“I have a part for you in the Black and White Festival,” said the voice on the phone. Since earning a degree in acting in college, theatre has been a big part of my life. I have worked with a number of Pittsburgh theatres, both onstage and off. However, over the past seven years, my involvement in theatre has been less to do with the production process, and more to with happily enjoying as an audience member with my husband, Victor. I venture back onto the stage, every now and then, to make sure that I still can “remember lines and not bump into the furniture.” So when Mark Southers, artistic director for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company (PPTCO), asked me if I would be interested in performing in its Black and White Festival, I knew it was time again. I said, “yes.”
PPTCO is one of the rising theatres in the city, entering its 10th year. Southers conceived of the festival from an image he had in mind of a racially diverse audience attending a performance. He pointed out that in Pittsburgh, “audiences at a theatre are mostly white or mostly black.” He thought about what he could do to change the landscape of the audience. From this idea emerged the Black and White Festival, where cast and crew are diversely mixed, and the plays, many written by local playwrights, are directed by the opposite race of the playwright.
Tolerance, redemption, honor and duty, bonding and friendship are some of the themes on which these plays focus — 10 of them, over a three-week period.
And it is fitting that local playwrights are produced on the company’s stage. Southers, himself a playwright, began his theatre to provide a needed outlet for local playwrights. “A lot of problems can be solved by theatre,” he says. “It can provide a lot of lessons and growth.” It is inspiring to learn from Southers: While he was performing in South Africa, he met August Wilson, one of Pittsburgh’s most prominent playwrights, who encouraged Southers to consider writing plays. Southers had the good fortune of having some of his first plays produced outside of Pittsburgh, but had difficulty getting them staged here in the city. When the Penn Avenue Theatre space in Bloomfield Garfield became available, Southers took over, forming the PPTCO, and has built it into a successful theatre company that now is situated in the Cultural District.
It’s always a unique experience, participating in a play festival. It provides the opportunity to see people I haven’t worked with in a while, and also to meet new people. We forge bonds as we all work toward a common goal. That is especially important when the plays deal with sensitive subject matter, like racism and bigotry. The play that I am has some moments that might make both black and white audiences uncomfortable for different reasons. As actors, we often feel uncomfortable playing characters with a limited view. But as a theatre community we encourage and support each other so that we can portray some of uglier sides of the human experience in the hopes that actor and audience alike can grow and learn from the theatrical experience.
The Black and White Festival runs November 3-17 at 837 Liberty Ave., Downtown. For more information or to buy tickets visit pghplaywrights.com.
