Fountain Theatre
-
Recent Blog Posts
- Actor Patrick Keleher urges you to see ‘Fatherland’ at the Fountain Theatre
- Video: Rave reviews everywhere for ‘Fatherland’ at the Fountain Theatre
- Fountain Theatre announces national job search to replace outgoing artistic director Stephen Sachs
- Biddy Mason: A Staged Reading, a co-presentation of the Fountain Theatre, plays tonight at the Autry Museum
- Fountain Theatre co-founding artistic director Stephen Sachs announces retirement
Facebook
“Like” Us on Facebook!
-
Community
Archives by Month
Search Our Blog
Email Subscription
Join 104 other subscribersFollow Blog via Email
Join 104 other subscribersConnect With Us
Follow us on Twitter
My Tweets
Tag Archives: African American
New Video: In rehearsal with our LA Premiere of fast and funny ‘My Mañana Comes’
Posted in actors, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, immigration, Latino, Los Angeles, Mexican American, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, African American, Armando Molina, busboy, comedy, drama, Elizabeth Irwin, Fountain Theatre, Hispanic, immigration, Latino, Lawrence Stallings, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, My Manana Comes, new play, Pablo Castelblanco, performing arts, Peter Pasco, restaurant, Richard Azurdia, theater, theatre
Diversity is a Noun, Not a Verb
by Carla Stillwell
Carla Stillwell
Let me get transparent with you. I cannot stand the word “diversity.” It makes me uncomfortable because I know what it has become code for.
For the first thirty minutes or so of a plenary [at a TCG Conference in Chicago three years ago], there were several accomplished men and women of color sharing some of their experiences with diversity, or the lack thereof, in the theater community. The conversation from the panel quickly became a call to action to the executive and artistic directors in the room to make the American theater landscape match the general population in cultural and gender representations. Then it happened. A middle-aged white man from a theater company in Minnesota stood to speak. He said that he would love to put more “…blacks on stage” but he knows that that would mean that he would lose his audience base because they wouldn’t be able to “…identify with those types of stories.” Hmmm…in that moment it became painfully clear to me that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to add cultural and gender specificity to America’s theatrical landscape. People are bandying about the word “diversity” without having a real understanding of what the word means. Without a true understanding of the word, we certainly cannot move to a place of honest dialogue, and without honest dialogue we will not achieve real change.
So let’s start with defining the word “diversity.” Dictionary.com offers the following:
di·ver·si·ty [dih-vur-si-tee, dahy-] noun, plural di·ver·si·ties.
1. The state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness:diversity of opinion.
2. Variety; multiformity.
3. A point of difference.
I find a few things notable in this definition. The first is that diversity is defined as a noun and not a verb. This means that it is a state of being and not something you do. Hence one cannot perform diversity. This definition suggests that to simply do things that we think seem diverse (i.e., color blind casting) isn’t enough. The definition suggests that to achieve diversity, you have to accept difference as the rule and not the exception. Diversity has become code for throwing cultural and gender difference at a white wall and hoping that the differences stick, but being OK when some or all of them simply slide to the floor.
Per the aforementioned definition, diversity at its core means that there are a variety of things that make up a whole that have different shapes, forms, and kinds. So I think it is safe to say that a state of being diverse can only be achieved if there is variety. We have attempted to achieve diversity by keeping most things in American theater culturally homogenous and adding a dash of difference. But the definition of the word diversity lets us know that this type of thinking is topsy-turvy.
Then there is this third part of the definition, “a point of difference.” A “point” is defined in its second definition as, “a projecting part of anything.” From this one can infer that diversity is the center, the focal point, from which difference and variety project. We have attempted to introduce diversity into the American theater landscape without diversifying the centers of artistic decision-making (producers, artistic directors, board of directors, etc.) in our theatrical institutions. How can we project difference into the entire theatrical experience when the points are culturally homogenous?
I have been at the center of many of these conversations about diversity. But I believe that none of these conversations will bear the fruit of change until we all embrace the state of being diverse and stop acting out diversity.
Carla Stillwell is a theatre director, playwright and performer. She is the Managing Producer for MPAACT as well as a Playwright-In-Residence and Resident Director with the company. Additionally, Ms. Stillwell is a teaching artist for MPAACT and The Steppenwolf Theatre.
Posted in Acting, actors, Arts, arts organizations, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged actors, African American, American Theater, artistic mission, artists, arts organizations, Carla Stillwell, Chicago, cultural diversity, difference, diversity, drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, MPAACT, of color, performing arts, plays, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, TCG, theater, theatre, Theatre arts, Theatre Communications Group
Black History Month: Revelations of African American Culture in ‘In the Red and Brown Water’
“In the Red and Brown Water”
by Natalie Mislang Mann
Kinetic energy charged with emotion. That describes Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Los Angeles premiere of In the Red and Brown Water presented by The Fountain Theatre. The location of this acclaimed, vibrant, nonprofit performance space in a humble Los Angeles neighborhood foreshadows the economic reality of the play’s kaleidoscopic mix of characters traversing the stage. In this context, McCraney’s play represents a microcosm of shattered dreams and unrealized potential within the larger world.
Treading In the Brown and Red Water, the audience descends into the protagonist’s depths. Set in an impoverished section of the fictional San Pere, Louisiana, Diarra Kilpatrick’s Oya is a passionate runner who abandons a college track scholarship to take care of her dying mother, Mama Mojo, played by Peggy A. Blow. In the process of losing her dreams, she escapes into a fiery relationship with Gilbert Glenn Brown’s Shango and relinquishes the one man, Ogun, who declares his heartfelt love. As Ogun, Dorian Christian Baucum exudes an honest, inner-strength that contrasts with Shango’s impulsive personality.
Diarra Kilpatrick and Gilbert Glenn Brown in “In the Red and Brown Water”
On a superficial level, the plot reads formulaic: Tragedy hits girl. Girl turns to wrong man. Girl finds herself alone. However, McCraney’s vision is anything but banal. The onstage interactions between Oya and the characters with Yoruba deity names evoke the transcendental belief that spirits interact with humans in the everyday world. Through Oya’s relationships, the audience begins to explore not just socio-economic realities, but the human desire to survive. Simultaneously visceral and intellectual, this “circular” ode to human spirit emerges then concludes in similar yet distinct ways.
Peeling away In the Red and Brown Water’s stratum is akin to unraveling textual and historical layers of a Sorrow Song. Within this context, McCraney’s drama illustrates civil rights activist W.E.B Du Bois’ analysis of slave songs as “the music of unhappy people, of the children of disappointment [which] tell of death and suffering and unvoiced longing toward a truer world, of misty wonderings and hidden ways.” Through the allusion to Yoruba deities, McCraney echoes aspects of African American culture that used to remain hidden. His knowledge of Yoruba Diaspora adds to the dialogue of African American art.
Peggy Blow as Mama Moja
While prominent art historians, such as Robert Ferris Thompson, have examined the spiritual and practical aspects of West African culture brought to the Americas through the slave trade, In the Red and Brown Water pushes beyond enumerating bodies of work which focus on elevating African American folk art from obscurity to cultural center. McCraney indirectly asks: Why stop there? He bridges the aesthetic, spiritual and socio-political gap that encompasses not just race, gender, class and sexual identity, but – most importantly – the psychological self, the whole self affected by poverty onset by institutionalized human bondage.
During the ensemble’s performance, parallels between In the Red and Brown Water and choreographer Alvin Ailey’s Revelations arise. Known for drawing on the emotional and spiritual experience of African Americans rooted within a rich musical tradition, Ailey, who McCraney cites as one of his influences, connected the past to the present. Traces of Ailey’s influence emerge as drumbeats pulsate through the heart of the play, interweaving through spiritual scores and contemporary beats. The connection between past and present compounds in an agonizing scene. In the midst of electronic house music, Oya breaks down. Tapping into her primal emotions, she ruptures into African dance, which emphasizes the beauty of African American culture ingrained within the realities of personal struggle.
Shirley Jo Finney’s discerning direction coalesces the multidisciplinary facets of Peter Bayne’s talents as composer/sound designer and Ameenah Kaplan’s choreography to evoke the presence of Yoruba culture within a contemporary play. Although Frederica Nascimento’s minimalist set appears stark, she places attention on every detail: From what resembles a divination bowl sitting under the porch to the assorted water vessels on stage. Even the plastic water bottle turned percussion instrument summons the spirit of San Pere. In the Red and Brown Water conjures ancestral spirit as literal, figurative and mystical dreams appear.
Natalie Mislang Mann has a Master of Arts in Humanities from San Francisco State University and writes for Playwriting in the City.
In the Red and Brown Water Must End Feb 24th (323) 663-1525 More
Posted in actors, Arts, designers, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, Alvin Ailey, Ameenah Kaplan, Black History Month, culture, Diarra Kilpatrick, diaspora, Dorian Baucum, Fountain Theatre, Frederica Nascimento, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Maya Lynne Robinson, Natalie Mislang Mann, new plays, Peggy A. Blow, performing arts, Peter Bayne, plays, playwriting, Playwriting in the City, Revelations, Robert Ferris Thompson, San Francisco State University, Shirley Jo Finney, Simone Missick, Sorrow Song, Stephen Marshall, Tarell Alvin McCraney, theater, theatre, Theodore Perkins, W.E.B. Du Bois, West African, Yoruba
Spotlight on Dorian Baucum: ‘In the Red and Brown Water’ Actor, Singer and Everyday Warrior
Dorian Baucum and Diarra Kilpatrick and company in “In the Red and Brown Water”
If you’ve had the unforgettable experience of seeing the Fountain Theatre’s critically-acclaimed Los Angeles Premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water, you can see by his heartfelt performance of Ogun Size that Dorian Baucum is a talented actor. What you may not know is that he is also a gifted singer/songwriter.
Where are you from? How long have you lived in Los Angeles?
I grew up in Washington, D.C. I came to Los Angeles in 2008 after taking a risk and leaving Boston, Massachusetts. I decided to get my MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and came on up to LA to begin working in film and television.
Dorian Baucum
What was it like auditioning for Red/Brown?
By the time I auditioned, I’d been in L.A. for four years. After hundreds of auditions, and landing some great guest star roles on television, by that time I’d made the decision that I wasn’t going to pretend I was somebody else to try to impress the Director or Producers like I did when I first came to L.A. I was going to just show what my instincts were for the role and if they liked what I brought into the room, great. If they didn’t? Well, I’d have to figure out a way to be okay with that. This art thing is sensitive. So, in being true to myself and my actor instincts, I can just let them decide if I’m right or wrong for the piece.
I celebrated when I got the role in Red/Brown. Then panic set in. Who am I fooling? I’m no actor! I’m going to ruin the whole show! (laughs) That’s the cycle I go through.
How would you describe your character of Ogun?
Ogun is a man that comes from the heart center. He’s a warrior of love. To walk through the world with an open heart can be frightening. It’s like when you’re a little kid and all you want to do is love and then somebody comes along and shakes you into the harsh realities of life. I think this is why he stutters as a young man: he is so open and vulnerable. As an older man, he turns his open heart into his strength, when he realizes that love is his gift. He realizes that his love can save people. His love is so strong that it pulls Oya from the depths of depression, for a while.
Playing him is terrifying. Vulnerability, extreme sensitivity, insecurity. All the parts of myself I’d like to pretend aren’t there were necessary to play him. It’s also taught me that it’s okay to be a peaceful warrior. It’s okay to live from the heart. People like Ogun are warriors, but they are warriors in a different way. Their gift is to bring love to the planet. It’s hard to do that when you are living on a planet with so much turmoil. You have to protect yourself, too. I think he realizes this in the end. It’s a tough balance. I think he sees that in giving his greatest gift, love, to Oya, he has to also remember that loving himself is the most important thing that he will ever do. Most people think that loving others first is the way it works, but I think it starts within, first and radiates outward.
What has the Red/Brown experience been like for you?
Challenging. In order to play Ogun, I had to open up my heart center and that meant dealing with all of the experiences in my life that made me close it off to the world in the first place. Director Shirley Jo Finney made it even harder because she was relentless in insisting that I go there. She is kind of a vortex, an oracle for the ancestors in the way that she works. When she gives directions, it’s not just coming from her. It’s coming directly from the ancestors and their mission is to open you up so that you can become who you were meant to be on your journey.
Tell us about your music career.
I’ve been singing since I was a kid. But, as an adult, music saved my life. I started creating lyrics and melodies and singing them as therapy to get me through the day. Now I volunteer at Cedars Sinai Hospital and sing to patients at bedside as a part of their music for healing program.
The influences of the all the artists I listened to growing up like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Earth, Wind and Fire comes through my music in a powerful way. India Arie, Mos Def, Erykah Badu and Michael Franti are all great influences.
I write acoustic and neo soul. But the lyrics – conscious lyrics meant to uplift, inspire and heal me when I need it – are really what makes my music something that the world needs to hear right now. It is very encouraging when you create a piece of art and there are people out there who say, “Yeah, I feel you!”
I’m doing it all myself as an indie artist. Connecting with as many people as possible who like my music to help me build a strong support-base. I’ve made sales in little pockets throughout the U.S., Japan, South Africa, South America, Italy and Germany. (laughs) Somebody in Japan is grooving to my music, right now! Blows my mind!
And getting a chance to work with a living legend like Brenda Lee Eager on this show opened my voice in ways that blow my mind, too. She knows where music comes from and where it needs to go. To the HEART!
What are the rewards of being an actor versus being a singer/musician? What do you get from each, as an artist?
That’s a tough one. With music, it comes straight from the heart and I get to connect with people as me, totally and completely. In acting, I connect with people, too, but it’s me playing within the confines of the realty being created, so it’s not all of me full force like it would be in music, you know? I think that there is freedom in acting, but I think there is even more freedom in music.
You have a new CD out, “Everyday Warrior”. How would you describe it?
My debut album, EVERYDAY WARRIOR: ACOUSTIC – NEO SOUL FOR YOUR SOUL is conscious uplifting music that you can kick-back and groove to, but it is also meant to help folks get through the day in a better way. I’m a music healer, urban yogi and a strong believer in the fact that music can change people’s lives for the better. So, that kind of energetic intention is behind my music.
My producer a – multi-instrumentalist San Francisco born sister, Joy Julks – is a baaaaaaaaad ass – she’s played with many of the greats like Pharoah Sanders, Angela Bofil, Marcus Miller, Sheila E., Macy Gray and many others.
What are your plans after Red/Brown closes?
I’m going to really get my music to as many hearts as possible and as always…find my next great acting project to work on. Or, let it find me!
In the Red and Brown Water Final Weeks! Must End Feb 24! (323) 663-1525 More Info
Proceeds from Dorian’s CD go to Run For Her 2013, an annual run and friendship run/walk to benefit Women’s Ovarian Cancer Research and Awareness.
Posted in actors, Arts, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Music, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged acoustic, African American, Angela Bofil, Brenda Lee Eager, Cedars Sinai Hospital, Diarra Kilpatrick, Dorian Baucum, Earth, Erykah Badu, EVERYDAY WARRIOR: ACOUSTIC - NEO SOUL FOR YOUR SOUL, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, India Arie, Joy Julks, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Macy Gray, Marcus Miller, Marvin Gaye, Michael Franti, Mos Def, neo soul, new plays, Ogun Size, Oya, performing arts, Pharoah Sanders, plays, Sheila E., Shirley Jo Finney, singer, songwriter, Stevie Wonder, Tarell Alvin McCraney, theater, theatre, Wind and Fire
Diarra Kilpatrick is a natural as a force of nature
The actress has been called ‘superb’ in her role in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s ‘In the Red and Brown Water,’ a play that exists in two conceptual dimensions.
by Reed Johnson
Before Diarra Kilpatrick was cast in August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson,” at age 12, she already knew what she wanted to do with her life: anything but acting.
So when her hometown Detroit newspaper interviewed her about the production at a suburban theater, Kilpatrick told the reporter she wanted to be a lawyer or maybe the president of a public relations firm. But definitely not “a struggling actor,” she said.
Recounting that anecdote recently at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood, where she’s playing the lead role in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s mytho-poetic drama “In the Red and Brown Water,” Kilpatrick laughed at the memory of her precocious pre-adolescent self.
Because by the time the article went to press, Kilpatrick knew what she absolutely had to do with her life: Be an actor.
“It was the quality of the actors that I got a chance to work with and see them up close,” she said, explaining her overnight career conversion during “The Piano Lesson.” “And the production, the material — it was August Wilson.”
Startling transformations are the stuff of theatrical magic, and they’re central to McCraney’s play, which opened at the Fountain in October and has been extended through Feb. 24. “In the Red and Brown Water” is the first of McCraney’s trilogy “The Brother/Sister Plays,” produced off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2009.
Set during the “distant present” at a mythical housing project in a make-believe Louisiana bayou town, “In the Red and Brown Water” exists simultaneously in two conceptual dimensions.
There’s the 21st century world of Oya (Kilpatrick), a high school track star torn between her college ambitions and the need to care for her ailing Mama Mojo (Peggy A. Blow) and between her affection for the stammering, sweetly devoted Ogun (Dorian Christian Baucum) and the dangerous erotic heat she feels whenever Shango (Gilbert Glenn Brown) comes around her door.
Diarra Kilpatrick and Gilbert Glenn Brown in “In the Red and Brown Water”
But in another dimension — parallel, yet inseparable — the play is a spiritual struggle that draws on the stories, cosmologies and archetypal gods of the Yoruba people of West Africa, whose legends were transported by slaves to the New World. Virtually all of the play’s 10 characters are named for traditional Yoruba orishas, or spirits: Elegba, the shape-shifting trickster; Shango, god of fire and lightning; Ogun, the deity of iron-working and war.
And Oya, goddess of the Niger River, wind, storms and, as Kilpatrick puts it, “revolutionary transformation.”
“It’s not like ‘Let’s redecorate the house,’ it’s like ‘Let’s tear this [stuff] down! Let’s knock the walls out!'” Kilpatrick explained. “So when Oya comes into your life, people fear her because it means your life is about to change.”
For Kilpatrick, the task was to simultaneously, plausibly portray Oya as a contemporary young woman as well as a force of nature. “This is a girl who listens to Nicki Minaj and Rihanna,” Kilpatrick said. “This is the texture of right now. But yeah, we also carry in our DNA these stories from hundreds and hundreds of years ago.”
In his review, Times theater critic Charles McNulty praised the Fountain’s production, directed by Shirley Jo Finney, as “sensational” and Kilpatrick as “superb.”
Growing up in Detroit, Kilpatrick was taken regularly by her mother to plays, art exhibitions and other cultural events. “Let me just say, if there was a play that was done in Detroit I probably saw it, particularly if it was a black play, and let’s say 95% of them are black plays in Detroit.”
Between ages 12 and 16, Kilpatrick took part in Detroit’s Mosaic Youth Theatre, one of the country’s most accomplished youth theater programs. She also acted at her private college prep school, Detroit Country Day, before moving to the theater program at New York University, where she performed in plays like Suzan-Lori Parks’ “In the Blood” and Stephen Adly Guirgis,’ “Our Lady of 121st Street.”
“I was one of the only black girls who had made it that far who could cuss and make it sound real,” Kilpatrick said, laughing. NYU instructors strongly encouraged her to lose the vestigial Southern accent she’d picked up from her South Carolina-migrant forebears.
Given the realities of casting for African American actors, Kilpatrick said, it’s important to be able to switch accents and speech styles depending on the role. “You don’t want the private school to eat up all the richness of … your flavor. Because no matter what that flavor is, that’s going to be your calling card at the end of the day.”
Kilpatrick came to Los Angeles in 2007. She has appeared in the Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble’s version of “Three Sisters,” set in Trinidad, and a half-black, half-Mexican transgender male in the Bootleg Theater’s production of Gary Lennon’s “The Interlopers” last year, among other roles.
But getting to play a role like Oya “is a blessing,” especially with this cast and “Shirley Jo at the helm,” she said.
“There aren’t parts like this for black women very often. It’s like Hamlet, it’s like King Lear, it’s Medea. It’s an opportunity to really go in there.”
In the Red and Brown Water Extended to Feb 24 (323) 663-1525 More
Posted in actors, Arts, Drama, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, actress, African American, August Wilson, Bootleg Theater, Charles McNulty, Detroit, Diarra Kilpatrick, Dorian Christian Baucum, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Hamlet, In the Blood, In The Red and Brown Water, King Lear, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Los Angeles Times, Medea, new plays, Nicki Minaj, orishas, Our Lady of 121st Street, Oya, Peggy A. Blow, plays, Public Theater, Rihanna, Shirley Jo Finney, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Suzan Lori Parks, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Interlopers, The Piano Lesson, West Africa, Yoruba
Fountain Theatre’s Acclaimed ‘In the Red and Brown Water’ Extends to Feb 24
LA Premiere Held Over to Celebrate Black History Month
“In the Red and Brown Water” (photo by Ed Krieger)
The Fountain Theatre has extended the Los Angeles premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s lusciously theatrical and boldly original In the Red and Brown Water through the end of February, in honor of Black History Month. Performances will continue through December 16 as previously scheduled, then resume on January 5 for an additional eight weeks through February 24.
Lyrically weaving together elements of urban contemporary realism with West African mysticism, In the Red and Brown Water tells the tale of Oya, who can run faster than anyone—but not fast enough to escape her destiny. Her journey from the promise of youth to the complicated yearnings of womanhood is joyous, raucous, raw and brazenly beautiful.
The Fountain production has been declared “100% Sweet” by Bitter Lemons, a website that aggregates Los Angeles theater reviews, and which, in a rare editorial comment, writes, “Once again, the Fountain Theatre shows that they are the class of Los Angeles theater, big or small… this is simply what theater is meant to be.” The Los Angeles Times raves, “CRITIC’S CHOICE! Beyond the fact that it is sensational, the Fountain Theatre’s production of ‘In the Red and Brown Water’… introduces Los Angeles audiences to a dramatic poet in the process of discovering his singular voice and shows how magnificently one of L.A.’s better small theaters can serve bold new talent.” The LA Weekly agrees, “GO! A visceral fable that rises up from the underbelly of America,” and Back Stage calls In the Red and Brown Water “a production that explodes in sounds, images, and extraordinary performances.”
It took the Fountain three years to obtain rights to produce McCraney’s play, which first exploded on the theater scene with a production at New York’s Public Theatre in 2009. On his personal Facebook page, Los Angeles Times Theater Critic Charles McNulty posts, “I love [the Fountain Theatre] production — even more than the one at the Public Theater. LA Theater is not to be underestimated!”
In the Red and Brown Water is helmed by multiple award-winning director Shirley Jo Finney. Diarra Kilpatrick stars as Oya in “a lead performance that is so good you wonder if somehow the designers may have concocted some kind of CGI image in front of your eyes instead of a living breathing human being; her movement, range of emotion and depth of passion is so indescribable that it will literally take your breath away.” (Colin Mitchell, Bitter Lemons). The ensemble also includes Dorian Christian Baucum, Peggy A.Blow, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Justin Chu Cary, Stephen Marshall, Simone Missick, Iona Morris, Theodore Perkins and Maya Lynne Robinson.
Performances of In the Red and Brown Water continue through February 24 on Thursdays (through December 13 only),Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 2 pm (dark December 17 through January 4). Call (323) 663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, Back Stage, Bitter Lemons, Black History Month, Charles McNulty, Colin Mitchell, Critic's Choice, Dorian Christian Baucum, Facebook, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, LA Weekly, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Los Angeles Times, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, Peggy A. Blow, plays, playwriting, Public Theater, rave reviews, Shirley Jo Finney, Simone Missick, Stephen Marshall, Tarell Alvin McCraney, theater, Theodore Perkins
Critic’s Rave for Smash Hit ‘In the Red and Brown Water’ at the Fountain Theatre
“Sensational!” – LA Times
Diarra Kilpatrick and company.
RAVE! CRITIC’S CHOICE! “Beyond the fact that it is sensational, the Fountain Theatre’s production of “In the Red and Brown Water” by Tarell Alvin McCraney is important for two reasons: It introduces Los Angeles audiences to a dramatic poet in the process of discovering his singular voice and it shows how magnificently one of L.A.’s better small theaters can serve bold new talent.” – Los Angeles Times
Peggy Blow, Diarra Kilpatrick and company.
RAVE! “Every player scores a memorable impression, above all the luminous lead Diarra Kilpatrick, who can inhabit a simple soul yet express her intensely complicated inner torment … [Director Shirley Jo Finney] indisputably remains at the top of her game.” – Hollywood Reporter
RAVE! “A production that explodes in sounds, images, and extraordinary performances.” – Backstage
RAVE! “An astonishing accomplishment! Skilfully aided by director Shirley Jo Finney, the superb cast works poetry, myth, dance, chanting and music into the mix.” – Total Theater
RAVE! “Electrifying! … A unique piece full of dancing, singing, haunting story telling and enchanting characters … It is like nothing you have ever seen before and something that is utterly fascinating and highly entertaining.” – ALittleNightMusing
RAVE! GO! “Compelling! A visceral fable that rises up from the underbelly of America.” – LA Weekly
Diarra Kilpatrick and Gilbert Glenn Brown
RAVE! “Perfection! Finney’s excellent directorial work … The casting is flawless.” – LA Beat
RAVE! “Unforgettable! An excellent cast!” – ArtsinLA
RAVE! “This is the show to see!” – CaribPress
RAVE! “A new, important, and original voice in American theatre … a talented cast … Especially moving … heart-wrenching” – BlogCritics
Diarra Kilpatrick and company.
RAVE! “Diarra Kilpatrick is a breath of fresh air in her daring performance … Gilbert Glenn Brown nearly steals this show (at least as far as the women are concerned) with an explosive and arousing performance … terrific … hilarious … a steady cast anchored by theater veterans Iona Morris and Peggy A. Blow.” – Donloe’s Lowdown
Iona Morris and Diarra Kilpatrick
Simone Missick and Maya Lynne Robinson
Diarra Kilpatrick, Dorian Baucum and company.
Now Playing! (323) 663-1525 More
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, Back Stage, Critic's Choice, Diarra Kilpatrick, Dorian Baucum, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Hollywood Reporter, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, LA Weekly, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Los Angeles Times, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, Peggy Blow, plays, playwriting, rave reviews, Shirley Jo Finney, Simone Missick, Stephen Marshall, Stephen Sachs, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Brother/Sister Plays, Theodore Perkins
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Opening Night Party, ‘In the Red and Brown Water’
Our Los Angeles Premiere of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s In the Red and Brown Water officially opened Saturday, October 20th. A full house, a dazzling performance, followed by a catered reception upstairs in the cafe. The cast, company and audience members enjoyed the wine and delicious food served at the post-show party, including (because of the Louisiana setting of the play) a huge tray of homemade creole jambalaya.
Enjoy the photos!
In the Red and Brown Water Now – Dec 16 (323) 663-1525 More
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, Brenda Lee Eager, Diarra Kilpatrick, Dorian Baucum, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, opening night, Peggy Blow, plays, Shirley Jo Finney, Simone Missick, Stephen Marshall, Stephen Sachs, Tarell Alvin McCraney, theater, Theodore Perkins
Fountain Spotlight: Actress Diarra Kilpatrick On the Run in ‘In the Red and Brown Water’
Diarra Kilpatrick
Tell us about yourself. Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Detroit, MI. My mom was always really dedicated to nurturing the artist in me as I was growing up. She put me in every arts or literature program she could find and I thrived in them, so there was no way I was gonna grow up and become an accountant. And thank God for that. And my dad has the best sense of humor of anyone in the whole world. So if my mom gave me the gift of art, my dad gave me the gift of laughter.
How would you describe Oya, the character you play in In the Red and Brown Water?
“The Interlopers” at Bootleg Theater.
At this point in the process its a little hard to delineate where she ends and I begin honestly. She’s a track star, so she’s alot faster than I am, that’s for sure. My track and cross country coach from high school would probably chuckle if she saw this play because aside from the horizontally challenged members of the team, I was the worst one. And I had the longest legs. But I went to this painfully conservative college prep school and the rule was everyone had to play a sport. And if you were on scholarship you had to play TWO sports. I thought that was completely racist because nearly all the scholarship kids were black. So I think the angry little militant in me didn’t want to excel in sports cause as a black girl on scholarship was expected to. I was like whatever, somebody point me towards the stage please. But I regret it now. I’ve grown up and found that I actually do like to run. I probably could have been better if I had applied myself. So I’m getting a chance to feel what that might have been like through Oya.
What themes in the play resonate for you?
The play for me is about Oya’s growth. She has a hell of a time getting over the hump, from one version of herself to the next. She’s special and she knows she’s special so there’s quite a bit of frustration that comes in when she has such a difficult time asserting herself in the world.
The language of the play
Yes the language of the piece is poetic. Black folks speak in poems to me anyway. McCraney definitely highlights the lyricism in the black vernacular. It informs me as an actress. I know exactly who these people are by the way they speak. There’s no vagueness in there. I know who they are.
How does mythology weave its way through the story?
My favorite thing about the piece is the presence of the mythology throughout. These characters are black and poor and living in the projects. Seems like the makings of a sad sack 90s movie that we’ve all seen before. But by reminding us that at the very center, at the core of these characters, is the spirit of a god or goddess, it somehow more fully reveals their humanity. The playwright is showing these characters so much respect in that way. It somehow manages to both elevate the piece and pull us closer to it.
Diarra Kilpatrick (Oya) and Gilbert Glenn Brown (Shango) from ‘In the Red and Brown Water’.
This is your first project at the Fountain. Are you having a good time?
I’m really enjoying working with Shirley Jo and the whole cast. There’s a closeness that happened pretty organically. I’m excited to get to rehearsal everyday. This is the only ensemble I’ve been in where people balk about taking a day off. Everyone is very excited by the work. And everyone is bringing so much of themselves to their performances.
In the Red and Brown Water Oct 20 – Dec 16 (323) 663-1525 More
Award-Winning Director Shirley Jo Finney Guides Los Angeles Premiere of ‘In The Red and Brown Water’
by Charlzetta Driver
Theater should remind us of our own lives. Remember the story that we see is how we can transform, change, and evolve. ~Shirley Jo Finney
Shirley Jo Finney
Promoting In the Red and Brown Water at the Fountain Theatre, the riveting play written by award-winning African American playwright, Tarell Alvin Mc Craney would be simple enough. Well known for his acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays, the first play of this set In the Red and Brown Water has already been well received in each of it’s venues since the first premiere. Further, Tarell’s talents are highly sought as he is considered by many theatrical leaders as the best young writer around.
However, once combining the desired works of this proven playwright with the style and perspective of director, the eloquent, Shirley Jo Finney, anticipation and excitement of experiencing this enticing play reaches boiling point!
Less than two weeks before the Los Angeles premiere of In the Red and Brown Water at the Fountain Theatre, in an exclusive interview I had the unique opportunity to experience first hand the reasons Shirley Jo is an award winning actress and director. Within less than an hour, I was virtually moved through the history of theater, Africans in America, church, and the modern day classroom. Her passion and expertise is palpable in conversation as she effortlessly creates visions of slaves on the plantation, Sunday afternoons singing and dancing for their masters. As the folk watched from their porches, thoroughly absorbed and entertained, they were often oblivious to the sarcasm that shadowed the mimicry of their chattel’s exceptional performances.
Fast forwarding some years, I virtually viewed the descendants of the old masters in black face erroneously mimicking Black people. I traveled under her spell to the Black community of theater where portrayals in the history of African American churches were common. Shirley Jo instantly broke into character invoking the “Call and Response” style of the good reverend after which she explained:
That’s the call and response. It’s what I like to call “edu-ma-tainment,” creating ritual, engaging in the stories of, like the bible. Living, laughing, and dying – as a ritual.
Tarell McCraney
I asked Shirley Jo some specific questions about Tarell’s style of writing, here are some of those questions and answers:
Me: Is Tarell’s style like Tyler Perry’s?
Shirley Jo: No. Two different styles. If you want to co-explore, go see the works of August Wilson and Suzy-Lori Parks that show African Americans incarcerated by the institution of slavery. He (Tarell) incorporates those elements which makes the difference.
Me: Okay. Spike Lee said some negative things to say about Tyler Perry’s portrayal of African Americans. What is your opinion on this subject?
Shirley Jo: The beauty is the diversity! Everybody has a market and a point of view. Tyler makes what’s called “cottage films.” No judgement. I love that about where we are. We are no longer stuck in Blaxploitation, allow everyone their voice regardless if you like that person or not, we have a choice.
Me: Shirley Jo, what do you believe the theater’s job is?
Shirley Jo: Theater should remind us of our own lives. Remember the story that we see is how we can transform, change, and evolve.
Tarell Alvin McCraney does just that in In the Red and Brown Water. The main character Oya, struggles to maintain her dreams. She runs track and sees it as her way of breaking free from the impoverished community she grew up in. After losing her mother she encounters a number of obstacles and sacrifices her dream. Oya means goddess of wind. Red represents our life blood, life force or passion. Brown represents the environment as the plays setting is in Louisiana. Water represents cleansing or new beginnings.
Entering adulthood just after the Civil Rights Movement shifted in to high gear, Shirley Jo had already experienced a lifetime of firsts. First integrated neighborhood, first Black student in the school, and she was the first African American student in the MFA program for Theater at UCLA. Shirley Jo was in the midst of an amazing acting career when she first delved into the role of director. Best known for her portrayal of Wilma in “Wilma” the true story of one of America’s greatest Olympic athletes; her resume includes many well known works including several episodes of “Moesha” and “Remember Me?”
Just prior to preparation for In the Red and Brown Water, Shirley Jo returned from Africa where she’d just completed “Winne The Opera,” the operatic story of Winnie Mandela.
Video: Winnie – The Opera
In The Red and Brown Water Oct 20 – Dec 16 (323) 663-1525 More
Charlzetta Driver is a freelance writer for Examiner.com
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, playwright, theatre
Tagged African American, August Wilson, call and response, director, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Premiere, Moesha, new plays, plays, playwriting, Remember Me?, ritual, Shirley Jo Finney, Spike Lee, Suzan Lori Parks, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Brother/Sister Plays, theater, Tyler Perry, Wilma Rudolph, Winnie Mandela, Winnie:The Opera
