citizens), and $18 (students with valid ID). Reservations are suggested. There will be a special champagne reception prior to the opening-night performance, beginning at 7 p.m. Feb. 4. For tickets or more information, call 336.725.4001 or visit the official Twin City Stage website: www.twincitystage.org.
