Tag Archives: Sankofa African American Theatre Co.

Burg Review: Emotions dig deep, laughter rings out in “The Colored Museum”

June 1, 2025 | by Gina Napoli

[Voice over the loudspeaker in a brightly lit museum.] George C. Wolfe’s “The Colored Museum” is a satirical collection of vignettes that challenge stereotypes surrounding the African American experience. Sankofa African American Theatre Company and Open Stage partner to take you on a museum tour without ever leaving your seats.

Let the actors punch your admission ticket, taking you beyond the velvet ropes. You’re going to be poking fun at old Black stereotypes while confronting them. (Old = 1619 to 1986, from the time the first ship arrived in Virginia to the year Wolfe authored the play.)

Co-directed by Sharia Benn and Johntrae Williams, “The Colored Museum” presents 11 vignettes where the exhibits come to life – highlighting Black themes in ways that are provocative, full of social commentary, controversial and dressed to the nines in the finest costumes from the 20^th century (costume consultant, Rachel Landon). Although the themes were groundbreaking for 1986, I’d like to think that pop culture has progressively mainstreamed Black topics to the point that lighter travelers are more aware, more conversant than in years past. That isn’t to say you won’t find anything shocking. You will. I did.

Please follow me. We’re walking, we’re walking, aaannnd pause here.

On our first tour stop, we meet Miss Pat (Weimy Montero-Candelario), a bossy stewardess who takes us aboard a slave ship. As she shackles each passenger, she shouts out instructions: no rebelling, no drumming, no talking to each other, no worshiping God. Montero-Candelario brings an authoritarian spitfire energy to Miss Pat, reprising this same role for the play’s finale. Although she plays several characters throughout the vignettes, the standout performance is of Lawanda in “The Hairpiece,” along with Benn as Janine. Together those gossipy ladies make The Woman (Melinda Anderson) think twice about her beauty routine.

Then Aunt Ethel (Benn), one of the shackled passengers, sings us a jazzy ditty on her cooking show, where she cooks us up some… ssh, I’m not gonna spoil your supper. Benn also convincingly slips into a younger character’s pinafore to portray young Normal Jean Reynolds in “Permutations,” a solo piece I found most unsettling, and Mama in “The Last Mama-on-the-Couch Play,” a meta piece fit for “Masterpiece Theatre.” Marcus McGhee, Johntrae Williams, Anderson and Montero-Candelario add to the hilarity that is Mama’s family dynamic.

Now, we walk to the Fabulous Wing of The Colored Museum. McGhee and Amandine Pope describe what it’s like to model for Ebony Magazine. They may be fabulous, but they feel objectified. McGhee regales us as the equally fabulous Miss Roj, a baggage-addled drag queen looking to scrap with someone in the parking lot of the nightclub. Pope again becomes fabulous in another nightclub act, LaLa “Amazing” Grace. Pope’s an unreliable narrator entertainer whose will exceeds her skill. In mottled French accent she lifted somewhere from her self-important fantasy world, she talks about her fellow singers of mixed descent being rejected in the United States. Montero-Candelario plays her cowering maid, stirring the pot with Lala by bringing her tattle-tale correspondence on silver platters. Kudos to Flo’rance (Te’Sean Richardson) for being the creepiest character in all 11 skits, followed closely by Journie Williams.

Although Johntrae Williams appears in many of the funny vignettes, his star shines brightest with his poignant performances in the Self-Reflective Wing of “The Colored Museum.” As Junie Robinson in “Soldier with a Secret,” he reveals startling confessions of dark things most soldiers won’t talk about. And in “Symbiosis” as The Man, he becomes an unlikely combination of vulnerable and violent toward The Kid (McGhee), in a relatable story about letting go. McGhee delivers an earnest rendition of “My Girl,” carrying enough emotion to bring back his scene partner’s youth.

No matter how the culturally charged content may affect you and your loved ones (over age 16, please), I hope you will be open-minded enough to let this play in, to let potentially uneasy ideas reside with you, to consider how they make you feel. If parts of this play make you uncomfortable, that means you are willing to challenge your beliefs about certain paradigms, to claw under the surface of stereotypes, and to reflect on those ideas with empathy and respect. Benn, also the executive artistic director of Sankofa African American Theatre Company, asserts that, “It is in these moments of ‘squirm’ when the laughter fades and the truth lingers, that provocative transformation begins.” You may even be able to mentally add other topics to form a more complete theme list, from 1987 to the present.

Perhaps you are uncomfortable laughing in public about things that are maybe a little touchy. You’re not a bad person if you laugh – at least I hope not, because most of the vignettes are hilarious. If you just like to laugh, usually at inappropriate times, and you aren’t offended very easily, then come sit by me. Hopefully if we laugh together – loudly, publicly – then we can de-sensitize otherwise raw topics, taking the stinger out.

That’s the end of our tour. Please be sure to visit the gift shop on your way out, or the bar at intermission. I think you’ll find “The Colored Museum” worth the price of admission.

“The Colored Museum,” a production of both Sankofa African American Theatre Company and Open Stage, runs through June 19. For more information, check their website at https://www.openstagehbg.com/shows/thecoloredmuseum. Image courtesy Open Stage/Sankofa.

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Burg Review: Stories unearthed, revived, celebrated with latest entry of “Voices of the Eighth”

February 23, 2025 | by M. Diane McCormick

Marcus McGhee & Weimy Montero Candelario

A cemetery, shabby and dishonored. Whiskey bottles and beer cans litter the ground. Weeds clog the perimeter. But along the fence, gravestones proudly marked CHESTER and POPEL stand guard, seeming to promise the dead that they will, someday, get the respect they deserve.

With “Voices of the Eighth, Part III: Hallowed Ground,” Sankofa African American Theatre Company and partner Gamut Theatre Group continue a saga that began in 2019. The “Voices of the Eighth” project is rooted in the history of Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward, demolished in the 1910s to make way for an expanded Pennsylvania Capitol Complex.

The “Voices of the Eighth” saga represents the contribution of its author, Sankofa founding executive director Sharia Benn, toward restoring the Old Eighth’s reputation from Sin City into a more nuanced and historically respectful picture of a diverse community where businesses thrived, Underground Railroad conductors provided shelter, poets waxed poetic, and suffragettes agitated for the women’s vote.

The original entry, “Echoes of the Old Eighth Ward,” encountered the Eighth Ward through the eyes of Kay, a 2010s teenager struggling to find herself. She finds it through the rich tapestry of stories lingering from a community displaced in the name of progress.

As Hope Mackenzie noted in a preview of Part III, “Voices of the Eighth” then evolved “into a movement as the community requested more.” Benn, the author and director of each iteration, frames her trilogy in the Harrisburg community’s “yearning to learn how to know and love each other.”

The title of “Part III: Hallowed Ground,” contradicts the consecrated “hallowed ground” of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address with the nation’s desecrated, once-forgotten African American cemeteries. This time, Kay (Weimy Montero Candelario) returns. The flush of enthusiasm from her initial encounter with the African Americans of the Old Eighth has faded, eroded by her daily struggles as a college student with writer’s block and an offstage mother yelling at her to clean her room.

Kay’s coursework takes her to Harrisburg’s Lincoln Cemetery, where the ground beneath her feet resonates with the stories of its inhabitants – but she can’t hear them anymore. The person listening is Kayah (Marcus McGhee), the cemetery caretaker communing with The Ancestors who walk among the graves.

“Voices of the Eighth, Part III” draws inspiration from the work of Rachel Williams and SOAL, the volunteer-driven Saving Our Ancestors Legacy project restoring Harrisburg’s oldest Black cemetery. Written for middle and high school students but rich with humor and resonance for grown-up audiences, the play explores the historic displacement of African Americans who moved north and west for freedom and opportunity but disconnected from family and friends along the way.

Kayah is living his own personal displacement, so detached from his family roots that he has stopped looking and seeks solace among the graves. As he explains to Kay, Black cemeteries, neglected in cities, suburbs, and rural areas, foster reconnection, housing the records of births, deaths, occupations, and military service that weren’t recorded otherwise.

Benn directs her play with a finely tuned eye for the telling detail – the grimace on Kay’s face at the sight of the desecrated cemetery, a pantomimed tip of the hat, a sleeping bag draped across Kayah’s shoulders like a royal cape, Kay’s tiny shudder of recognition when The Ancestors first break through her sarcastic shell.

Together, Kay and Kayah find shared revelations through their interwoven stories. The characters develop through poetry, seamlessly woven into the scenes as monologues revealing their fears and hopes. Kay’s “Strongest Thing You Can Do” – written by Lunden McClain, portrayer of Kay in the original “Echoes of the Old Eighth Ward” — circles from beginning to end, as Candelario deftly takes Kay from not-ready-for-adulting college student to young woman verging on self-discovery. As Kayah, McGhee passionately advocates for The Ancestors and the power of connecting with their stories.

“We can’t have a future without a past,” he says.

Water flows through the play like, well, water. Summoning the ancestors. Ritual washing of feet. Wiping the grime off an unearthed tombstone. In a talkback after a recent performance, Benn explained.

“It’s liberating,” she said. “It’s cleansing. It’s the way by which many of our ancestors got their freedom. It’s the way many immigrants have come to this country.”

The two living characters get subtle help on their journeys from The Ancestors–real-life Eighth Ward residents Harriet McClintock Marshall (Paula J. Lewis-Roman), who supported freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad with clothing, food, and health care, and Jane Chester (Leah Payne), abolitionist who escaped enslavement, Harrisburg caterer, and mother of pathbreaking Black journalist and soldier T. Morris Chester. Lewis-Roman and Payne interact gracefully, serving as a taciturn Greek chorus that chastises, supports, and — often — acts as an unseen guide directing Kay and Kayah to uncover the stories buried under the weeds and hidden on the gravestones.

Voices of the Eighth Part III: Hallowed Ground,” presented by Sankofa African American Theatre Company and Gamut Theatre Group, runs through March 2 at Gamut Theatre Group, 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.sankofatheatrehbg.com or www.gamuttheatre.org/vote or call 717-238-4111.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

January 3, 2025 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Gittens

(From left) Mayor Wanda Williams, Interim Director of Building and Housing Development Gloria Martin-Roberts, Communications Director Mischelle Moyer and Director of Facilities and Special Projects Dave Baker at a press conference on Thursday.

Happy New Year! As we head into 2025, we are continuing to cover Harrisburg area news. To stay informed, make sure you subscribe to our daily and weekly newsletters, delivered right to your inbox. While you’re here, catch up on this week’s reporting, below.

Community Corner brings you this month’s special events happening in and around the Harrisburg area. And for an even more expansive list of January goings-on, check out our Happenings column.

Harrisburg shared on Thursday its proposal to build a connector building between the Broad Street Market’s two existing buildings, our online story reported. Mayor Wanda Williams said that she believed the new building, which would be built after the fire-damaged brick building is restored, would financially help the market by housing additional vendors.

Our January issue of the magazine kicks off with a note from our publisher on another year ahead at TheBurg.

January is when our publisher takes time to reflect on the biggest news stories of the past year. Find out what made his list for 2024, here.

Mayor Wanda Williams announced that she had vetoed many of City Council’s 2025 budget amendments, our online story reported. Williams said that council’s changes, many of which eliminated or reduced staff raises, were “targeting the administration” and reversed them.

Musical Notes highlights our music reviewer’s top concert picks for January so you can start the new year off with live music in Harrisburg.

The Olewine Nature Center in Wildwood Park celebrated its 25^th anniversary this past year, our magazine story reported. The center has welcomed visitors since 1999 with educational exhibits and programs.

Penn State Harrisburg School of the Humanities and Harrisburg-based Sankofa African American Theatre Company will present an original play on Jan. 25, in celebration of MLK Day, our online story reported. The play, “Call of the Crusades,” features many of MLK’s lesser-known works, as well as modern-day stories from student actors.

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Penn State, Harrisburg theatre company feature students’ stories in play honoring MLK Day

December 30, 2024 | by Maddie Gittens

Penn State Harrisburg students rehearse for “Call of the Crusades.”

An upcoming play weaves history with the present while exploring the impact of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

Penn State Harrisburg School of the Humanities and Harrisburg-based Sankofa African American Theatre Company are teaming up to present an original play on Jan. 25, in celebration of MLK Day earlier that week.

“Call of the Crusades,” written by Sankofa co-founder and president Sharia Benn, tells the story of nine Penn State students who discover the MLK memorial on the Capital Area Greenbelt trail in Harrisburg. There, they learn about King’s crusades and the civil rights movement, while discussing their own diverse stories.

According to Benn, the play introduced to the students and will share with the audience King’s less recognized speeches and writings.

“I wanted to highlight some of the works of Dr. King that were lesser known,” Benn said. “It was a good exploration for everybody involved.”

Penn State Harrisburg has presented an MLK Day play for the past 35 years, but was in search of a new community partner this year and looked to Sankofa.

Dr. Maria Enriquez, associate teaching professor of theatre at Penn State and the play’s co-director, said that this is the first year that the entire cast is made up of students. What makes it even more unique is that the students are from a range of majors and cultural backgrounds, with some being international students. According to the directors, students got to see the widespread and international impact of King’s work.

Each student incorporated some of their own reflections and writings into the play, as well.

“We really wanted it to be explored that the words that MLK was speaking, they resonate today,” Enriquez said.

The play will take place at the Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre at Penn State Harrisburg and is free to the public, but tickets must be reserved.

“I’m excited that the audience will get to hear how these young people feel and what they think,” Benn said.

For more information about the play and to reserve tickets, click here.

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Burg Review: Sankofa/Theatre Harrisburg stitch a beautiful quilt with “Intimate Apparel”

June 15, 2024 | by Gina Napoli

Sankofa African American Theatre Company and Theatre Harrisburg invite us to peek behind the curtains of their modiste, as well as a few boudoirs, for “Intimate Apparel,” a dramatic slow-mance by award-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, directed by Sankofa’s Executive Artistic Director Sharia Benn.

When cleaning out her grandmother’s old brownstone, Nottage found the inspiration for this play’s main character in an old family photograph pressed into a magazine. Although she knew her great-grandmother had created intimate apparel at the turn of the 20^th century, for ladies ranging from wealthy socialites to prostitutes, she knew little else about her great-grandmother’s life. Playing with dynamics of race, class, identity and love, Nottage stitches together the known pieces of family history she already knew into a beautiful patchwork quilt, creating one alternative reality about a lady Nottage would have liked to know better – an ancestor who time forgot to preserve.

We meet the lonely spinster Esther (Latreshia Lilly) in 1905 at her sewing machine. Although she stitches beautifully intricate clothing for her clients, her own clothing resembles her shapeless, old sewing bag. She won’t waste fine fabrics on herself. She stuffs all her earnings into a blanket, and dreams of someday opening a beauty parlor for women of color. Lilly delivers the audience a strong character arc, skillfully taking Esther through the hero’s journey from a no-frills woman, to shedding old baggage through a series of compromises, to finding a stronger sense of self.

Through Esther, we meet Mrs. Dickson (Leah Payne), the landlady of the rooming house who took Esther in years ago and taught her how to make a living through sewing. Payne brings us a strong-willed mother figure, a formidable character who is perhaps a little intrusive with her good intentions and advice she foists upon Esther.

Also freely dispensing advice is Mrs. Van Buren (Elizabeth Rickard), the drunken socialite client. Rickard interprets her character as a little over-the-top and condescending to Esther, likely prompted by Mrs. Van Buren’s higher class and need for attention that she’s not otherwise receiving from Mr. Van Buren.

Mrs. Van Buren helps Esther write letters to George Armstrong (Kevin Willis), a laborer in the Panama Canal who becomes Esther’s love interest. The six-month correspondence becomes a lifeline for Esther, threading gossip all the way through Act One. Willis plays a smooth operator, with sensual subtleties that enhance the slow-mantic mood and build tension.

Also bringing a sensual energy is Mayme (Amandine Pope), a high-end prostitute and an unlikely BFF to Esther. In Mayme, Pope brings us a confident and aloof character who matches Esther’s energy. Although Esther cares too much about what the ladies at church think, it’s easy to see why they’re friends.

The setting itself becomes a character in this play, with antique vignettes coming alive against a moody backdrop of hand-embroidered yards of brightly colored silks, muted brown bolts of wool, and finely knitted lace.

All that finery adds to the excitement of Esther’s visits to Mr. Marks (José Solis Corps), the Jewish fabric salesman on the Lower East side. With each piece of fabric he unfolds, he tells her a story. And with each piece, she looks at herself in the mirror, imagining herself amidst the fabric’s drape. This simple act allows Esther’s natural inner beauty to come to the surface, for perhaps the only times in her story. Esther’s visits with Mr. Marks are clearly the highlight of her routine. And because of their mutual attraction, they become the place where Esther plays with fire.

When I’m watching the romance genre “Will they, or won’t they?” I can’t help but give the characters my own advice. As I age and my hearing isn’t what it used to be, I forget that I’m not alone in my living room, and I’m probably louder than I should be. So while sitting in the audience, when I said things to myself like, “Don’t let him talk to you like that,” and the murmurs around me responded, “Mmm-hmmm,” and “I know that’s right,” I knew I was sitting with my tribe.

I tell you this bit to confess that I liked the play, BUT. Esther’s story ended in a different place from what I wanted for her. Yes, it’s Esther’s life, and I sound like Mrs. Dickson trying to make Esther’s decisions for her. But even as I sit at my computer writing this review, I’m mentally outlining my own fan fiction blog for “Intimate Apparel” where I rewrite the ending and end Esther’s story MY way.

My gripes about the ending are absolutely no reflection on the cast and crew, who showcased their talents to give us an amazing show. The story holds interest, and the actors kept good pacing throughout. Although some actors are returning Sankofa veterans, it’s worth noting that every single actor is making their Theatre Harrisburg debuts – something I didn’t know until after the proverbial curtain fell. The cast had such a strong collective dynamic, a professional poise, that I didn’t even suspect their novice status.

If you decide to move from window shopping and step over the threshold of the theater doors, ringing the bell as you come in, please be mindful of the young clientele you bring with you. Some of the undergarments and situations our characters find themselves in may be a little racy, even by today’s standards.

“Intimate Apparel” runs through June 30 at the Krevsky Center, 513 Hurlock Street, Harrisburg. For more information on show times and tickets, visit https://theatreharrisburg.com/shows/intimate-apparel/.

Burg Review: Hats off to Sankofa’s “Crowns”

May 31, 2022 | by Gina Napoli

An off-Broadway production by Regina Taylor, Sankofa African American Theatre Company’s “Crowns” is more than a hats-off to an icon of the cultural experience that is the Black church. “Crowns” is a high-energy, foot-stomping, clapping, hum-along gospel musical that will have you fanning yourself once it heats up the house.

In this fish-out-of-water story, we first meet our protagonist Yolanda (Jasmine Graham), who has been transplanted from Brooklyn to South Carolina to live with her grandmother, Mother Shaw (Regina Gail Malloy) after the murder of Yolanda’s brother, Teddy. Yolanda wears Teddy’s red baseball cap in remembrance of him.

Although this is the main plot, a secondary story emerges as a frontrunner–the tradition of Black church hats and the strong women who wear them. These same women embrace Yolanda as an extension of the larger church family.

“Crowns” unfolds in vignette form, rotating narratives between characters. The hats become the vehicle for telling the story, which isn’t so much plot-driven as it is an archetypal study. The narratives bring out a microcosm of Black church archetypes situated around their hats, a veritable pecking order of the First Lady pastor’s wife, the Elders and on down the line.

These women treat church as an important event. They stress looking your best to go meet the King, imparting an involved set of “Hat Queen Rules” to strut their “hattitude.” Church hats are a competitive status symbol, setting an example of modesty, hearkening back to wearing headdresses worn in the fields and to African women adorning their heads. Hats are a connection to becoming one with all that was and ever will be.

The sternest (and funniest) delivery of the rules comes from the pastor’s wife, Mabel, (Diane Hetes), who would sooner lend out one of her children than to lend a hat.

Executive Artistic Director Sharia Benn invites us “to hear stories about our culture that center, uprise and uplift communities, with a goal to educate, to be real about the issues that confront us.”

As part of our education, we learn that the tumultuous Civil Rights movement led to hats falling out of everyday fashion. But they are a must for special occasions. The hats we wear to weddings and funerals carry the history of the milestones in our lives. We find as much joy as we do sorrow in the tapestry of the hats themselves. The hats represent sacrifices, becoming cherished family heirlooms the ladies pass down before they pass on.

The hats become personified, whether they are nodding approval, flailing with the Holy Spirit, or swaying to heavenly hymns—28 hymns, to be exact. You would find any song in the score of “Crowns” in any church with threadbare hymnals with yellowed parchment pages.

In no definitive order, these are the standout songs:

All the cast collaborates in the rollicking “Battlefield” and “Yonder Come Day,” the latter of which is a dance-in-the-aisles song to get converted to.

Like a cross between a funeral dirge and a jazzy nightclub, “Wade in the Water” is an outpouring of love by the entire congregation for one mourning parishioner. “Take My Life and Let it Be” has such lovely harmonies, and the cast sings all the verses. “I Got a Crown” and “Amen” are two hymns that pull your emotions from the floor up.

Velma (Latoya Dallas) belts out the classic, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” with a look and style reminiscent of Whitney Houston from her early career. The arrangement is beautifully unpredictable.

Jeannette (Breanne Sensenig) sings a touching rendition of “Take Me to the Water,” sporting eyelashes thicker than the velvet on her Bergère hat.

For a woman of a certain age, Malloy has some pipes to match her glamorous hats, delivering solos “In the Morning” and “None but the Righteous.”

Although the poster would have you believe differently, there is a “Man” (Steven Ross) in “Crowns.” He sports a fedora and intones his bass range in “Mary Don’t You Weep.”

I tip the brim of my own black feathered hat to the talented cast, whose singing blew me away. My only tiny issue is that the two-hour show has no intermission. (This old church lady needs one.)

My plus-one and I wore our own church hats to the opening night of “Crowns,” sitting in the front row for the full experience. I stand at about 5-foot-nothing, so I doubt I blocked anyone’s view. Director Sharia Benn said to us, “You’re gonna be all up in it performing, just like church.” Worry not, dear readers. My vocal competence lies somewhere between the caterwaulings of Yoko Ono and Ethel Merman with a head cold, and I would never do anything to publicly embarrass TheBurg.

Even if you don’t own a hat, or (like me) “only have one hat because I ain’t got but one head,” the theater will still welcome you. In the words of Mother Shaw, you can strut yourself on in.

Sankofa African American Theatre Company’s “Crowns” runs through June 26 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, visit www.openstagehbg.com/show/crowns.

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Burg Review: A melding of time, generations stirs Sankofa’s “Echoes of Voices of the Eighth”

February 11, 2022 | by Gina Napoli

If you ask the average local resident about the Old Eighth Ward, you may get a puzzled look in return.

This month, Sankofa African American Theatre Company hopes to change that puzzled look to one of understanding by adding knowledge, depth and context to this important, often-lost chapter of Harrisburg history.

Coinciding with Black History Month, Sankofa’s “Echoes of Voices of the Eighth” is a play full of significant historical stories from Harrisburg’s Old Eighth Ward, a racially diverse neighborhood that once thrived prior to its citizens being removed to make way for the Capitol Complex expansion in the early 1900s.

Sharia Benn, the theater’s director/founder and executive artistic director, uses an ensemble cast to pop open a time capsule, stretching across centuries to show a highlight reel of lesser-known stories and people from an area and an era that might have otherwise stayed buried, lost to time.

Demolished in the name of “progress,” the Old Eighth Ward once proudly raised a community of artists, scholars, business owners, civil servants, veterans and activists. Its most notable figures became future leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, the first African American woman to attend Dickinson College, the first Black Civil War correspondent, a lawyer who overturned the segregation of a Harrisburg movie theater, and key members of the suffrage and abolition movements.

First, we meet young Della Carter (Jade Jarrell). She is only 15 years old in the late 1800s, but already in charge of her six siblings and all the chores that come along with them. Her goal is to learn enough of the alphabet to one day write a letter.

The influential people in Della’s life, like her abolitionist aunt Jane Chester (Kirby Davis), her teacher Hannah Jones (Paula Lewis), along with the voices of her ancestors, spur her to make her mark on future descendants. Della takes this on as an assignment.

Then we meet Della’s assignment, a young woman named Kay (Lunden McClain), in present-day Harrisburg. Kay is struggling with a history project, and all the barriers of learning in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. Her brother J. (Lyeneal Griffin) encourages her to find the untold stories. He loans her a powerful history book, with a stern warning not to lose it. As soon as Kay takes the book, lesser-known local historical figures—more cornerstone citizens of the racially diverse Eighth Ward—help bring her school project to life.

Kay meets only a sampling of the ancestors and stories connecting past, present and future and hears some of the advice they passed down through the generations. They wish to impart their strength, wisdom and compassion and to plant the desire to speak out for those who have been silenced. Passing that torch is her ancestors’ way of entrusting Kay with future generations to come, with the knowledge that they fought for Kay’s freedom without even knowing her.

I think it’s a challenge for any playwright to arrange a play’s scenes, to say everything they want to say in a sequence that makes it most absorbable for the audience. Benn gave herself the additional task of integrating a large number of stories of Old Eighth Ward residents. This had the consequence of introducing the modern-day descendant about 45 minutes into the play. The delay took me away from the context of the story a bit. It made me think, “So much action has already happened, and we’re only just now integrating the present day?”

Then the symbolism of that hit me. So many of our own ancestors have already lived their lives, spanning the centuries before the one containing us. Their common threads bond them to historic events and to each other, and the threads spinning toward their descendants (us) are only just now being woven. Much like our own human tapestry of stories, the Eighth Ward story collections presented in the play are loosely held together by strands of location and time. And when we tell their stories, we also tell our own.

The time-traveling, ancestor-meeting journey imparts powerful lessons. The play also features original poetry from writers in Sankofa’s Poetry in Place, Monologues in Motion program.

Dramaturge Kim Greenawalt wrote that Benn “is writing the change-making map for the young people in our community, by resurrecting the relatable, positive stories of the historical figures featured in this play.” In this way, young people are able to envision themselves modeled as future prominent community members.

“This story doesn’t end,” Benn said. “Learn the history of the Eighth Ward. There are more stories, more resources.”

“Echoes of Voices of the Eighth” runs Feb. 11 to 20 at Gamut Theatre, 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.gamuttheatre.org/echoes. Also check out Digital Harrisburg for more stories from the Old Eighth Ward and to see the virtual exhibit: www.digitalharrisburg.com/exhibits/eighthward.

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A Season of Their Own: For the 2021-22 mainstage, Gamut Theatre exclusively features women directors.

September 30, 2021 | by Carolina Nicholson

Rachita Menon, Melissa Nicholson, Sharia Benn, Francesca Amendolia

For the first time in its nearly 30-year history, Gamut Theatre will have all female directors for its mainstage season.

The directors of Gamut’s 29th season are a powerful and unique group of women. Each will bring her own vision to the Select Medical Mainstage over the course of the year.

Season 29 will open with back-to-back direction from Gamut’s Executive Director Melissa Nicholson. First up is a public showing of the 2021-22 educational engagement production “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which has been adapted by Melissa and Clark Nicholson.

Though it is her fifth time directing the play, Melissa Nicholson is still finding new and exciting ways to introduce the next generation to Shakespeare.

“I don’t even mind going through the play again,” she said. “I’m always finding something in the source material that I didn’t find last time.”

“Midsummer,” running Oct. 8 to 17, is a pinnacle example of a magical story, which really sets the tone for the rest of the season. In fact, “a little bit of magic” seems to be the theme at Gamut this year.

Next comes “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass,” an adaptation of the absurd and delightful books by Lewis Carroll. While “Alice’s Adventures” will be very different from other classic children’s stories (because there is no specific lesson at the end), Nicholson feels there is a greater meaning available—when you take the time to notice it.

“I feel that Alice is universally relatable for most of us who grew up with her story,” she said. “As a woman who broke the mold a few times in my life, it is especially meaningful to watch this young girl who can’t seem to fit in anywhere or get herself out of trouble.”

Sometimes, that spark of creativity and being different leads people to their “ultimate station in life,” she added.

“But some of this story is purely just good fun,” Nicholson said, laughing.

You’ll have a chance to see the giant Cheshire Cat puppet and the full cast of playful characters, Nov. 6 to 28.

In 2022, the magical shows get more intentional and earnest. Gamut will celebrate Black history by partnering with Sankofa African-American Theatre Company.

“Echoes of Voices of the Eighth,” an expansion of the show from 2019, will debut Feb. 11 to 20. Written and directed by Sankofa’s Executive Artistic Director Sharia Benn, this play uses the stage to connect a present teenager with generations past. Benn brings to life the people who once lived in the Old Eighth Ward, where part of Harrisburg’s Capitol Complex now sits.

“When you know your past—for yourself—you have strength and truth for the journey ahead of you,” Benn said.

The show encourages celebration of the self and one’s history, especially in Harrisburg, where many are unfamiliar with the roots directly under their feet. Benn brings this history alive for current and future generations with her new script.

In March, Gamut will present “Orlando,” directed by Francesca Amendolia. It’s a story that transforms itself and its characters and brings audiences along on a journey through centuries.

Orlando, a young nobleman in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, yearns for love and adventure and to find his place in the world. So strong is his longing that he becomes untethered in time. Two hundred years of adventures and love later, Orlando, who is now only 30, awakes from a weeklong sleep to discover he has become a woman. Transformed and yet essentially the same person, Orlando still hungers for adventure and love and understanding.

Adapted from the novel Virginia Woolf wrote for her lover, Vita Sackville-West, Sarah Ruhl’s “Orlando” is a hilarious, tender and joyful celebration of queer love, gender and the complicated and beautiful journey we all must take to discover our true selves.

“‘Orlando’ tells us that people do not need to be defined or confined by gender, fashion, society, or even time itself,” Amendolia said. “Orlando does not age or die because they are so determined to figure out who they are, to find their voice, and that means they must discard their assigned gender to explore more of what it means to be fully Orlando.”

Rachita Menon will co-direct the Young Acting Company’s “Panchatantra Tales” with Melissa Nicholson this spring. The show, portrayed by students ages 8 to 18, will detail a compilation of lessons-turned-stories from India.

“My entire childhood flashes in front of me when I think about these stories and what they meant to me growing up,” Menon said.

It will come to the Gamut stage April 8 to 10 for four performances only, complete with animals, dances, adorable faces and a little bit of magic.

The directors of this season will bring a combination of warmth, excellence, synergy and fearlessness to the mainstage, which in turn will create one of Gamut’s most diverse seasons yet.

Gamut Theatre is located at 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, call 717-238-4111 or visit www.gamuttheatre.org.

Special Events
at Gamut Theatre

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
By William Shakespeare
Oct. 8 to 17
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.
Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Doors and bar open one hour prior to the performance.
Tickets are “pick your price.” You can choose the recommended $38 ticket or a discounted ticket price of $26 or $14.

TMI Improv
Friday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Doors and bar open 45 minutes prior to the performance.
Tickets are $10.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

July 30, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Gittens

Artist Amie Bantz’s new exhibit “Lunchbox Moments” will soon open at the Carlisle Arts Learning Center.

Our August issue of TheBurg Magazine is being distributed today. Make sure you grab a copy and read about some talented kids and educators in the Harrisburg area—as featured in our Youth & Schools special section. In the meantime, catch up on this week’s local news, listed and linked, below.

Artist Amie Bantz tackles the culture clashes that can often happen in the school cafeteria in her upcoming art exhibit, “Lunchbox Moments,” our online story reported. The exhibit features around 90 lunchboxes painted by her and other Asian Americans with stories and phrases related to how they’ve felt when peers reacted to their traditional Asian lunches.

In his art blog, Bob assembles an elite group of Harrisburg artists that he refers to as “The Justice League of Art.” View the work of these painters, photographers and designers, here.

Our editor gets nostalgic thinking about Harrisburg’s young people, bringing him back to his own days of youth in his August Editor’s Note. He also pays tribute to TheBurg’s office pet, a lovable dog named Bernie who recently passed away.

Grandparents Involved from the Start (GIFTS) is a Harrisburg organization that seeks to support grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. In our magazine story, read about the women behind the organization and how they help others like them overcome challenges of self-care, guardianship and finances.

The Harrisburg Police Bureau hired seven new community service aides in an attempt to bridge the gap between police and the community, our reporting found. The full-time civilian positions were approved as part of the city’s 2021 budget.

Jamaican food is coming to Uptown Harrisburg, our online story reported. A popular Broad Street Market vendor, Porters House, is expanding and adding a standalone restaurant on N. 6^th Street.

LCSWMA recently launched a virtual tour of its Susquehanna Resource Management Facility, also known as the Harrisburg incinerator, our online story reported. Through the resource, community members can learn about where their trash goes and how it is turned into clean energy.

Moran Logistics, a major Harrisburg company, acquired a large industrial site off Cameron and Herr streets, our reporting found. Moran did not specify how they would use the site, but the company does already operate at the adjoining World Trade Center Harrisburg.

National Night Out will be celebrated next week at the Camp Curtin School Athletic Field to help connect neighbors and further relationships with the community, our online story reported. The Harrisburg Police Bureau will host the event, which will include fireworks, food and games.

Street parking rates will increase next week in much of downtown Harrisburg from $3 to $4 per hour, our online story reported. This is the first such rate hike since Park Harrisburg assumed responsibility for much of the city’s parking system in 2013.

Wolf Brewing Co. recently opened in Mechanicsburg, our magazine story reported. With a total of 24 selections on tap, ranging from lagers to pilsners to sours, saisons and IPAs, there’s plenty to choose from.

Our writer Karen Hendricks shares the story of her friendship with Jeff, a homeless man who lived at a Harrisburg truck stop before recently passing away. Karen attended Jeff’s memorial service, and in her story, reflects on his life.

Sankofa African American Theatre Company presents “Pretty Fire,” which takes audience members on a journey through the Jim Crow South. The show has traumatic, drama-filled moments, but also finds a way to elicit laughter and cozy memories, says our theater reviewer.

Sara Bozich has weekend recommendations including concerts, outdoor movie nights and farmers markets. Take a look and plan your weekend, here.

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History, Streamed: Sankofa, Gamut join forces to highlight figures of Harrisburg’s past

February 26, 2021 | by Barbara Trainin Blank

Lyeneal Griffin as Joseph Bustill. Photos by John Bivins.

History is reflected not just through events but through people. Sometimes, these people are overlooked heroes right in your own community.

In Harrisburg, they include such figures as abolitionist William Howard Day, poet Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson and political activist Maude Coleman. And now you can get to know them through the efforts of Sankofa African American Theatre Co. and Gamut Theatre Group.

A program entitled “Do You Know Me?” connects audiences to Harrisburg’s rich African American history—abolitionists and civil rights activists who struggled to end slavery, secure the vote, and challenge ongoing segregation.

In February, the program was presented to high school students in honor of Black History Month and, this month, it will be streamed for general audiences.

Sankofa and Gamut have, for a number of years, partnered in a live program that celebrates Black history. This year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to go virtual—also known as a “digital performance episode”—developed by Sharia Benn, Sankofa’s executive artistic director.

This digital performance features local student talent as well as professional artists who are capable of breathing life into poetry, interviews, speeches and letters. These written records highlight the words of influential local and national African American leaders.

“By sharing this truthful knowledge of culture, history, and identity, we gain a better understanding of the past so we can be better agents for social change in the future,” Benn said.

Highmark Blue Shield and Dauphin County are co-sponsoring the performance.

Commission Chair Jeff Haste stated that Dauphin County has made Black History Month a priority by supporting events for nearly a decade.

“The Dauphin County commissioners are honored to continue this vital program to celebrate Black history,” Haste said. “We believe it is essential to offer the citizens of Dauphin County chances to learn more about local history, the fascinating people who lived here and their incredible stories.”

Nicholson and Benn co-directed the program, and students performed live monologues filmed on the Gamut stage, with Zoom performances and discussions. Featured are students Jade Jarrell and Najuma Norman, both of Capital Area School of the Arts, and Lunden McClain of Central Dauphin East.

“I have really enjoyed working with these strong young ladies,” Nicholson said. “I am ecstatic that we can continue this program virtually and continue in our mission to share these important stories.”

The program has focused principally on the 8th Ward, where many African American residents in Harrisburg resided, a neighborhood razed a century ago to expand the Capitol complex. It is multifaceted—encompassing artistic, historical and educational components, explained Nicholson.

According to Benn, “Do You Know Me?” bridges the gap between knowledge and meaningful action as students travel along the path to accountable and equitable citizenship.

“Recent racial and social injustices have fueled young people in our community with a desire to be social change agents,” she said.

“Do You Know Me?” will be offered as a digital performance for two special viewings on Sunday, March 14, at 4 p.m., and Monday, March 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets for the public performances are available for the community engagement price of $10 and may be purchased at GamutTheatre.org.

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