*The Paul Robeson Theatre Festival will celebrate the Harlem Renaissance and the impact that it ultimately had on Black culture and the arts in Los Angeles.
Beginning in 1917, the Harlem Renaissance was the flowering of Black performing, literary and visual arts that signaled the birth of the New Negro Movement, an attempt by African Americans in the arts to define their own identity free of historic stereotypes.
In the decades that followed, the New Negro Movement made its way west from Harlem to California, and Los Angeles? Central Avenue became the center of African-American culture in this city.
The Robey Theatre Company, founded by Ben Guillory and Danny Glover, has presented award-winning African-American theatre in Los Angeles for over two decades. Its Paul Robeson Theatre Festival will take place at Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013 in Downtown?s Historic Core.
In the words of novelist and poet Langston Hughes…
?We younger artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, it doesn?t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased, we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn?t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.?
Beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, August 25, the Festival starts with a Gala reception and welcoming by co-founders Danny Glover and Ben Guillory; followed by formal announcements of upcoming events, presentation of awards recognizing creative achievements, and the rehearsed reading of ?Birdland Blues? a new play by Randy Ross Ph.D.
Below are additional Festival events:
Saturday, August 26
- 12:00 pm: A Conversation: Playwriting-The Creative Process.
- 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 pm: Performances of a program of short plays inspired by the theme of the Festival.
Sunday, August 27
- 1:00 pm: A Conversation: The Rehearsal Process.
- 3:00 pm: ? A repeat performance of the short plays.
Instead of performing different plays at each of the three show times, all three performances will feature the same short plays, effectively giving the plays a mini-run that will allow different audiences to see the complete roster of plays at the time most convenient for them, and will also permit audience members to see the plays more than once, should they be so inclined.
The program of short plays will be presented in Los Angeles Theatre Center?s intimate Theatre 4.
Tickets: $35 Opening Night. $35 one performance. $25 group sales of ten or more. Early Bird Bargain: Order by August 18 to get Opening Night plus one performance.
For questions call The Robey Theatre at (213) 489-7402 or visit their website at www.robeytheatrecompany.org
The 2017 Paul Robeson Theatre Festival: Harlem to Central Avenue. Presented by Robey Theatre Company in association with The Latino Theater Company. August 25-27, 2017. At Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013.
