For many young men in our favorite dramas, self-discovery means finding a way out from under the shadow of the father. But when strong, silent Dad shifts from the shadows to center stage, we get to climb the branches of the family tree that are less frequently grasped. [Read more...]
DC actors join national casts celebrating African American theatres with reading on June 20
June 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Blues for an Alabama Sky
April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Mirandy and Brother Wind
January 26, 2011 By 2 Comments
The Old Settler
April 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Blue Door
April 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment
What starts out as an ugly case of insomnia caused by Lewis’s personal and marital stress, professional challenges, and cross-road decisions gets even tougher when spirits of four generations of his ancestry come a’calling for reckoning and reflection. And you thought you had a rough night. [Read more...]
African Continuum Names New Executive Director
August 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
African Continuum Theatre today announced that it has named JoAnn Williams as the company’s new Executive Director. Williams, a veteran Washington-area theatrical innovator, had been serving as Interim Executive Director of the Dance Institute of Washington. [Read more...]
Intimate Apparel
May 5, 2008 By 1 Comment
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Intimate Apparel
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Written by Lynn Nottage
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Directed by Jennifer L. Nelson
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Produced by African Continuum Theatre Company
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Reviewed by Debbie Minter Jackson
Set in New York City in 1905, Intimate Apparel showcases the power of the written word from an African American cultural perspective. Specifically, the impact of letters and letter-writing in an age of innocence. Playwright Lynn Nottage gently and lovingly explores aspects of love and friendship, cultural identity, self- expression and survival.
Esther, the main character, beautifully rendered by Deidre LaWan Starnes, has all but given up on finding a soul mated kindred spirit, let alone a husband. [Read more...]
Jitney
January 31, 2007 By Leave a Comment
Produced by the African Continuum Theatre in association with Ford’s Theatre
Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy
Frederick Strother as Becker (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
Jennifer L. Nelson, who is stepping aside as artistic director of the African Continuum Theatre Company to dedicate herself to directing, elicits spell-binding performances for this double first: Jitney was the first of August Wilson’s ten-play cycle about the African-American experience in the 20th century to be professionally produced, and it’s the first staging of any his plays for Ford’s Theatre.
Gingham Dog
September 26, 2006 By Leave a Comment
Produced by – African Continuum Theater
By: Debbie Minter Jackson
The breakup of a marriage is always hard to watch. The nastier the better only works to sell tabloids sporting celebrities shot in unflattering, compromised positions accompanied by exposes and come-uppance storylines. There is no vicarious thrill while catching the death rattle of the sad couple in Lanford Wilson’s, Gingham Dog, the season opener at the African Continuum Theater, and therein lies the crux of the problem with the script. At least the tabloids are enticing, appealing in their own sick way, and stir up enough interest to secure a purchase and a surreptitious peek among the pages. The sad leavings of Wilson’s couple offer nothing of the kind, nor do the characters go kindly and gently onto the next stages of their lives. No, they are stuck in a thrashing battle of wills divvying up the pitiful remains of their three-year marriage, and we are hapless witnesses to the unpleasant results.
