THE ORIG-O-NAL THEATER COMPANY OPENS A CROWD FUND CAMPAIGN ON INDIEGOGO FOR THE BLACKS: A CLOWN SHOW
The Blacks: a Clown Show
Using the power of crowd funding, The Orig-O-naL Theater Company hopes to raise money for the production of the Jean Genet classic, The Blacks: A Clown Show, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Los Angeles, April 28th, 2015——The Orig-O-naL theatre company is using the power and social conscious of the crowd fund movement to raise money for their inaugural production of The Blacks: A Clown Show at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. The small theater company describes itself as a group that is “… dedicated to examining, probing, and discussing the social perceptions surrounding race, identity, gender, sexuality, and religion,” so the selection of Genet’s play is almost the perfect extension of their color, race, and gender-conscious artistic credo. With a manifesto of perpetually expanding and deepening social awareness, there is no other choice than Genet’s provoking play about the murder of a white woman before a kangaroo court.
The initial Off Broadway production of The Blacks: A Clown Show in 1961 read like a Who’s Who of famous black artists with James Earl Jones in the role of Deodatus and Maya Angelou as the White Queen. The play was the longest running Off Broadway non-musical of the decade and has always been produced and conducted in such a way as to bring the audience in on the performance. Theater is a means of letting the audience in on the Grand Illusion; a way of mirroring one’s own perceptions and imperfections. Actors are truth tellers and sages disguised as jesters. By revealing the malignancy of racism and the scars of social injustice through dark humor the message is refined and ingested in a way that can produce the type of questioning that has always provoked and invoked change.
By contributing to the funding of this production of The Blacks: A Clown Show, individuals are not only supporting artists and theater, but also contributing to a greater awareness and exploration of the subject of race in America. The first production in the United States came at a time when the Civil Rights movement was establishing a legal vehicle for racial equality. This production comes fifty years after equality became law and asks the question of its audience: where are we now?
Director Craig Gibson wants to invite people to not only contribute to raising funds for the production, but also in getting the word out about what they hope will be a unique and interactive experience.
The Orig-O-naL Theater Company and cast of The Blacks: A Clown Show is:
Director: Craig Gibson
Producers: Donna Simone Johnson and Arielle Siler
Production Manager: Kaitlin Cornuelle
Cinematographer: Corey Gates
Cast: Gyasi Silas, Jessica Hemingway, Precious Ra’Akbar, Ara’elle Flynn-Bolden, Jonathan Bangs, Donna Simone Johnson, Ajala Bandele, Arielle Siler, Daphne Gabriel, Carissa Pinckney, John C. Sweet.
For more information or to make a contribution see their Indiegogo campaign at: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-blacks-a-clown-show-at-hollywood-fringe
