The University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance is proud to announce their Fall 2020 Jubilee season: A mix of virtual and outdoor performances created specifically for the age of the coronavirus. The department will host two filmed and streamed theater pieces and a Zoom-based comedy show, in addition to site-specific performances inspired by Black Memphis history. UofM joins theaters nationwide in Jubilee: A year-long celebration of performances generated by individuals that have been historically excluded from our country’s stages.

 

Or, by Liz Duffy Adams

Directed by Moises Hinojos

(For the safety of the cast and crew, social distancing in staging and masks to be worn in rehearsals as well as other precautions will be taken.)
Sex, Intrigue, Danger, Laughter … Less than 24 hours after retiring from her spy life, Aphra Behn must juggle a bawdy new lover, the sudden appearance of an old “friend”, and the temptation to fall in love with her benefactor. Most importantly, she must finish writing a play that will be her first produced work! This quick-witted, farcical story, to be filmed and then streamed, transcends period and shows us what it’s like to have free love, self-love, and purpose. Will Aphra save the King from treason? Will she succumb to her heart’s desire or launch her career as the first professional female playwright?

Streaming Friday and Saturday, October 2, 3, 9, and 10

 

Lest We Forget: Black Memphis History Through Dance/Theater

Join us on a journey through space and time as we explore 120 years of Black Memphis history through a series of site-specific, on-campus, outdoor performances. These pieces will also be filmed and made permanently accessible at the sites via a QR code, enabling anyone to experience them at any time, and ensuring that we will never forget.

Live performances October 17, 18, 24, and 25

 

Zoom in on Comedy

Directed by Angela Schultz

Integrating solo comedy segments with zoom-based sketches, this team of women will make us laugh without making us sick. Share the laughter, not the spittle.

Zoom performances to take place October 31 and November 1.

 

Trouble in Mind, by Alice Childress

Directed by Jamie Warrow

Written by Alice Childress, Trouble in Mind is a protest story against flagrant racism in commercial theatre in the mid-1950’s, dramatizing one woman’s stand against the harmful stock stereotypes that diminish African Americans, and more particularly, have reduced Black women to mere caricatures. A smart satire, Trouble in Mind will be filmed and then streamed—making you simultaneously laugh and confront the pain of systemic prejudice. Trouble in Mind is a relevant commentary on the racial divide that still exists in American today.

Streaming Friday and Saturday, November 6, 7, 13, and 14

(For the safety of the cast and crew, social distancing in staging and masks to be worn in rehearsals as well as other precautions will be taken.)

 

The Story and the Teller, by Calley N. Anderson

Directed by Holly L. Derr

The University of Memphis has commissioned native Memphian and current New Yorker Calley N. Anderson to write a new play with and for our students via zoom. Set in the present moment, The Story and the Teller will follow the resident acting company of a local Memphis theatre, tasked with devising a play about the impact of the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic on African Americans and immigrants. Challenging enough on its own, the process is marred by questions and disagreements about history, race, gender, and storytelling, issues that played out in both 1878 and 2020 in dizzying ways.

Zoom reading Sunday, November 15 at 2 PM