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Department of Theatre Arts

The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God

The Play

“Sometimes in our focus on what we have lost, we lose sight in what we have.”

 

--Deana Thomas

Director’s Notes:

Death is a big part of life, more than we want it to be. Undoubtedly, of all life’s challenges the loss of a child is the most difficult and painful. It is a pain endured daily, subsiding but never disappearing. Some, as I, can identify with our leading character in the play about the death of her child and how her life has been shattered because of it.

Your mind tells you that there is God—you know in every fiber of your being that God is . . . .You have read, you have been taught, but more than all you have experienced God personally so you know He’s there. However, your heart is in the grips of an overwhelming pain that defies the logic of your mind. You speak sentences diametrically opposed to each other: God help me and God how could you?

This is the first Black Canadian play that the African American Theatre Program or the Theatre Arts Department has produced and we are ecstatic to have received permission from Djanet Sears to do so. It is said that our playwright bites off a bit too much with the personal and the political, the entertaining and the educational. However, we hope that you will be encouraged to face all of life’s challenges with a renewed faith and trust.

While Rainey is looking for God, we are in search of a new President and we all need victory. Juanita Bynum states that, “When you have trials and challenges in your life sometimes you have to Praise your Way Out!” So tonight we Praise Him.

 

Tragedy intertwines despair with humor and hope

 “The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God,” by Djanet Sears, will be presented by the University of Louisville Theatre Arts African American Theatre Program April 16-20.

 The play will be performed at 8 p.m. nightly at the Playhouse at Third Street and Cardinal Boulevard, plus a 3 p.m. Sunday matinee on April 20.

 Sears, an award-winning playwright, relates in her play the struggles of Rainey, an African Canadian doctor in a 200-year-old black community, and her overanalyzing the death of a daughter, failing marriage and her dying father’s crusades.

Deana Thomas, director of the African American Theatre Program in UofL’s Theatre Arts Department, said, “Audiences will be surprised how this fast-paced drama may make them laugh and cry almost in the same moments. Reverent and joyful music mixed with dance help us tell the story.”

“Sometimes in our focus on what we have lost, we lose sight on what we have,” Thomas said. “Rainey’s reality is complicated but she finds a way out of her pain to rediscover her faith.”

Thomas stages the play, which will be the last production of the spring season for UofL. The African American theatre program is wrapping up a busy year, which included student trips to Broadway in New York and the first-ever university theater tour of China.

“We are in early planning stages with the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts in Beijing for their students to visit Louisville during the Chinese New Year. And, we have received a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Council to premiere a play commissioned for the Lincoln Bicentennial, ‘Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Tom in the White House,’ in 2009,” Thomas said.

 Ticket prices are $12 for the general public, $8 for senior citizens and students. Call the box office at 502-852-6814 for reservations or group ticket prices.

 

The Players

black girl in search of god cast photo

 

Time: Present

Setting: Nestled quietly at the base of the peninsula which cleaves the waters of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, there lives a small and little known enclave of the descendants of African soldiers. During the War of 1812, Captain Runchy’s Company of Coloured Men, a military unit of African soldiers, made up of free men and escaped slaves, distinguished themselves in major battles against the invading United States army. Following the war, Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, offered Black veterans grants of the lush and fertile farmland in what was to become known as Negro Creek. Rainey Baldwin Johnson can trace her ancestry all the way back to those African Soldiers. She was born and raised on this soil, and she swears that real early on a dewy morning, she can almost hear Negro Creek sing.

 

Cast Includes:

Chorus

 

Larrissa Gayton (Girlene Mays), Harrodsburg, KY. This is her debut performance at UofL. Past credits elsewhere include Saundra in Differences at Ragged Edge Theatre, Abbey Brewster in Arsenic & Old Lace, and writer/director of A Love Story.

 Tiffany Gist (Rainey), St. Louis, MO, is a first-year MFA student in Performance. Past credits at UofL include TJ in Cage Rhythm and Nyasha in Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. Past credits elsewhere include Aunt Theresa in Sins of the Mother, Ruth in Raisin in the Sun, Emilia in Othello, and Natalie in Spell #7 at Alabama State University.

 Erica Goins (Ivy), Louisville, KY, is a senior Theatre Arts major. Past productions at UofL include Slanguage, Creation, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter’s Tale. A transfer student, Erica has previously performed in the following productions at Jefferson Community College: The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, Sure Thing, Art Control, and Cover.

 Clyde Tyrone Harper (Abendigo Johnson), from Detroit, MI, has acted in or directed numerous productions. Past credits at UofL include the Reverend in In the Blood and Stool Pigeon in King Hedley. He has been nominated for “Excellence in the Arts” awards by The Detroit Free Press for Best Supporting Actor in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and for Best Director for Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery. He worked with playwright Ron Milner on Jazz Set and toured nationally in Milner’s Don’t Get God Started. He directed Ruben Santiago-Hudson in Home by Samm-Art Williams at the Studio Playhouse.

 Mary Audrey Holt (Chorus, Choreographer) from Louisville, KY, is a third-year MFA student in Performance and a member of the UofL Repertory Company. She earned her BS in Theatre Arts from UofL. Past credits at UofL include Avery in Cage Rhythm, Jo in My Secret Language of Wishes, Tonya in King Hedley II, and Perdita in A Winter’s Tale. Productions outside the university include Romeo & Juliet: A RockOpera at the LaMama Theatre and the original production of YouShouldn’t Have Told at the American Theatre of the Arts in New York. She directed the African American Celebration in Poem, Song, and Dance for the Ursiline Academy of Performing Arts and inaugurated an after school drama program at the Nativity School of St. Boniface. Mary is also the Studio Theatre graduate coordinator.

 Kellee Knox (Chorus), Louisville, KY, is a vocal major at the Youth Performing Arts School. This is her debut performance at UofL. She most recently performed as the pregnant teenager in How to Make a Kid a Killer at Bunbury Theatre. Kellee is also a member of the West Louisville Girls Choir.

 Tristan Mapp (Chorus), Louisville, KY, is a freshman Theatre Arts major. Past credits at UofL include Griot, Peaches in 7 Stops to Freedom and performer in The Harlem Renaissance for the African American Theatre Program.

 Matthew Robinson (Bert), Cincinnati, OH, is a senior Theatre Arts major. Past credits at UofL include Earl in Photograph: Lovers in Motion and Flaco in Slanguage for Studio Theatre. He is a crew member in the scene shop.

 Melony A. Tisdale (Darese), Kingstree, SC, is a first-year MFA student in Performance. Past credits at UofL include the Corrections Officer in Cage Rhythm and Tintinabula in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Past credits include Gilmer in Godspell, Lutibelle Jenkins in Purlie Victorious, Tasha in Home for Christmas at Fayettville State University, and Student in Fame at Cape Fear Regional Theatre.

 DeAldon R. Watson (Michael), Houston, TX, is a first-year MFA student in Performance. Past credits at UofL include Aaron in Titus Andronicus and various roles in Three Plays for China. Past credits elsewhere include various roles in Under Six and Servant in Measure for Pleasure at the Florida Studio Theatre.

 Mariam Williams (Chorus), Louisville, KY, is the Research Director and Copywriter at Main Line Broadcasting. She earned her BA degree in Psychology with a minor in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She most recently performed as Faye in Cage Rhythm at UofL. She was a dancer/slave in A Slave Wedding at Locust Grove and a dancer in Grandpa’s Nativity at The Kentucky Center. Her play, The Breakroom, won second-place in the 2003 UofL Juneteenth Festival of New Plays.

 Errol Wint (Dr. Radcliffe, Delivery Man, Guard), Lexington, KY, is a senior Pan-African Studies and Spanish major. This is his debut performance at UofL. He performed as Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mocking Bird at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He is also the current president of The Society of Porter Scholars.

 Michael F. Hottois (Scenic/Lighting Design) has recently designed scenery for Titus Andronicus, Angels in America, Part I “Millennium Approaches”, Cage Rhythm, Interrogating the Nude, My Secret Language of Wishes, Refractions, Blithe Spirit, The Winter’s Tale, In the Blood, A Doll House, The Face of Emmett Till, Night Sky, Home, School Play, and The Threepenny Opera. Last summer he designed The King and I , The Music Man, and Ain’t Misbehavin’; and Always, Patsy Cline this summer for the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in New York. His credits as a scenic artist include the films Boris and Natasha and Closetland, as well as Soul of the Game for HBO. Michael is also a member of United Scenic Artists Union, Local 829.

Daryl Harris (Costume Design), MFA, PhD, is a 35-year veteran of traditional, experimental, and educational theatre in the USA, Canada, Scandinavia, and West Africa. He has received multiple “Outstanding Costume Design” awards for his work with the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. The Arts Council’s Druid Award is among the recognitions he received for Theatre Tuscaloosa ( Alabama) and Tuscaloosa Community Dancers productions including Mame, The King & I, and Nutcracker. Canada’s Royal British Columbia Museum has exhibited his costumes. He has presented costume-related papers at national and international conferences, including the Black Theatre Network Conference. At the University of Louisville he presented a guest lecture entitled “The Black Aesthetic--Costume Design.” He is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance at Northern Kentucky University. He recently completed his doctoral dissertation, New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs and Their Costumes: Trans-Cultural Communal Icons, and is currently working toward publishing a book on the same subject.

Angela Maryte Tellis (Sound Design) a native of Louisville, KY, earned her B.S. in Theatre Arts from UofL.  She is the President/CEO of Visions In Progress (VIP) Productions, which produces plays, concerts and theatre workshops in the Louisville area.  She was nominated for the 2001 Irene Ryan Award, for her portrayal of the Judge in, The Trail ofOne Shorted- Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae, directed by Dr. Lundeana Thomas.  Additional acting credits include; Black Nativity, Machinal, Middle Passage: A Ritual of Healing, Faith, Hope and Charity--The Mary McCleodStory.  She also appeared in God Is Still Moving, The Reason for The Season and The GreatestGift, and Steal Away. She has written and directed, A Mother's Cry, God Is Still Moving, Dare to Dream—A Man and His Vision.  She also directed The Breakroom for the Juneteenth Festival and assistant directed The Face of Emmett Till.  Other credits include assistant stage manager for A Soldiers Play, stage manager for Flyin'West, and sound designer for My Secret Language of Wishes and From the Mississippi Delta.  She is currently writing V-Formation and Life Is A Breech, WillSomebody Help Me Fill the Gap.  In the near future she plans to finish a book entitled Freedom Row. 

Maigan Lasley (Stage Manager), Indiana, is a senior Theatre Arts major. This is her first stage managing credit at UofL. Past credits elsewhere include Stage Manager for Meet Me in St. Louis, Props Assistant for Pippin in Marion, IN; Lighting/Sound Designer for Bear Necessities, and Stage Manager for Wanna Bee Players in Greenfield, IN.

Cassandra Perkins (Assistant Stage Manager), Campbellsville, KY, is a junior Theatre Arts major. Past credits at UofL include Joy Ann in Cage Rhythm and Renny in The Most Massive Woman Wins. She is a crew member in the scene and costume shops.

 Robert O. Greene (Acting Coach), Laurens, S.C, earned his MFA in Performance from the University of Louisville in 2006. Past UofL productions include Angels in America, Part I, King Hedley II, The Winter’s Tale, In the Blood, The Face of Emmett Till, All in the Timing and School Play. Other Credits include: Fighting for a Principle: Ali vs. the United States, A Raisin in the Sun, The Mighty Gents, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Before it Hits Home and Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters. He is currently teaching at the Ursuline School for the Performing Arts and at UofL. Recently he completed a summer workshop at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York.

 

The Playwright

 Djanet Sears is an award-winning playwright and director and has several acting nominations to her credit for both stage and screen. She is the recipient of the Stratford Festival's 2004 Timothy Findley Award, as well as Canada's highest literary honour for dramatic writing: the 1998 Governor General's Literary Award. She is the playwright and director of the multiple Dora Award winning production of Harlem Duet (Scirocco Drama, 1997), which was work-shopped at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in NYC, where Djanet was the international artist-in-residence in 1996. Her other honours include: the 1998 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award, the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award, the Harry Jerome Award for Excellence in the Cultural Industries, and a Phenomenal Woman of the Arts Award. Her most recent work for the stage, The Adventures Of A Black Girl In Search Of God, (Playwrights Canada Press, 2003), shortlisted for a 2004 Trillium Book Award and enjoyed a six month run in the fall/winter of 2003/2004, as part of the Mirvish Productions Season. Her other plays include Afrika Solo, Who Killed Katie Ross and Double Trouble. Djanet is the driving force behind the AfriCanadian Playwrights' Festival, and a founding member of the Obsidian Theatre Company. She is also the editor of Testifyin': Contemporary African Canadian Drama, Vols. I & II, the first anthologies of plays by playwrights of African descent in Canada (Playwrights Canada Press, 2000 & 2003). She is currently an adjunct professor at University College, University of Toronto

 

The Director

Dr. Lundeana Thomas is the Director of the African American Theatre Program and an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Louisville. In this position she directs mainstage productions, coordinates creative performances for local, national and international touring, and teaches African American Theatre courses which serve two minors and a Graduate Certificate in African American Theatre, making the University of Louisville the only institution providing these honors. She is also the director of our Rep Company's Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters. Dr. Thomas received a Bachelor of Secondary Education Degree at Youngstown State University and received her Master’s and Ph. D degrees from the University of Michigan in Theatre Studies. She is also the author of Barbara Ann Teer and the National Black Theatre: Transformational Forces in Harlem.

In December she took ten students to China to perform at the Beijing Foreign Studies University and Xiamen's University and Community. Last March she took 22 students to New York for a five-night, six-day tour of New York City and Broadway. Dr. Thomas was the national award recipient of the Theatre Museum’s 2006 Award for Excellence in Theatre Arts Education.

Additionally, she is a past President of the Black Theatre Network and founder of the Black Theatre Association Focus Group for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Dr. Thomas is a native of Youngstown, Ohio and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

 

The Stage

playhouse

The UofL Playhouse
1911 S. 3rd Street
Louisville , KY 40208  

Built in 1874, the current Playhouse originally served as a small, interdenominational chapel for a local orphanage. In 1923, the University of Louisville acquired the land on which the chapel stood, converted the structure into a theatre, and designated it a "temporary building" for use until a permanent theatre could be erected.

In 1977, the Playhouse was dismantled to make room for the construction of the William F. Ekstrom Library and Learning Resources Center. The building was systematically taken apart and safely put into storage.

Rebuilt in 1980 on the traffic island between 2nd and 3rd streets at Cardinal Ave., the Playhouse was expanded to include a basement and full-working scene shop. It is also the location of the offices of the Technical Director and Scene Shop Foreman.

The Playhouse is located on the corner of Cardinal Blvd. & 3rd Street.  Metered street parking is available along 3rd Street and Cardinal Blvd. Free parking in the university parking lots located on 3rd St. is free after 7:30 p.m. weekdays and all day on weekends.

Click here for Map

 

The Ticket

Box Office
HPES / Studio Arts Building
Corner of Floyd and Warnock Streets

Office Hours
Monday - Friday
10am - 3pm
(502) 852-6814

Ticket Price
General Public - $12
Students - $8
Senior Citizens - $8
U of L Faculty/Staff - $8
Season Tickets - $35.00-$50.00 (Order Form) [DOC]

Additional Information

To make ticket reservations, please contact the Box Office Manager, Debbie Hudson, at 852-6814. Accepted methods of payment include Visa & Mastercard.