PROJECT1voice The Colored Museum premiered at the Crossroads Theater Company of New Jersey on March 26, 1986. Within six months of its premier the play found a new home at the Public Theater in New York City. The Colored Museum— told through a series of 11 exhibits—explores the journey of self-identification, which shows both African American history and the impact of African culture within America. Satire and dark comedy are used to expose the audience to a different look into the identity crisis that people of African descent struggle with. The Colored Museum was later performed at the Royal Court Theater in London, England, beginning July 29, 1987. It has now been produced in cities around the world. In his review of the original 1986 off-Broadway production of The Colored Museum, New York Times theatre critic Frank Rich stated the play’s central question — “How do American Black men and women at once honor and escape the legacy of suffering that is the baggage of their past?” Playwright George C. Wolfe faced this loaded question head-on in his play, embracing its paradoxical nature by creating a work of dramatic art he described as part “exorcism,” part “party,” and wholly satirical. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines satire as “a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn” and “trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm meant to expose and discredit vice or folly.” The purpose of satire is to entertain while simultaneously raising awareness by asking oft-ignored questions, presenting stereotypes for examination, and revealing truth and hypocrisy by dabbling in extremes. In The Colored Museum, Wolfe juxtaposes facets of African-American cultural history, both politically correct and not, which results in a biting comedic exploration of what it means to be Black in America. GEORGE C. WOLF A two-time Tony Award winner, George C. Wolfe is a rare theatrical polymath; he has dominated the fields of playwriting, directing, and theatrical producing. The Colored Museum is his earliest success, premiering in 1986 at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey before going on to play New York, London, and across the nation on PBS. On the surface, The Colored Museum is a collection of 11 hilarious and biting theatrical “exhibits” of African- American life, stretching from slavery to the present. A young woman’s natural and relaxed wigs argue over who she should wear when she tells off her boyfriend. A stewardess on the Celebrity Slaveship tells her passengers to fasten their shackles. While the play is considered a forerunner of African-American sketch-form comedy — for many critics, without The Colored Museum, there would have been no “In Living Color,” “Dave Chapelle Show” or “Key and Peele” — for Wolfe the comedy is the vehicle, not the message. KARAMU HOUSE PRESENTS PROJECT1VOICE THE COLORED MUSEUM BY GEORGE C. WOLFE PRODUCTION DESIGNER RICHARD H. MORRIS CHOREOGRAPHER KEVIN MARR II COSTUMER INDA BLATH-GEIB STAGE MANAGER MARVIN J. MALONE ll PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR DALE RICARDO SHIELDS DIRECTED BY SARAH MAY DALE RICARDO SHIELDS MARGARET FORD TAYLOR JIMMIE WOODIE Featuring Dyrell Barnett * Brenda Boschee * Ananias Dixon * Sheffia Randall Dooley * Nina Domingue Glover * Peter Lawson Jones * Joyce Linzy * Sabrina McPherson * Treva Offutt * Renata Napier * Antuane Rogers * Kimberly Sias * Camille Trammell * Greg White * Mariama Whyte * Angela Winborn