Center Theatre Group News & Blogs

In Not a Moment, But a Movement, 3 Theatres Join in the Pursuit of Elevating Black Artists

Center Theatre Group — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 13:57:00 -0800

In January, we premiered Crowndation: I Will Not Lie to David, the first episode of a new program, Not a Moment, But a Movement, on our Digital Stage presented in partnership with Watts Village Theater Company and The Fire This Time Festival. This play-reading series was spearheaded by Center Theatre Group’s Associate Artistic Director Tyrone Davis and aims to create an interdisciplinary collaboration that celebrates Black voices and to explore the intersection between art and social justice. “I didn’t anticipate Not a Moment, But a Movement to be the name of the series,” Davis said. “It was just the idea—this wasn’t just something we were going to do once. We’re just contributing to this movement that has been going on for as long as I can remember.”

Davis wanted to tell Black stories with the people who have already been laying down the groundwork for Black theatre in America. He wanted to utilize the power of Center Theatre Group’s platform to amplify Black stories, artists, and organizations like Watts Village Theater Company and The Fire This Time Festival that have already been telling these stories. “I wanted to show that folks, especially those from marginalized communities, have a place at Center Theatre Group and will be taken care of and cultivated as artists.”

The combination of Center Theatre Group’s platform and the innovative artistic visions of Davis, Watts Village Theater Company’s Co-Artistic Director Bruce Lemon, and The Fire This Time Festival’s Artistic Director Cezar Williams, along with the cast and creative team brought Crowndation to life—but to make it all come to fruition has been challenging. The digitization of theatre has forced the industry to not only quickly adapt to the new virtual landscape, but also learn how to create art that stands out amongst the surplus of digital content already flooding the medium. “The shift has been painful and has come with a lot,” said Lemon. “But Black people are good at finding something in a sea of terror and turning it into joy and taking advantage of these opportunities.”

In addition to upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the theatre industry at large is reconciling with its racist past and present. In the summer of 2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, BIPOC theatremakers (We See You White American Theatre) from around the country released a set of demands to white theatre institutions calling for equity and anti-racism in the American theatre. Williams, director of Crowndation, recalled how predominately white theatre institutions would reach out to Fire This Time for a “partnership” that was by design exploitative in nature. It wasn’t until the murder of George Floyd that Williams noticed a change in the way that these institutions communicated and behaved. “They can be sensitive. They can be equitable and treat us like we matter,” he recalled. “So when Tyrone reached out to me, the idea really moved me. We can partner with an organization like Center Theatre Group and work in concert with each other and try to merge these cultures together to create amazing art. We haven’t mastered everything yet, but I’m proud of the way we’ve come together to pull this off.”

Although Crowndation closes on the Digital Stage at the end of March, Davis, Lemon, and Williams all agree that the partnership will continue. Not only are there two more not-yet-announced shows slated to stream as part of Not a Moment, But a Movement, but the trio is also creating an enduring support system between institutions of all sizes to amplify the work of Black artists in a space that often neglects them. “I’m excited for the Black artists who are just hopping into it and those who have been in it, that they have these new routes to get the shine that they deserve,” said Lemon.

Introduced by Vanessa Williams and hosted by Lemon, the first episode of Not a Moment, But a Movement features Angelica Chéri’s one-person play Crowndation; I Will Not Lie to David starring Sheria Irving, paired with the music of Jessica Lá Rel and the work of visual artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle and is available through March 22, 2021.

Learn more about Center Theatre Group’s social accountability actions in a dedicated section of our website, where we continue to enumerate our progress towards becoming an anti-racist organization and reflect on the ongoing steps we are taking and planning. While not an all-inclusive list, it is an ongoing collection of our actions and plans shared in the spirit of transparency.

Playwright Kemp Powers takes Hollywood by storm before turning to our Digital Stage

Center Theatre Group — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 10:42:00 -0800

For Kemp Powers, 2021 has already been quite the year—and it’s only February. After over two decades of writing, Powers has finally had the chance to experience what so many aspiring creatives can only dream about with the celebration of two debut screenplays. “It’s been surreal, to be honest. It’s weird to have your work out there in the world when you can’t be out in the world,” Powers told us during a recent interview. He is the brain behind Disney-Pixar’s Soul and One Night in Miami..., which is now streaming on Amazon Prime and is directed by the award-winning Regina King. In just a couple of months, he’s become a household name. And both films have received multiple Golden Globe and NAACP Image Awards nominations this week. But, despite his newfound success in the glitz and glam of Hollywood, he hasn’t forgotten about his love of the theatre.

“I think my first Broadway show that my mother took me to was La Cage Aux Folles, which I believe was in 1983. I was 10 or 11 years old. I didn’t even know what Broadway meant then,” Powers said of growing up in New York. “That was a pretty powerful, impactful moment in my life...if you grow up in New York, theatre is just part of the culture. But I never thought it was something I’d actually be able to do.” And although it wasn’t until this last year that Powers came to work with Center Theatre Group, he’s been seeing productions at the Ahmanson, Taper, and Douglas since his move to Los Angeles in 2004.

Sixteen years later, he joined us as a participant in our 2019/2020 L.A. Writers’ Workshop, a program designed to foster important voices, inspire playwrights to create their best work, encourage bold writing, and build relationships among local playwrights, Center Theatre Group, and the L.A. theatre community. Powers has joined a community of more than 100 other playwrights who have worked with us over the years, including Luis Alfaro (The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro, Digital Stage 2020; Electricidad, Taper 2005; St. Jude, Douglas 2003), Dominique Morrisseau (Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, Ahmanson 2018), Ngozi Anyanwu (Good Grief, Douglas 2016), Eliza Clark (Quack, Douglas 2018), Herbert Siguenza (Chavez Ravine, Taper 2003, Douglas 2015; Water and Power, Taper 2006), and more. Powers has been grateful to have this community of writers, especially during this time of such unprecedented isolation.

“Writing in general is such a lonely profession,” he said. “One of the greatest things about big theatre cities like New York City and Chicago is that there is such a strong sense of community among playwrights. And the wonderful thing about having this program is being able to create a community here in Los Angeles. Although there are many playwrights, they are kind of isolated. So it’s great to have this comradery and be exposed to one another’s work, and to people who are doing exciting things.” And now with a strong cohort of L.A. playwrights and theatremakers at his side, a filmed reading of his play Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue will appear as the first offering of our 2021 L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival: New Plays Forged in L.A. on the Digital Stage, beginning February 4.

Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue follows Bernard and Steven Gentry, twins who have lived starkly different lives—although they grew up together and might be genetically the same, one is plagued by racism because of his dark skin while the other passes as white. The story spans their '80s New York City childhood to a Minnesota courtroom in 2006, in which we witness the power of race and privilege in America.

Jovan Adepo in “Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue” by Kemp Powers.

Filmed live at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, this digital presentation will give audiences their first chance to hear this new play. “The whole idea of a digital streaming reading is completely new, so this idea of setting up, recording it like a television show, and editing it together later was all very exciting and definitely a new working experience for myself,” described Powers. “The show is a very personal and important piece to me, so it’s also a great opportunity to have more people see it than if we had just done a traditional reading at the theatre.”

Along with all the industry buzz, Powers has also become the first Black co-director of an animated Disney film with Soul—a history making moment that took a moment to fully resonate with the playwright. “I didn’t realize I was the first until someone else told me. Coming to that realization makes you sad, but after you get over the sadness, you get more motivated. I want to see more people step up to the plate and see what you can do with these opportunities I’ve been able to take advantage of in Hollywood. And as for theatre, I’m anxious to see what it will be like when everything comes back. I hope theatres have not only heard the complaints but also the constructive ideas about moving into this more inclusive world.”

Christa McAuliffe’s Eyes Were Blue, directed by Jennifer Chang and with a cast featuring Giovanni Adams, Jovan Adepo, Amaia Arana, Lorena Martinez, Connor Paolo, Adam J. Smith, Cory Michael Smith, Larry Bates, and Justin Lawrence Barnes, will be available on demand through Center Theatre Group’s Digital Stage February 4 through April 4.