FREE PUBLIC EVENT - Seeing Color: Casting African Americans in Shakespeare

In this 50th anniversary year of the Civil Rights Amendment of 1964, Theatre for a New Audience presents “Seeing Color: Casting African Americans in Shakespeare.” The panel includes actress, poet, and playwright NEHAISSAIU DeGANNES, Shakespeare and ‘race performance’ scholar AYANNA THOMPSON (Georgetown University), and award-winning actor JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON. Moderating the panel will be KATHARINE GOODLAND (College of Staten Island), who has interviewed hundreds of actors, directors, producers and artists for her groundbreaking project, “Mythologizing Cultural Trauma: Representing Blackness in Contemporary American Shakespeare Productions.”"Seeing Color" is intended to cut to the heart of colorblind casting in Shakespeare today, asking not ‘do we see color’ but ‘should we see color,’ especially in Shakespeare. Focusing specifically on the performance history of African Americans in Shakespeare and the experience of black actors and theatre professionals today, we will explore these and other questions in a determined attempt to define and question our perceptions of race. The event will take place on Sunday, February 9th, 6:30pm, at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY. To RSVP or for further information, contact [email protected] or visit www.tfana.org.