Feb. 26, 2003 – Pistarckle Theater is presenting a free event on Friday in celebration of Black History Month — a dramatic reading of the play "The African Company Presents Richard III."
The reading, in which Pistarckle actors will read from the script, is set for 8 p.m. under the stars in Tillett Gardens, where the theater is located.
The work, by Carlyle Brown, is a play about a play. It relates the beginnings of the black theater movement in the United States, focusing on the first African-American theatrical company, which announced on Sept. 21, 1821, a production of Shakespeare's "Richard III" in New York City
A promotion for a current production of Brown's play by The Black Theatre Troupe Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona, states: "The African Company of New York was putting on plays in a downtown Manhattan theater attended by whites and blacks 40 years before Lincoln ended slavery and 50 years before black Americans earned the right to vote. Timed perfectly for this important month, 'The African Company Presents Richard III' tells how the drama of this progressive group reached further than the stage. It tells how they used the personal and the historical, the comic and the angry to propel their company."
In the case of "Richard III," the biggest obstacle the company had to overcome was not prejudice on the part of audiences but, of all things, competition. The prestigious Park Theatre in mid-town Manhattan was about to reopen following a disastrous fire with a mounting of "Richard III" starring a famed British Shakespearean actor imported for the occasion. The Park's manager, Stephen Price, was a determined sort, having, among other things, leased a rival theater for a full year to keep it shut down and invoked specious fire-code violations to close competing productions down, according to an online review of the Brown's play by Laura V. Blanchard.
According to Blanchard, the actors playing Richard and another character in the African Company production were arrested "for reasons that remain a mystery," and on Oct. 1 the company moved from its initial setup to a new location, where it was "again forced to close down." She cites theater historian Samuel Hay as stating that these moves had to do with politics:
"The question was whether African Americans owning or renting property should be allowed to vote. New York Sheriff Mordecai Noah, a pro-slavery Tammany Hall Democrat, was against voting rights for blacks who were affiliated with the forward-looking Federalist Party. As editor of the powerful National Advocate newspaper, he printed derisive reviews of African Company performances to show that blacks were incapable of attaining the higher arts. He also wrote plays that Stephen Price produced."
James Hewlett, the prime mover of The African Company, portrayed King Richard in the production. In one dramatic scene of Brown's play, Hewlett and actress Ann Johnson are rehearsing a seduction scene in "Richard III" that Johnson finds difficult. Blanchard cites a reviewer of Brown's play, who wrote that Hewlett reminds Johnson "about the theatricality of their status as free blacks … about the rage they each must suppress when faced with their economic and sexual oppressors … and about the actor's freedom to transcend social categories."
For more background on Brown's play and the original African Company production, see the 1995 review of "The African Company Presents Richard III: a play by Carlyle Brown" by Laura V. Blanchard, then vice chair of the Richard III Society, American Branch.
As part of the St. John Arts Festival, Pistarckle gave its first reading of Brown's work on Sunday at the St. John School of the Arts. "It was beautifully received!" Pistarckle artistic director Nicola Emerich says. She said the play should appeal to high school students as well as adults.
On Friday, a complimentary champagne reception will precede the reading. It will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Pistarckle Theater lobby.
Attendees may also want to come early to enjoy the monthly Da Da Wine Down get-together, being held for the first time at JKay's restaurant in Tillett Gardens. The event, from 5 to 8 p.m., features an art exhibition, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar and an optional guided wine tasting. (See "Wine Down on the road; first stop, Tillett Gardens".)
The Pistarckle audience is invited to stay after the play reading to take part in a discussion with the actors to be moderated by University of the Virgin Islands theater professor Rosary Harper and Reichhold Center for the Arts director David Edgecombe. UVI faculty member Gene Emanuel also will take part.
The reading, part of Pistarckle's community outreach program, is being funded in part with a grant from the V.I. Humanities Council. Emanuel is serving as humanities evaluator of the project.
For more information, call 775-7877.
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