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| As a native of Detroit and having spent a significant part of my adult life in Chicago, this writer has always had a love-hate relationship with the city of Cleveland, Ohio [you have to be a professional football fanatic to understand].
But Cleveland has been on a mission over the past 20 years, redeveloping its lakefront, encouraging businesses to relocate to its Great Lakes' shores and encouraging
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a revitalization of the arts along with an influx of much-needed capital.
But what many readers may not know is that one of the beneficiaries of the positive changes in Cleveland has been a nondescript, old red brick building known to lovers of black theater as Karamu House , whose founding in 1915 makes it this country's oldest African-American theater.
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And while the original building was destroyed in a 1939 fire and its location has since moved to where it now stands on East 89th and Quincy - Karamu House has continued to weather both literal and proverbial storms.
Now, armed with the creative genius and entrepreneurial acumen of Artistic Director Terrence Spivey and Executive Director Gregory J. Ashe, Karamu enters its 2009-2010 season with the theme of Hope & Accountability, bringing new life to some of the classics penned by African-American playwrights while making room for new voices destined for greatness.
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Terrence Spivey and Gregory J. Ashe
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| "We are taking more chances this season than ever before - well beyond the protest plays for which we are best known," Spivey said. "Last spring and then into the subsequent season with the buildup for Barack Obama's presidential campaign and potential election, it was clear that our country was on the verge of making history and some asked if the kinds of pieces we performed would change - as if racism was about to disappear.
If anything, it caused me to select more thought-provoking plays because of his campaign and now his administration. I am convinced that with a Black president in the White House we have more appreciation and conversation about plays that reflect the challenge and legacy of racism and how society works. A lot of Whites voted for him - maybe that means they have a second wind and more open minds and are willing to understand."
Since joining Karamu House in the fall of 2003 as the artistic director for Karamu Performing Arts Theatre, the Kountze, Texas native and Prairie View A&M University graduate has moved the historical theatrical company in an unprecedented move forward, picking up individual awards for his directing and contribution to the arts community while earning industry awards for some of Karamu's works including Jean Genet's classic The Blacks: A Clown Show, voted by Cleveland's Rave and PAN as "Best Drama" for the 2009 season. And with Midwest and world premiers as part of its repertoire, Karamu continues to take risks through its production of creative, controversial and contemporary-themed plays. But of course, there is always room for the classics and a spotlight reserved for the trailblazers.
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"I was introduced to the Karamu House during my Acting 101 class in college during the early 1980s and then heard more about it after moving to New York City around 1985 or 1986," he said. "I was interested in finding out where some of their formal actors were, like Ron O'Neal. Did you know that he was a classically-trained actor who got his start at Karamu House doing Shakespeare's Othello? That inquiry led to an invitation for me to send my resume and to guest direct a play by Carlyle Brown, The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Colored Minstrel Show on King Day, 2003. As my driver pulled up to the theater, what drew me to it was its simplicity - there weren't any neon signs or flashy lights. It was just an old brick building. But the historical background of the place and remembering the men and women who had been on its stage knocked me out."
Karamu acting alums come from all races and since its founding by Oberlin graduates Russell and Rowena Woodham Jelliffe when it was then called Settlement House, the location has served as a place where individuals of different races, creeds and religions could find common ground. The founders soon realized that the arts were a perfect common ground - and so the work of the Playhouse Settlement began, drawing the best African-American artists, writers, dancers and print makers to a place where they could practice their crafts.
The theater's name was changed in 1941 to karamu - a Swahili word meaning "a place of joyful gathering - center of the community." Through the years it has gained a reputation for nurturing Black actors including Norma Powell, Langston Hughes, Ruby Dee, Robert Guillame, James Pickens Jr. and O'Neal.
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Karamu, like so many other Black institutions, has seen its days of financial difficulties. In fact, it was on the verge of collapse when Spivey first walked through its doors. But thanks to Ashe, who has a penchant for raising funds through a variety of venues, traditional and non-traditional alike, and bolstered by prestigious awards gathered in under Spivey's leadership including the Cleveland Theater Collective, the Black Theatre Network and the Ohio Alliance for Arts Education, things are looking good for the company.
Today Karamu has expanded on its mission to help people realize their promise and dreams with the creation of a program that teaches children about Black history and introduces them to the world of theater.
The Youth Theatre Program, the Young Adults Series (for high school students) and an after-school component called the Cultural Arts Program are just a few of the many ways that Karamu is educating our youth while at the same time providing a training ground for Black actors of the future.
"The programs for youth had to be done," Spivey said. "Drama clubs and other related opportunities have been eliminated in a lot of our minority schools, summer camp programs like CETA that I was involved in when I was a teen have been eliminated or all but disappeared - kids have nothing to do.
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"My high school drama coach and mentor, Clarence Lee Turner, turned kids into scholarship winners at Carnegie-Mellon from a Houston neighborhood (the place where Spivey spent his formative years) that was more familiar with shootings and murders then academic excellence. My mother (Spivey and his four siblings were raised by a single parent and his great-grandparents) would take us to the movies every weekend to the Majestic Theatre and I fell in love with show business - wanting to be like Ron O'Neal or Jim Brown and to be with someone as beautiful as Pam Grier. You have to understand that we lived in Houston's Blood Ward (the 4th and 5th wards) - it was really the ghetto. But with summer and after-school programs I learned how to read music, sing, dance and act. It helped me so much because I enjoyed the creativity and the discipline and it ultimately made me a better student and more independent. Plus, I earned money during the summer.
Those kinds of opportunities may not be as plentiful today as they were back then but with grassroots efforts we can still make a difference - that's what Karamu House is all about."
To represent this season's theme of hope and accountability, Spivey and his talented thespians have already performed Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Lynn Nottage) and are currently performing Yellowman (a drama and world premier by Dael Orlandersmith, thru Nov. 22nd).
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The season will continue with the classic musical God's Trombones (based on the work by James Weldon Johnson), The Great White Hope (directed by Spivey), Eclipse: The War Between Pac and B.I.G. (Michael Oatman) and conclude with Closure (a multimedia play written by Mary Weems).
And as if that wasn't enough, for children as part of their Youth & Young Adult Theatre Series, Karamu is slated to present: The Secret Life of Girls (thru Nov. 22nd), Disney's 101 Dalmatian Kids (a musical), Solitary Voices: An Incident in the Life of Bass Reeves and Red Beard, The World's Greatest Liar!: A Moral Musical For Children (Midwest Premier).
"Our adult-themed plays all focus on the hope that we can change and foster better understanding among all races," Spivey said. "We should be more accountable in terms of comprehending what is going on around us and the things that have happened in our past. Some of us have been in denial, like the dark skin-light skin tension within the Black community.
That's what Yellowman is all about - prejudice and discrimination within our own race. It's actually one of those plays everyone feared because they did not want to hear the truth. It's just one of the many secret, hidden issues plaguing the Black community that are rarely addressed in an open forum. The prejudice that Jack Johnson faced is the driving issue in Great White Hope and of course Trombones deals with religion and spirituality.
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"For me it's about putting both the actors and our patrons on the spot. Sure we need to offer comedies because of the need and importance of laughter. Satire works well in that regard too. But we also need dramatic pieces that will help us exorcise those demons -- those challenging complexities within us all. Folks will reveal themselves if given the chance. And theater is great for catharsis.
"We have had to do a few plays this season that require fewer actors because of the economy. And we have also collaborated with other theater companies - Great White Hope is an example. We also cut back on the number of shows presented for the season. But what we have not sacrificed is the quality of the performance.
We want folks to come see us and also want our actors to continue to sharpen their skills and learn the craft. Most of our actors are non-union and some even donate their time, like some of the cast in this season's God's Trombones which will run in December.
However, in the end it should not and does not matter that we are not a regional house or an equity house - we have to always give 100 percent. That's what Karamu House has always reflected - and that will never change."
For more information go to Karamu House
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