Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project
Sun, June 19 @ 2pm CDT (12pm PDT)
Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project presents
A BLACK BOY DISCOVERS HIS SKIN by Sarah Grace Goldman
Streaming/On-Demand via Vimeo Live thru June 30
Admission: Free
A Black Boy Discovers His Skin is set in an elite southern private school, where issues arise between an idealistic principal and a traditional board chair over the teaching of Critical Race Theory. It’s a nuanced coming of age story about race, class, and doing the right thing.
The Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project was launched by Aldo Billingslea to center Black theatre artists and new voices, address systemic racism in the theatre industry, and help raise much needed funds in support of Black Theatres around the country. The inaugural project featured more than half a dozen online staged readings of Vincent Terrell Durham’s play, Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids, on Juneteenth 2020, involving over sixty theatre companies from around the country and reaching more than 10,000 households and raising over $150,000 in support of a national GoFundMe campaign for Black Theater.
A Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project presents
POLAR BEARS, BLACK BOYS & PRAIRIE FRINGED ORCHIDS by Vincent Terrell Durham
Directed by Peter J. Kuo
Presented in association with the PlayGround Zoom Fest
June 19 7pm PT via Zoom Live Stream
A liberal white couple open the doors of their renovated Harlem brownstone to host a cocktail party for a Black Lives Matter activist, his gay white lover, a sistah named Shemeka and the mother of a slain 12-year-old black boy. A night of cocktails and conversation spark emotional debates ranging from under-weight polar bears, Lana Turner, saving the planet, gentrification, racial identity and protecting the lives of black boys. Featuring: Carrie Paff, Michael Ray Wisely, Britney Frazier, Jennifer Bradford, Rodney E. Jackson, Jr., Patrick Russell, and Gabriel Q. Solomon. Approx. running time: 75 minutes.
Vincent Terrell Durham (Playwright) is a scriptwriter, author and poet who first honed his storytelling skills as a stand-up comic in comedy clubs across the country. His plays include The Fertile River, Vol. 1, A Post Racial America, and Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids, among others. Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids was co-commissioned and developed by PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts and is a 2019 NNPN National Showcase of New Plays finalist.
Presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, PlayGround, Planet Earth Arts, African-American Shakespeare Company, American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cal Shakes, Center Rep, Central Works, City Lights Theater Company, Crowded Fire, Custom Made Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, Golden Thread Productions, Hillbarn Theatre, Jewel Theatre, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, Mountain Community Theater, National Center for New Plays, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pear Theatre, Perspective Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, San Jose Stage, San Francisco Mime Troupe, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Santa Cruz County Actor’s Theatre, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, SFBATCO, Shakespeare Napa Valley, Shotgun Players, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, Stanford Repertory Theater, The Tabard Theatre Company, TheatreFIRST, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Town Hall Theatre, and Utopia Theatre Project. List updated as of 6/19/20 5:00pm.
CONTENT WARNING: Intended for mature audiences. Contains references to police violence.
Theatres across the country are invited to set up their own free readings of Vincent’s play on Juneteenth. For more information, contact Aldo Billingslea.
PRESENTING PARTNER INFORMATION
SPONSOR PAYMENT ILLUSTRATION ILLUSTRATION CREDITS PLAYWRIGHT PHOTO
