The African Company Presents Richard III
157 Forest Avenue Oak Park
In 1821, forty years before Lincoln ended slavery, and fifty years before African Americans earned the right to vote, the first black theatrical group in the country, the African Company of New York, is staging plays in a downtown Manhattan theater for both black and white audiences. Their competition is an uptown Broadway impresario who happens to be producing Richard III at the same time as the African Company. The latter's production is critically acclaimed, and has the theater filled to overflowing six days a week. But the prominent white producer is determined to shut down the African company's show at any cost. This is is a behind-the-scenes story like no other -- funny, uncompromising and uniquely American, it's an actual historical event that continues to resonate today. See it at the Oak Park Festival Theatre in Austin Gardens.
Thru - Sep 1, 2018
