Inclusive, original shows being presented
Who isn’t familiar with “Beauty and the Beast”? It’s a tale as old as time.
And if you hold the Disney film close to your heart, you ought to check out Black and Brown Theatre’s take on the story, “Beast of the Town,” streaming free on YouTube.
The inspiration behind this adaptation is rooted deep within the theater troupe co-founder Emilio Rodriguez’s childhood. As Black and Brown Theatre’s artistic director, the Van Buren Township native recalled hearing various fairy tales as a child, but never found satisfaction with the endings. So his mother encouraged him to retell the stories in his own way.
“So from an early age, I knew that I could rewrite anything,” Rodriguez says, “as long as it was public domain, to fit what I wanted the story to be.”
Black and Brown Theatre came together in 2016 to address the need for better representation in the Michigan professional theater scene. The troupe’s mission “reflects the reality that the city of Detroit is 84% Black, the cities of Hamtramck and Dearborn are predominately Arab American and … Southwest Detroit is predominately Latino,” according to its website, BlackandBrownTheatre.org.
What began as a showcase of 10-minute plays that highlighted the talents of local playwrights and actors of color began expanding into full-length plays and performances at schools. The troupe also hosts workshops to teach acting and playwriting to interested community members.
Additionally, Black and Brown Theatre is always looking for new talent and is gearing up for their next fairytale adaptation this month. Anyone interested in auditioning may email a headshot and resume to BlackandBrownTheatre@gmail.com. Playwrights can submit 10-page samples as well.
In addition to their timeless tales with a timely twist, Black and Brown Theatre also has done some adaptations of classic novels and original works. “Beast of the Town” is the group’s fourth play for young audiences and families. They’ve also produced 15 10-minute plays, four full-length plays for adults, and 32 short plays written by students and community members that were brought to life by actors from the company through the Our Voices Project.
Working with artists of color, Rodriguez shares a piece of advice for them, not only encouraging them to find ways to work on their craft but additionally to get creative and invent new ways to work on their skills.
Alex Morrison of Berkley plays the Clock in Black and Brown’s presentation of “Beast of the Town.” A senior studying theater at Wayne State, he plans to pursue a career in film, television and stage acting.
“I think as artists, we all find inspiration to draw from,” Morrison says. “I’m a big fan of character actors like Stanley Tucci and Christoph Waltz for their ability to create incredibly delicate and intricate characters that are just so honest. I also love the vulnerability and intensity of performers like Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield. I think that if I can blend the best of their ability and my own, I’ll make a pretty fine actor one day.”
The group stresses the importance of theater for youngsters and families.
“Whether it be light-hearted or a teaching moment between a mother and son, or a sister and brother and so on,” Alex says, “you get to see the entire spectrum of emotion in this single show, along with a beautifully diverse group of people, and a powerful story behind the company. All of that together is precious and inevitably becomes very important to young audiences and families. They can see themselves and each other in the story, and that’s beautiful.”
Despite the pandemic, Black and Brown Theatre found ways to create digital content to hire 43 theater artists of color from June through December.
“Our audiences kept us sustained and fulfilled in this pandemic and we want to create more opportunities to allow our audience to be involved in the creation and decision making of our theater,” Rodriguez says.