<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>‘The Blacks’ not the only thing missing
from Karamu’s ‘Day of Absence’</FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN></B> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 12pt; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Bob Abelman</FONT></SPAN><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; tab-stops: 45.8pt 91.6pt 137.4pt 183.2pt 229.0pt 274.8pt 320.6pt 366.4pt 412.2pt 458.0pt 503.8pt 549.6pt 595.4pt 641.2pt 687.0pt 732.8pt"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'><FONT
face=Georgia>Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning
Journal</FONT></SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">The pre-vaudeville minstrel shows of
the mid-19<SUP>th</SUP> century are considered the first theatrical art form
that was distinctly American. They featured white entertainers in blackface
makeup p</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: tahoma">erforming comedy
and song-and-dance routines that </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ">caricaturized plantation slaves for white audiences.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia>God bless us.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: "><FONT face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1; mso-collapsed-heading: yes"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">As one would imagine, minstrel shows
were particularly popular in the South before the Civil War, as a way of
reinforcing widely held </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: tahoma">racist stereotypes
and </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ">countering the abolitionist
movement.<SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#3f3f3f> </FONT></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: tahoma"><FONT
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><FONT
face=Georgia><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-bidi-font-family: tahoma">A century later, in
1965, playwright</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333>
Douglas Turner Ward borrowed this art form to shed light on the state of racism
that was inspiring the civil rights movement.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In his satirical fantasy play “Day of
Absence,” which served to launch the pioneering Negro Ensemble Company in New
York City, Southern whites were caricaturized by black actors appearing in
whiteface and behaving as broadly as their old minstrel show
counterparts.</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; mso-outline-level: 1"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: "><FONT color=#333333
face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "><FONT
face=Georgia><FONT color=#333333>Karamu Theatre has resurrected Ward’s one-act
for reasons best left to the audience’s sense of social
awareness.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: ; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: none; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat; BACKGROUND-ATTACHMENT: scroll; BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0% 0%; COLOR: "><FONT
color=#333333 face=Georgia></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="BACKGROUND: white; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><FONT
face=Georgia><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style='BORDER-TOP: windowtext 1pt; FONT-FAMILY: ; BORDER-RIGHT: windowtext 1pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: windowtext 1pt; COLOR: ; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: windowtext 1pt; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: arial; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in'>For
more of this article, go to </SPAN></I><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; COLOR: ; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"'><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/bob_abelman/</FONT></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>