Contemporary performing arts and culture of the African Diaspora

WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO BUILD A DYNAMIC HOME FOR CONTEMPORARY MULTI-DISCIPLINARY BLACK GENERATIVE THEATER ARTISTS, CRITICS, SCHOLARS, AND AUDIENCES?

651 ARTS, in partnership with Weeksville Heritage Center, invite you to explore this in collaboration with our Black Seed Grant recipients April Matthis, Eric Lockley and Goldie Patrick (The Black Seed cohort), as they present excerpts of works currently in development and discuss their unique careers and art-making practices, while defining generative theater and presentation within Black spaces. 

The presentation of these works will be followed by a panel conversation featuring The Black Seed cohort, Vinson Cunningham (staff writer and theatre critic at The New Yorker), Lindsay A. Jenkins (culture consultant, dramaturg, producer and educator) and Robyne Walker Murphy as moderator.

Towards a Generative Theater, an initiative made possible through the generous support of The Black Seed Fund, sees 651 ARTS partnering with resident artists and critical thought partners, to consider the unique development, producing, and presenting needs for experimental Black theater. We consider:

• Institutional archival
• The creation of new experimental Black theater work through developmental artist residencies
• Black theater criticism, in tandem with the artistic residencies

Towards a Generative Theater will help to solidify and define the way that we present theater and create guideposts for curation as we seek to build a holistic model for nurturing Black theater.

About the Cohort – April Matthis

April Matthis recently made her Broadway debut as “Grace” in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson alongside Samuel L. Jackson, directed by LaTanya Richardson-Jackson. Other notable theater credits include Most Happy in Concert at the Williamstown Theater Festival, Claudia Rankine’s Help at The Shed, and Toni Stone at The Roundabout Theater, for which Matthis received her second Obie Award for Outstanding Performance. April Matthis also co-wrote and starred in Elevator Repair Service’s Baldwin & Buckley at Cambridge, which premiered at The Public Theater, following an international debut at de Singel in Antwerp.  

Matthis’ recent television appearances include guests starring roles on “Evil”, “The Good Fight” (Paramount Plus), “The Blacklist” and “New Amsterdam” (NBC). She also co-wrote and starred in a short about transracial adoption, “Amadi Comes Home”, which has been screening festivals across the country. She can next be seen in the upcoming feature, “Ramona at Midlife”, written and directed by Brooke Berman, premiering this fall.   

Eric Lockley

Eric Lockley is an OBIE and AUDELCO award-winning writer, actor, producer and community builder dedicated to inspiring communities to possibility, healing and joy. Eric’s plays Blacken the Bubble and Without Trace were showcased in DC, NY, TX and Chicago. Lockley’s Afro-futuristic solo show, We The People (Not the Bots) received acclaim and a feature in The New York Times. As an actor, on-screen and stage credits include: The Inheritance, Luke Cage, Choir Boy, Black Odyssey, and a number of commercials. Lockley is a founder of and produces with, The Movement Theatre Company and Harlem9, creating opportunities for artists of color to be expansive in their play. Eric’s mythical Afrofuturistic triptych, Sweet Chariot, has had developmental presentations at The Public Theater and New York Stage & Film, and he’s excited to continue to share it with audiences. Stay connected: @iamericlockley , www.iamericlockley.com 

About the Panelists – Lindsay A. Jenkins

Lindsay A. Jenkins is a cultural consultant, dramaturg and producer based in Los Angeles by way of Dallas, TX. She is the Founder of Maroon Arts and Culture, an organization committed to the empowerment of the global majority through the curation of safe spaces where artists and audiences celebrate, collaborate and create. She is a passionate artistic researcher, supporting projects across mediums. Her specific area of research is Black Performance Heritage, connecting past performances to contemporary experiences. She has been teaching yoga for 10 years and employs embodied practices in her Afrocentric approaches to research and development. In addition to working one-on-one with clients, she has had the pleasure of working with organizations of various sizes including Center Theatre Group, the Geffen Playhouse, Critical Mass Performance Group and August Wilson House. L.J. is currently serving as Guest Lecturer at Pomona College.  www.LindsayAJenkins.com

About the Moderator – Robyne Walker Murphy

Robyne is a nationally recognized art and social justice educator and administrator. Most recently, Robyne served as the Executive Director at Groundswell from 2016 to July of this year. Groundswell is a social justice youth development program that uses the transformative power of public art-making to ignite personal and societal change. In her five years at Groundswell, Robyne has centered young people, teaching artists, arts administrators, and staff through the creation of 126 murals, serving approximately 2,000 young people and collaborating with 150 community organizations. Over the last five years, Groundswell has received national recognition for its excellence in youth development, public art, and social justice pedagogy. Previous to her position at Groundswell, Robyne held positions at the National Guild for Community Arts Education, Coole Culture, and Dreamyard where she served as the director of the DreamYard Art Center in the Bronx. Under her leadership, DreamYard Art Center was recognized by the Obama White House as one of the top programs in the nation. Robyne accepted the award from First Lady Michelle Obama. Robyne has conducted workshops and delivered keynotes at conferences and institutions across the country on the topic of art and social activism. She is a member of New York City’s Cultural Advisory Committee and a 2022 Metropolitan Museum of Art Women’s History Month Honoree. Robyne graduated from Clark Atlanta University (B.A. English) and the University of Washington, Seattle (MFA, Acting). She resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Tarik Murphy, and her son, Ras.