The birth of a new Black theatre movement came out of the Civil Rights/Black Power activism of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, as well as intersectional feminism. Leading figures, institutions, and events of a movement that transformed the American stage first and foremost include George Hawkins, who founded The Ensemble Theatre in 1976 in Houston, Texas.
His legacy is now carried forth by Eileen J. Morris, Ensemble’s Artistic Director, who collaborated and worked closely with Hawkins before his death in 1990, and the entire Ensemble team. The Ensemble is one of the few professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, and holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house.
This multimedia virtual tribute will celebrate the legacy of The Ensemble, as well as how much this legacy intersects with our current era of racial and post Me Too reckoning, as well as how Black theatre in America has always reflected and intersected with social history and justice. In honor of Women’s History Month readings of Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun and Nambi Kelley’s Dead of Night, The Execution of… monologue from the Hands Up project will be part of the celebration, as well as rare ephemera and memorabilia from Ensemble’s storied history and a live panel discussion with Ensemble's legendary artistic director Eileen J. Morris, Black theatre visionary Woodie King Jr., playwright and actor Nambi Kelley, and patron and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Linda Lorelle, and audience Q&A.
The birth of a new Black theatre movement came out of the Civil Rights/Black Power activism of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, as well as intersectional feminism. Leading figures, institutions, and events of a movement that transformed the American stage first and foremost include George Hawkins, who founded The Ensemble Theatre in 1976 in Houston, Texas.
His legacy is now carried forth by Eileen J. Morris, Ensemble’s Artistic Director, who collaborated and worked closely with Hawkins before his death in 1990, and the entire Ensemble team. The Ensemble is one of the few professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, and holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house.
This multimedia virtual tribute will celebrate the legacy of The Ensemble, as well as how much this legacy intersects with our current era of racial and post Me Too reckoning, as well as how Black theatre in America has always reflected and intersected with social history and justice. In honor of Women’s History Month readings of Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun and Nambi Kelley’s Dead of Night, The Execution of… monologue from the Hands Up project will be part of the celebration, as well as rare ephemera and memorabilia from Ensemble’s storied history and a live panel discussion with Ensemble's legendary artistic director Eileen J. Morris, Black theatre visionary Woodie King Jr., playwright and actor Nambi Kelley, and patron and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Linda Lorelle, and audience Q&A.
The birth of a new Black theatre movement came out of the Civil Rights/Black Power activism of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, as well as intersectional feminism. Leading figures, institutions, and events of a movement that transformed the American stage first and foremost include George Hawkins, who founded The Ensemble Theatre in 1976 in Houston, Texas.
His legacy is now carried forth by Eileen J. Morris, Ensemble’s Artistic Director, who collaborated and worked closely with Hawkins before his death in 1990, and the entire Ensemble team. The Ensemble is one of the few professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, and holds the distinction of being one of the nation’s largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house.
This multimedia virtual tribute will celebrate the legacy of The Ensemble, as well as how much this legacy intersects with our current era of racial and post Me Too reckoning, as well as how Black theatre in America has always reflected and intersected with social history and justice. In honor of Women’s History Month readings of Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun and Nambi Kelley’s Dead of Night, The Execution of… monologue from the Hands Up project will be part of the celebration, as well as rare ephemera and memorabilia from Ensemble’s storied history and a live panel discussion with Ensemble's legendary artistic director Eileen J. Morris, Black theatre visionary Woodie King Jr., playwright and actor Nambi Kelley, and patron and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Linda Lorelle, and audience Q&A.