In a happy coincidence, two East Village theater companies have crossed distances physically and thematically, taking covering ground many New Yorkers don't. Artists from the downtown identified The Movement Theatre Company (TMTC) have migrated uptown to the Harlem School of Arts to perform their new play Black Boy & The War. Opening this weekend, Black Boy & The War delves into the complicated and inextricable connection between the Black Man and the Black Woman. Meanwhile, The Metropolitan Playhouse, a member of Fourth Arts Block and located on East 4th Street, has brought the spirit of Harlem downtown to the East Village with The Harlem Renaissance Festival. The festival, which closes on January 30, 2011 draws inspiration from Harlem and the literature of the Harlem Renaissance.
About Black Boy & The War/The Movement Theatre Company
This new play from The Movement Theatre Company delves into the complicated and inextricable connection between the Black Man and the Black Woman. With the constant push and pull of love and society's power to make and unmake one's identity this piece begs to question, "where will this Black Boy have to go to find his name?"
The Movement Theatre Company [TMTC] is a group of young leaders who seek to create and support diverse representations of people of color in the arts and media. By cultivating artists, we seek to redefine they way the world sees them. TMTC is ready to create work that reflects their experience. They are ready to break the bonds that keep communities chained to ignorance, inactivity and stereotypes.
Black Boy & The War
February 10-20, Thursday through Saturday @ 8:00PM, Sunday @ 2:00PM
Harlem School of the Arts, 645 Saint Nicholas Avenue @ 145th Street
About the Harlem Renaissance Festival/Metropolitan Playhouse
The Harlem Renaissance Festival is a collection of new plays celebrating the spirit of the artists who defined a new era in American letters and an articulation of a cultural moment in America. The plays are inspired by literature - literature that may be from Harlem or about Harlem, it may be poetry or it may be political.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Alex Roe since 2001, the nineteen-year-old Metropolitan Playhouse has grown into an institution recognized for both artistic excellence and cultural significance. Guiding the company's growth has been a clear vision of the rich portrait that theater paints of the culture that creates it. Reflecting society's values, aspirations, and character, theater offers, as does no other art, a doubly rich perspective. On the one hand, it is a window into the character of the time of its creation. On the other, it is always contemporary, because every performance of a play is a new creation for its own time. Connecting us with our past in the light of our present, America's theater gives invaluable insight into our cultural identity.
The Harlem Renaissance Festival
January 17-30
Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 East 4th Street
About Fourth Arts Block
Fourth Arts Block (FAB) is the leadership organization for the East 4th Street Cultural District, working to improve and promote the East Village/LES as the destination for diverse, experimental culture. To learn more about the Fourth Arts Block, please visit www.fabnyc.org.
