Black is back at Mixed Blood Theatre. Not that it ever completely left, but the playhouse’s 43rd season, “Transforming the Impossible to the Probable” (2018-19), is strong on African American fare. Five out of six scripts feature such subjects as the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, NFL player protests, and gender identity. “The art and science of picking our season,” … [Read more...]
Arts & Entertainment: a space for local and national arts and entertainment stories, with an emphasis on stories pertaining to African and African Americans.
REVIEW: Guthrie’s ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ a dud
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner at Guthrie Theater, Todd Kreidler’s adaptation of William Rose’s screenplay showcases acting highlights in an otherwise pedestrian production of a story that never had a great deal going for it. Regina Marie Williams (Dinah Was/Penumbra), (Ruined/Mixed Blood) is priceless as the adorably feisty Tillie, who consistently oversteps her bounds. As a … [Read more...]
‘Familiar’: supurb cast marred by weak script
Sha Cage is wonderful in Danai Gurira's Familiar at Guthrie Theater. Broadening an already remarkable range, the veteran actor fascinates from the moment she steps on the stage, starring as brightly hopeful bride Tendi, caught in the crosshairs of a cultural mishap targeting her happiness. Ironically, it isn't so much that she's bringing a White husband into her African … [Read more...]
‘Mermaid Hour’ continues Mixed Blood’s mission of inclusive storytelling
Mixed Blood Theatre strikes again. Daring and resourceful founding Artistic Director Jack Reuler, holding cutting edge as the company’s calling card, stages David Valdes Greenwood's Mermaid Hour: Remixed. Adapted from Greenwood’s acclaimed drama, this musical is the saga of Vi, a flowering Latina and Asian lass coming to terms with herself as a young mixed-race transgender … [Read more...]
Personal hair journey powers local playwright’s ‘Kinks’
Few things, on the face of it, are more innocuous than the hair on one’s head. However, so far as social issues go, the hair on a Black woman’s head is far from an idle consideration. Indeed, reaction thereto can be subtle, yet far-reaching discrimination. All one needs to verify this is to note that there has been, almost since the invention of dirt, a texture perceived as … [Read more...]