Anacostia Playhouse presents Black Nativity by Langston Hughes
Directed by Stephawn Stephens
Music Direction by William Knowles
Tickets HERE
Black Nativity
Langston Hughes’ song-play is a retelling of the Christmas story from an Afrocentric perspective, infused with rich gospel, blues, funk, jazz music and dance, with griot-style storytelling from an ensemble cast. Using the sounds, energy and the enthusiasm of Gospel music to tell the Nativity story. The original title of the play was Wasn’t That a Mighty Day, but was changed to Black Nativity before the show’s opening. On December 11, 1961 the show was first performed Off-Broadway, and then performed at President Kennedy’s International Jazz Festival. Later the show had tours through Europe including in Spoleto, Italy, where it performed at the Festival of Two Worlds. The show then toured London, Oslo, Brussels, Copenhagen and Rotterdam before returning to America. Since the sixties, the show has been performed annually at several theaters around the holiday season, and was performed annually at the Kennedy Center before moving to perform with H Street Playhouse and Theater Alliance.
About Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes began his writing career in the 1920s and lived in Washington DC for a few years in that decade. In one of Hughes’ most famous works, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” he called for confident, uniquely black literature. He travelled through the American South to decry cases of racial injustice, and then later travelled to the Soviet Union, Haiti, and Japan and worked as a newspaper correspondent. His first play Mulatto premiered on Broadway in 1935, and he later founded theater companies in Harlem and Los Angeles. Hughes served as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War in 1937.
In 1961 Black Nativity premiered Off-Broadway, and in 2013 the filmed version was produced. Hughes also wrote for newspaper columns including the Chicago Defender and the New York Post. He often wrote fiction vignettes of his renowned comic column character Jesse B. Semple, who became a symbol of the day to day troubles of a poor black man living in a racist society. Hughes won several awards and fellowships, among them the Guggenheim Fellowship, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the NAACP Spingarn Medal, National Institute of Arts and Letters, and received honorary degrees from Lincoln University, Howard University, and Western Reserve University. In 2012 he was inducted into the Chicago Hall of Fame. Hughes died in 1967 from complications of prostate cancer.
About Stephawn Stephens
Stephawn P. Stephens has become a recognizable presence, as a local actor, singer, and director in the Metropolitan area theater scene. He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and received his formal training at the Karamu House, Cleveland State University, majoring in English and Music Education and Bowie State University completing his studies in Musical Theater/Acting.
Mr. Stephens has performed at several local and well-known venues such as Arena Stage, African Continuum Theater Company, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Ford’s Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, Theater Alliance, Theater J, Signature Theatre and Woolly Mammoth. He has been a member of Actors Equity Association since 2004. He most recently directed A Nite at the Dew Drop Inn at Anacostia Playhouse.
Throughout his career, Mr. Stephens has developed his craft, gained invaluable knowledge and experience in theater and education. He believes in cultivating an atmosphere where undiscovered talent is trained and perfected. While building partnerships within the community through volunteering and his faithfulness to his church, Mr. Stephens has been touted by his peers as a “game changer”. He strives to help build and motivate cross-functional teams that exceed worldly expectations and marries passion to purpose.
About William Knowles
William Knowles is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended Howard University and the University of Massachusetts and now lives in Washington, DC. As a composer, arranger, music director and pianist, he has worked at regional theaters around the country, including Dallas Theater Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Northlight (Chicago), CenterStage (Baltimore), Indiana Repertory Theater, and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, where he has performed in eight different productions. He has received five Helen Hayes nominations for Musical Direction, winning twice.
Offstage he has released seven jazz CDs with music partner Mark Saltman. Their latest release is titled Almost (SaltmanKnowles.com).
ON STAGE
Kendall Claxton
Marcel Miller
LaSharon Johnson
Tre’mon Mills
Michael Nesbitt-Gaines
Fashad Tyler
David Hammett
Catrina Brenae
Sherice Payne
Jacquelyn Hawkins
André McKamey
Shawna William
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION TEAM
Set Design: Leah Mazur
Lighting Design: Jonathan Alexander
Costume Design: Alison Johnson
Choreography: Rodni Williams
Properties: Andrew Reilly
Stage Manager: Jen Bryant
MEDIA
To engage with Anacostia Playhouse and follow Black Nativity please visit, follow and like:
Facebook: /AnacostiaPlayhouse
Twitter: /AnacostiaPHouse
Instagram: @anacostiaphouse
Performances:
Preview: December 12
Gala Fundraiser: December 13
Saturday, December 14, 2pm (PRESS)
Saturday December 14, 2019 7:30pm OPENING (PRESS)
Sunday, December 15, 2019 3pm (PRESS)
Continues
Wednesday-Saturday 7:30
Saturdays at 2pm
Sundays at 3pm
Extra performances
December 26, 11:00 AM
Through Sunday January 5, 2020
PLUS Industry Night, Monday, December 23 at 7:30pm
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets HERE
Group Tickets: $30 tickets for groups of 10 or more. For group tickets, please call 202-290-2328