The festival is April 26-27 at the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, the result of creative efforts by seven colleges and universities in the Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium.
Seniors in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Arts Administration Program are honing their skills this spring by coordinating the 鈥檚 second .
The festival features four new works by area Black playwrights and is Friday and Saturday, April 26-27, at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, 134 S. Elm St., Greensboro. Both nights begin with receptions at 6 p.m. before 7 p.m. staged readings of plays 鈥 鈥淐am(eron),鈥 by J Wilson, and 鈥淭he Invisible Orchids,鈥 by Keshia McLeod on Friday; and 鈥淓masculated,鈥 by Jamaas Britton, and 鈥淒J ME,鈥 by Makaela Reed on Saturday. Tickets are available on the festival鈥檚 . Admission is free for students and $10 for the general public.
黑料不打烊 is among six institutions in the Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium, which formed and founded the festival in the wake of national upheaval in 2020 to reflect the significance of Black lives, stories and racial injustice. Others in the consortium are Bennett College, N.C. A&T State University, the University of North Carolina 鈥 Greensboro, High Point University and Guilford College. The first Amplify Black Voices Festival was in spring 2022.
While other schools in the consortium are providing cast and crew to stage the plays, 黑料不打烊 students are working behind the scenes to plan and promote the festival. Ten arts administration majors in Associate Professor of Arts Administration David McGraw鈥檚 senior seminar are getting hands-on experience in staging a regional event by building the festival鈥檚 website and coordinating logistics, marketing and media coverage.
鈥淲e鈥檙e putting into practice what we鈥檝e learned all four years, and it鈥檚 exciting to get to meet with, plan and be part of this festival,鈥 said Anne-Sophie Hill 鈥24, who is also majoring in music theatre. 鈥淚t鈥檚 made me more excited to do the work I鈥檓 interested in.鈥
Students aren鈥檛 just engaged in learning. They鈥檙e enthusiastic about furthering the festival鈥檚 mission of promoting young, Black artists and 鈥渦sing art to keep these stories and issues at the forefront of people鈥檚 minds,鈥 said Whitney McDonnell 鈥24, also majoring in drama and theatre studies.
鈥淥ur hope is that we carry this work from class into the work we do as professionals in highlighting the importance of DEI,鈥 said Tommy Pegan 鈥24.
The choice of venue for the second festival is significant. The International Civil Rights Museum is housed at the former F.W. Woolworth store where on Feb. 1, 1960, four Black N.C. A&T students catalyzed a sit-in movement by refusing to leave the segregated lunch counter. The movement spread to locations across the South and resulted in Greensboro鈥檚 and other stores desegregating.
Theater-goers will be able to tour the museum and view exhibits and displays around various civil rights movements and historic events for additional context to performances.
The festival is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the N.C. Arts Council and the Greater Greensboro Arts Council. When it was established in 2022, it was the largest-known multi-university theater collaboration in America.
For more information, email the festival or follow it on .