Falcon Theatre teams up to showcase Black playwrights

Newport-based Falcon Theatre is collaborating with a collective of Black playwrights to present a virtual event that will showcase stories of Black life.

Cincinnati Black Theatre Artist Collective (Cincy BlackTAC), along with Falcon, will present “To Be Black,” a virtual event featuring scenes and monologues from local playwrights. The event will stream from April 9 to April 14.

Under the direction of Piper N. Davis and Candice Handy, the authors will have their works brought to life by local actors, including Geoffrey Barnes and Ernaisjia Curry. Featured playwrights include Derek J. Snow, Cris Eli Blak, A.J. Baldwin, Arethia Hornsby Rinfrow, and Curtis Shepard.
 
In its 2020 summer weekly series, “Monologues For Us By Us,” the Collective featured the work of August Wilson and his contemporaries. In this new collaboration, it will continue to showcase the stories of Black life and “promote the awareness that the Black experience is not monolithic,” it says.

“I hope that viewers will gain some perspective in subject matters like identity, gentrification and trauma that affect Black people every day in a different way than our white peers,” says Cincy BlackTAC Artistic Director Candice Handy. “I also hope that the audience will have a good time!”

Part of Falcon Theatre's mission is to advocate for new voices, foster talent and vision, and provide a safe environment for artists to grow and share their work, says its founder and artistic director, Ted Weil.

“Collaborating with Cincy BlackTAC is a fundamental way Falcon can help support the efforts of BIPOC artists so the momentum gained through tragedy is not lost to complacency,” he says.

Falcon is currently completing the virtual presentation of “The Agitators,” which was originally scheduled as the fourth production of its 2019-2020 season. The play tells the story of the tempestuous friendship of Susan B. Anthony, a White Quaker, and Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and abolitionist.

“To Be Black” will be available for streaming April 9-14 for $15. Tickets will be available for purchase on both the Falcon and Cincinnati Black Theatre Artist Collective’s websites. Ticketholders will be able to view the show for 48 hours after their purchase.