African American Theatre in Tarpon Springs

After a thirty year career in the theatre in New York as a Stage Manager, on Broadway, off-Broadway and Television, I settled here in Tarpon Springs.

It didn't take long to become impressed with the performing arts program here and so I decided to jump in and contribute.

I'll be directing "Master Harold"...and the Boys, a play by South African playwright Athol Fugard. Fugard, now teaching at UC San Diego, was forced to present many of his early plays underground in South Africa, due to the fact that he was going against the apartheid rules of the government of the day. 

A couple of rules he broke were having black and white actors on the same stage and also writing plays that challenged the apartheid laws. "Master Harold", considered by many to be Fugard's masterpiece, was banned by the government and was susequently produced in New York, winning a Tony Award for South African actor, Zakes Mokea. There are lingering doubts here by some, concerning the success of this play with the public in Tarpon Springs.

I think those doubters are selling Tarpon Springs short. Those doubts were were based on the fact that so many presentations here are comedies or musicals ( and good ones they are) with "Master Harold" being neither, rather focusing on how society's rules affect people's behaviour toward one another.

And It's a one act play. A one act play that rankled the South African gonverment enough to ban it. All that being said, I've been given a weekend in October (date to be determined) at the Tarpon Springs Cultural Center on Pinellas Avenue.

So now, although auditions will be set at a later date, I'm already looking for two black male actors about 35 and 45 years of age and a white male who can play an eighteen year old student.

It's never too early to start looking, especially since I'm not yet that familiar with the talent available. Know anybody? Are you interested?  This production will be used an anchor to form an African American theatre group in Tarpon Springs.  The following is the Mission Statement.   "To increase the attendance and active participation of the African American community in the Cultural Arts of Tarpon Springs through the production of theatrical presentations that closely relate to the Black experience inside and outside their community."

To fulfill that mission, I am already meeting with members of Tarpon Springs African American community. To quote Playwright and Director Erica Suthelin, "there is community theatre and there is theatre for the community".Anyone with an interest in this effort or has a comment, feel free to speak up or contact me.