The Blacks: A Clown Show (Classic Drama) by Jean Genet

Director: Terrence Spivey

April 18 - May 11 2008 (Arena)
Previews: April 16th & 17th 

There will be two midnight performances
  Friday April 25 and Friday May 2

The Blacks: A Clown Show was written in 1958 at the request of a black actor. But Jean Genet, a white, French novelist and playwright (The Balcony), wrote the drama focusing on a troupe of black actors, who come together to perform a ritual that requires the corpse of a white woman.  Originally written for an all-black cast, The Blacks offered a new voice to American theatre. It won an Obie for Best Off Broadway play in 1961.

NOTE: Audience members are required to wear mask for this production (which will be provided by ushers). Discretion is advised due to content, language, and unexpected audience interaction. Do not come alone!

*** Special “Parliament” Performance (not part of the Subscription season)

The Funkentine Rapture

(An original funktastic musical-comedy) (World Premiere)

book by Lee Summers and Ben Blake; music and lyrics by Lee Summers  

May 23 - June 22, 2008 (Jelliffe)

Previews: May 21st & 22nd
Funkentine pays homage to “Parliament Funkadelic,” The soaring 1970s, platform shoes, sky-high afros and a beat that will take audiences even higher when an aspiring funk master, George Preston, who reaches for the stars and is caught in an uproarious battle between good and evil, funk and disco. Kentucky fried and Harlem's catfish surprise. He will try to win the girl, gain the gig, and rescue the secret recipe from heinous hands. 

Ticket Prices:

Comedies and Dramas    Thurs. & Sundays $20.00; Fri. & Sat. $25.00

Black Nativity                    Thurs. $20.; Fri. & Sat. $30; Sun. $25

The Funkentine Rapture  Thurs. $25; Fri. $35; Sat. $45.; Sun $30.

       Preview Nights $10.00 for Dramas & Comedies; $15.00 Black Nativity

       Senior Discounts $3.00 off published Ticket Price

       Student Discount with ID $15.

No Senior nor Student Discounts apply on Preview Nights or for The Funkentine Rapture

Youth & Young Adult Productions:  $10.00

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Young Adult Series 

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

One Act adaptation by Shambrion Treadwell and Lamont Livingston
Directed by: Lamont Livingston   May 3-May 18, 2008
(Arena)
(no show on Mothers Day the 11th)

This play tells the story of a lower-class black family's struggle to gain middle-class acceptance. When the play opens, Mama, the sixty-year-old mother of the family, is waiting for a $10,000 insurance check from the death of her husband, and the drama will focus primarily on how the $10,000 should be spent. The story is based upon Hansberry's own experiences growing up in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. It is the first play written by a black woman to be on Broadway. 

An all-teen cast and director takes on this classic.