{"id":34873,"date":"2018-09-19T10:20:53","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T16:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=34873"},"modified":"2018-10-05T11:03:12","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T17:03:12","slug":"nambi-e-kelley-makes-her-directing-debut-with-a-raisin-in-the-sun-at-theatreworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=34873","title":{"rendered":"Nambi E. Kelley makes her directing debut with \u201cA Raisin in the Sun\u201d at Theatreworks"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The Younger family: Caren Blackmore (Ruth Younger), Rashid Kamara (Travis Younger), Calvin M. Thompson (Walter Lee Younger), Lynne Hastings (Lena Younger), and Al-nisa Petty (Beneatha Younger). Courtesy Isaiah Downing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After celebrated work as a playwright (\u201cRed Rain\/First Woman\u201d with Lincoln Center Director\u2019s Lab, \u201cNative Son\u201d and \u201cJabari Dreams of Freedom\u201d) and actor (with credits at Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre and South Coast Repertory), Nambi E. Kelley returns to Theatreworks to make her directing debut with Lorraine Hansberry\u2019s classic, \u201cA Raisin in the Sun.\u201d The play opens Sept. 27 at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater in the Ent Center for the Arts on the UCCS campus.<\/p>\n

Kelley was raised in Chicago in Hansberry\u2019s neighborhood and attended the same grammar school (where she was taught the playwright\u2019s work). She feels a special connection to the play, having experienced firsthand both the suffocation of the neighborhood and a sense of aspiration and hope sparked by learning Hansberry\u2019s work at a young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know our play is about dreams deferred. Lorraine carefully and explicitly lays out the dreams of each character in the first scene of the play,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cOur production focuses on the seed of each of those dreams and how each dream is trying to break free from the shell holding it back from fruition. I want to witness those seeds in various stages of the birthing process, with a focus on the incubation\/suffocation period of dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelley is the first Black woman to direct for Theatreworks. In a time when equity and authenticity of representation are at the forefront of national dialogue, she has assembled not only a wonderful cast, but also a design team composed of outstanding artists of color. The production\u2019s artistic team includes Lawrence E. Moten III (scenic designer), Kathy A. Perkins (lighting designer), Naila Aladdin Sanders (costume designer) and David Samba (sound designer).<\/p>\n

\u201cA Raisin in the Sun\u201d focuses on the story of the Younger family, played by local favorite Lynne Hastings (Lena Younger), Caren Blackmore (Ruth Younger), Al-nisa Petty (Beneatha Younger), Rashid Kamara (Travis Younger) and Calvin M. Thompson (Walter Lee Younger). This is Thompson\u2019s fourth time on the Theatreworks stage\u2014he was last seen as Floyd \u201cSchoolboy\u201d Barton in the 2013 production of \u201cSeven Guitars.\u201d His national credits include work with The Labyrinth Theatre, The Flea Theatre and Aurora Theatre.<\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale at tickets.uccspresents.org<\/a> or through the UCCS Presents Box Office at (719) 255-3232. \u201cA Raisin In the Sun\u201d runs Sept. 27\u2013Oct. 21.<\/p>\n

Associated Events<\/strong>
\nOn Sept. 30, before the Sunday matin\u00e9e, General Irv Halter, who serves as executive director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, will be joined by Colorado artists and developers for a panel discussion on gentrification, housing, and the arts. This discussion is part of the annual Prologue lecture series, co-presented by Theatreworks and the UCCS Theatre and Dance Program.<\/p>\n

There will be an additional Prologue event on Oct. 21 with distinguished guest Stephanie Ybarra, who will address \u201cA Raisin in the Sun,\u201d Theatreworks\u2019 upcoming production of \u201cLysistrata\u201d and gender in the theater. As Director of Special Projects at The Public Theater in New York City, Ybarra leads the Mobile Unit program, which performs free Shakespeare plays across the city in prisons, homeless shelters and community centers.<\/p>\n

Theatreworks will host Community Conversations with artists, scholars and community leaders after the Saturday and Sunday matin\u00e9e performances throughout the run of the play.<\/p>\n

–This story originally appeared at UCCS Presents.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After celebrated work as a playwright and actor, Nambi E. Kelley returns to Theatreworks to make her directing debut with Lorraine Hansberry\u2019s classic, \u201cA Raisin in the Sun.\u201d (More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,45],"tags":[60,275,91],"class_list":["post-34873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-arts-and-culture","tag-student-success","tag-theatreworks","tag-uccs-presents"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/raisin-communique.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-94t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34875,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34873\/revisions\/34875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}