“Chitlin' Theatre and The Great White Way”:
A pre-show discussion

April 5, 2008 5pm-7pm
Murphy Fine Arts Center- Turpin Lamb Theater
2100 Argonne Drive, Baltimore MD 21251      443-885-3625

A discussion centered around African American Theater, form and content.

Topics:
Current state of African American Theater-Theater and its purpose. (Tyler Perry vs. August Wilson) (Art and $$)
Where are all the Black playwrights?
Nommo Drama
Traditional African Story Telling
Is Broadway the White way?

When: Saturday April 5, 5:00-7:00pm
Where: Murphy Fine Arts Center-- Turpin Lamb Theater-- 2201 Argonne Drive.

Production of The Great MacDaddy to follow @ 7:30pm

Panelists will include:

R.B. Jones
Baltimore native R.B. Jones is a graduate of Frederick Douglass high school and Princeton University, class of ‘74. He has taught at The Park Heights Street Academy, Sojourner-Douglass College, Coppin State University and Baltimore City Community College. He is the former editor of the Baltimore Afro-American and The Baltimore Times newspapers. He was also managing editor of The Baltimore Press. He currently writes a weekly column for The Baltimore Times, "The Realside.” Jones is also a playwright whose works have been performed at Morgan State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Coppin State University, Baltimore City Community College, Maryland Historical Society, The Arena Players and The Frank Silvera Writers Workshop in Harlem. He has been involved in The National Black Political Assembly, The Partnership for Social Justice, The Eddie Conway Support Committee, The Coalition to Prevent The State Takeover of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Generations for Peace and Democracy. Jones currently works as an Office Manager for Councilwoman Belinda K. Conaway.

Barbara Bryan
Barbara Bryan’s plays have been finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, PlayLabs, and the Heideman Award from Actors Theatre of Louisville. She received a Playwright Grant from Baltimore City Arts and participated in the Kennedy Center Summer Playwriting Intensive. She has developed plays in Paul Berman’s Theatre Workshop in Baltimore and at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Barbara has over twenty years experience in investment analysis, strategic planning and non-profit organization capacity building. She has served as Treasurer of the Baltimore Theater Alliance and is a playwright whose work has been performed at theaters across the country. She is a graduate of Trinity College, Washington, D.C.

Rosiland Cauthen
Rosiland (Roz), is presently a Community Programs Associate at CenterStage, Baltimore MD and a member/ administrator for The Kuumba Collective (Local theater Troop). She received her B.A. in theatre from The College of Charleston and an MFA at Towson University. Ms. Cauthen has also taught in the public school system of North Carolina where she created a special curriculum for middle school children. She has also helped develop and operate The Genisis Youth Arts and Culture Camp, worked for the Moja Arts Festival and the Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival, all in Charleston, SC.

Rich Espey
Rich Espey is a teacher, writer and actor living in Baltimore. He is a two-time winner of the Carol Weinberg Award for Best Play at the Baltimore Playwrights Festival, having won for Hope’s Arbor in 2006 and Fifty-Fifty in 2003. He also wrote Bottom Dollar, a Christmas comedy which was produced at Mobtown Theatre in Baltimore in December, 2004. Rich’s one-act plays and ten-minute comedies have been produced throughout the United States. Rich is the Chair of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival, a member of the Dramatists Guild and a science teacher at The Park School of Baltimore.

Amini Johari-Court
Amini is aprofessor in the Department of Fine and Communication Arts at Coppin State University. She was recognized as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women for 2005. Professor Johari-Courts’ professional achievements and community contributions have come not only through her ties at Coppin but regionally and nationally in the area of theater production. Professor Johari-Courts is primarily responsible for crafting the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Coppin’s Department of Fine and Communication Arts and The Arena Players, Inc., the oldest continuously operating African American community theater in the United States. The MOU expands and solidifies the auspicious relationship between these two historic institutions. Professor Johari-Courts served as Artistic Director of The Arena Players, Inc. from 1996 to 1999. She is still a member of its Artistic Committee.