[NEohioPAL] Karamu production THE BLACKS:a clown show

[Vivian C. Wilson]

Contact:  Vivian C. Wilson

  Marketing Manager

Phone (216) 795-7070 x 215

 


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -Thursday - April 10, 2008


it's only a play...
It's Only A Play...
IT'S ONLY A PLAY...
...or is it?

Coming soon, a black troupe (all Cleveland talent) hits the historical
Karamu 
stage for four weeks, performing a ritual to the beats of Taco, Murray Head,
Justin 
Timberlake, Leonard Cohen and a bonus song and dance routine during
intermission 
JUST FOR YOU! 

THE BLACKS: a clown show by Jean Genet 
April 18 - May 11, 2008 (Arena)
Previews April 16th & 17th


The Blacks: A Clown Show was written in 1958 at the request of a black
actor. But Jean Genet, a white, French novelist and playwright (The
Balcony), wrote the drama focusing on a troupe of black actors, who come
together to perform a ritual that requires the corpse of a white woman.
Originally written for an all-black cast, The Blacks offered a new voice to
American theatre. Elevating the careers for the late Roscoe Lee Browne,
James Earl Jones, Maya Angelou, Louis Gosset Jr., Cicely Tyson, Raymond St.
Jasques and Godfrey Cambridge. It won an Obie for Best Off Broadway play in
1961, becoming one of the longest running non-musicals (three years) to ever
hit the stage. It still remains just as shocking and relevant today. 


NOTE: Audience members will be given mask to wear for this production
(provided by ushers).   Do not come alone and dare you come late.
Discretion is advised due to content, language, and, unexpected audience
interaction. 


French novelist, playwright and poet Jean Genet was born in Paris to a
Parisian prostitute. He was abandoned at an early age and became a ward of
the state.  He was falsely accused of stealing and although innocent,
resolved to be a thief. He spent much of his youth in an institution for
juvenile delinquents.  For many years he lived as a thief and male
prostitute. He enrolled in the French army, served in several countries and
subsequently became a deserter.  After two years as a fugitive, he was
caught, tried for desertion and imprisoned in a military prison.  Several
years after being released from the military prison he was imprisoned again
for theft.  As a repeat offender he was liable for life imprisonment. While
in prison Genet began writing. His plays relied heavily on ritual,
transformation, illusion and interchangeable identities. His experiences in
prison influenced most of his work. He wrote about homosexuals, prostitutes,
thieves  and outcasts of his plays being trapped in self-destructive
circles. French writers and intellectuals intervened on his behalf and his
sentence was reduced to three months after which he was released from
prison. He never returned to prison or a life of theft.  His fiction
continued to focus on crime as an act of resistance to institutional power

Genet's first dramatic effort was Deathwatch, an examination of the
oppressed and the oppressor;  his next play; The Maids, portrayed a
ritualistic act of two maids who took turns acting as "Madame," abusing each
other. It was first staged at a private club in London because it was
considered too scandalous for Paris audiences. His play, The Balcony is set
in a brothel.  In The Blacks, a troupe of black actors enact before a jury
of  white-masked blacks the ritualistic murder of a white of which they have
been accused. 

   

The last of Genet's plays to be produced during his lifetime, The Screens,
was his comment on the Algerian revolution. Like all of his works, the plays
are sometimes bewildering, savage, and haunting. In addition to his plays,
Genet wrote several novels and film scripts. He also produced a silent
picture, Un Chant  D'Amour  (1949).  Genet died in Paris on April 15, 1986

THE BLACKS: a clown show will be performed in Karamu's Arena Theatre

Performances are Thursday to  Saturday at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm.  

Ticket prices are $20.00 for Thursday and Sunday performances and $25.00 on

Friday and Saturday. 

 

Preview Night Performances 

7:30 pm  - Wednesday, April April 16 & Thursday, April 17th  

 

There will be two special midnight performances on Friday, April 25 and
Friday, May 2.

 

For ticket availability please call Karamu's box office at 216-795-7077 or
visit online 

at www.karamu.com <http://www.karamu.com/> .

 

Karamu House Inc.  is generously funded by Cuyahoga County Residents through
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. The Cleveland Foundation and The George Gund
Foundation.  

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