August Wilson Monologue Competition 2017 Los Angeles Regional Finals Program by Center Theatre Group

PRESENTED BY THE CENTER THEATRE GROUP AFFILIATES

los angeles regional finals monday, february 27, 2017 mark taper forum

100 YEARS. 50 YEARS.

7 YEARS.

1 NIGHT. Top (L-R): January LaVoy, Glynn Turman, Gabriel Brown, Lillias White, Skye Barrett, and Keith David in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Photo by Craig Schwartz. Bottom: 2016 August Wilson Monologe Competition Regional Finalists. Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging.

One Hundred Years of Stories.

Welcome! Tonight we gather as a community to celebrate August Wilson and the singular achievement of his 10-play American Century Cycle. Wilson’s Cycle depicts the breadth and depth of the African-American experience in the 20TH century, offering a panoramic view of a key piece of our nation’s history.

Fifty Years of Supporting Artists.

Tonight is also a tangible moment when our lauded past meets our bright future. For the past 50 years, Center Theatre Group has served as a home for artists to take risks and develop their unique voices. We are proud to have served as one of the regional theatres presenting many of August Wilson’s works during their pre-Broadway development process. As Center Theatre Group celebrates our 50TH Anniversary Season, we remain deeply committed to inspiring and nurturing young artists through programs like the August Wilson Monologue Competition, and creating opportunities for a new generation of storytellers to hone and showcase their creativity and artistic excellence.

Seven Years of Learning.

Since 2011, over 1,100 students from all walks of life have participated in our August Wilson Monologue Competition and In-School Residency Program. Through workshops and rehearsals, classroom visits, and Center Theatre Group productions, students, educators, and artists have collectively grappled with themes such as ancestry and self-discovery, exploitation and sacrifice, inheritance, legacy, and community.

Michael Ritchie Artistic Director

One Night of Excellence.

And now we invite you to make yourself at home and be transported, as our 2017 August Wilson Monologue Competition Los Angeles Regional Finalists take the stage. We are delighted you could join us tonight for an evening that honors the best of what the American theatre has to offer by spotlighting the best of what the future has in store.

Leslie K. Johnson

Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact

Dear Students, It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome you, the participants of the sixth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition, to tonight’s Los Angeles Regional Finals at the Mark Taper Forum. Dedication and hard work have brought you here, and each and every one of you who participated in the program are Center Theatre Group’s most honored guests. It has been a privilege for the Center Theatre Group Affiliates to support the August Wilson Program since its inception in 2011, and we continue to be awestruck by the inspiring young performers who participate each year. We have witnessed competitors as they found their voices through the magnificent words of August Wilson’s characters, and watched with pride as these students came into their own as artists, right before our eyes. We have also had the pleasure of traveling to New York to support our Regional Finalists at the competition’s National Finals on Broadway, but truly, we could not be more proud of the incredible achievements of all of you. Center Theatre Group is a place where August Wilson himself felt inspired and at home, a place where he knew he could take artistic risks. It is our sincere hope that you, the next generation of artists, also feel that support and believe in theatre as a vital source of ideas and motivation. Voices like yours will help keep August Wilson’s legacy alive!

As an inaugural partner and presenting sponsor of this magnificent program, we would like to thank all of the educators, parents, friends, and advocates who helped the performers on their journey to the stage on this special night. To the finalists, we offer our heartfelt congratulations, and to all participants, we wish you much success in your future endeavors, both onstage and off.

Break a leg!

August Wilson

Monologue

Competition

los angeles regional finals monday, february 27, 2017 mark taper forum

Kim White Peterson

TONIGHT’S PROGRAM Welcome Michael Ritchie

Artistic Director, Center Theatre Group

Master of Ceremonies Kaj Goldberg

Monologue Performances Joey Aquino

King Hedley II, King Hedley II

President, Center Theatre Group Affiliates

Luke Baxter

Ilene Eisenberg

Gabriel, Fences

Vice President, Center Theatre Group Affiliates

Kelly Bouslaiby

Sheila Poncher

Rena, Jitney

Vice President, Center Theatre Group Affiliates

Hollis Dohr

Janice Wallace

Ruby, King Hedley II

Vice President, Center Theatre Group Affiliates

Asa Ferguson

Troy, Fences

Hannah Franklin

Mattie Campbell, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Elija Hall

Tonya, King Hedley II

Habin Lee

Vera, Seven Guitars

Arjang Mahdavi

Levee, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Ehvinny Mora

Mame Wilks, Radio Golf

Alexander Villaseñor Youngblood, Jitney

Aryana Williams

Louise, Seven Guitars

Intermission Program Notes Leslie K. Johnson

Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact Center Theatre Group

Presentation of Awards The 2017 Regional Finalists’ first rehearsal at the Mark Taper Forum. Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging.

WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR

THE FUTURE OF THEATRE IN L.A.? JOEY

AQUINO TO BECOME EVEN MORE POPULAR AND TO BRING STORYTELLING TO THE NEXT GENERATION.

ASA

FERGUSON TO BECOME MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

ARJANG MAHDAVI

TO FLOURISH AND EVOLVE BY COLLABORATING WITH FORMS OF NEW MEDIA, AND FOR YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS TO STEP FORWARD.

LUKE

BAXTER TO CONTINUE TO STRIVE AND TO CREATE NEW ACTORS TO PERFORM IN NEW PLAYS.

HANNAH FRANKLIN

TO BECOME AN EVEN MORE DIVERSE COMMUNITY ONSTAGE AND IN AUDIENCES BY BECOMING MORE FINANCIALLY ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE.

EHVINNY MORA

TO INSPIRE YOUNG INDIVIDUALS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS—AND TO BE BETTER FUNDED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

MEET OUR FINALISTS

In honor of Center Theatre Groups 50TH anniversary, we asked the Regional Finalists to share with us their hopes for the next 50 years of theatre in Los Angeles.

KELLY

BOUSLAIBY TO SEE THE THEATRE COMMUNITY GROW AND FOR PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR PASSIONS WITH THE WORLD.

ELIJA HALL

TO BE EVEN MORE AMAZING THAN IT IS TODAY, AND TO EXPLORE DIFFERENT WAYS TO PORTRAY THE STORIES THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SHARED.

ALEXANDER VILLASEÑOR

FOR LOS ANGELES TO BECOME THE CENTER FOR BOTH CINEMA AND THEATRE.

HOLLIS DOHR

TO BE LESS EXPENSIVE AND MORE ACCESSIBLE.

HABIN LEE

TO GIVE MORE YOUNG PEOPLE CHANCES AND DREAMS.

ARYANA

WILLIAMS TO BECOME MORE DIVERSE AND DEVELOP A “NEWNESS,” AND TO GIVE THE PEOPLE OF MY GENERATION A CHANCE TO SHOW THEIR CREATIVITY.

The Road to the

Finals

The performances you are seeing tonight are the culmination of months of preparation and dedication. For the 133 students who participated from the beginning of the program, and for Center Theatre Group, the August Wilson Monologue Competition is not a series of contests but an educational journey.

October 3 & 6

Introductory Workshops for Students and Educators Center Theatre Group hosted two workshops—one for students, another for educators teaching a variety of subjects—introducing them to August Wilson, The American Century Cycle, and the characters from all 10 plays.

October 25, 27 & 29

Orientation Workshops

All participants attended orientation sessions where teaching artists led them in acting exercises and offered audition tips that apply not just to the August Wilson Monologue Competition but to any kind of acting, public speaking, or presentation. Teaching artists also advised students on how to choose a monologue that excites their imaginations, showcases their strengths, stretches their skills, and most of all, speaks to them as individuals with their own stories to tell.

November 5

January 8

Awards Ceremony Brunch

Training and Rehearsals

One hundred thirty-three 10TH, 11TH, and 12TH-grade students from 34 high schools in Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties convened at Center Theatre Group’s Downtown L.A. headquarters for preliminary auditions. Afterward, all participants had a chance to download the experience on- or off-camera and later received written feedback from the judges.

Laura Rosenwald, Center Theatre Group Board of Directors member and Education and Community Partnership Committee Co-Chair, hosted the Regional Finalists and their guests for a celebration at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in honor of the students’ achievements. Samuel Christian, 2016 National Finalist and winner of the Los Angeles Ensemble Award, attended as a special guest and spoke about his experience with the August Wilson Monologue Competition last year.

Through 16 hours of training and rehearsal, the Regional Finalists received individual coaching in text analysis, character study, and vocal and physical technique. Students also worked extensively as an ensemble, learning how to collaborate closely and support each other as they moved to the finals.

Preliminary Auditions

December 5

Semi-Finalists’ Workshop Advancing students were invited to spend an afternoon building their acting skills and deepening their understanding of their August Wilson text while receiving individual attention from Center Theatre Group teaching artists.

December 10

Semi-Final Auditions

“I REACHED OUT INSIDE OF ME AND PULLED OUT WHATEVER WAS THERE...

I DID MY BEST.” — F L O Y D B A R T O N , S E V E N G U I TA R S

Fifty-three students advanced to the semi-finals, where they performed for judges, gained further audition experience, and received another round of written feedback.

February 11

Costume Design Workshop

All of the students who participated in preliminary auditions—and fellow students at their schools—were invited to a workshop focusing on the costumes of the 12 characters being performed at the Regional Finals. Participants researched one or more characters, learned the art of costume design and construction, and sketched avatars of the characters an artist transformed into buttons for tonight’s audience.

January/February

February 27

Regional Finals

Twelve students are on the Taper stage tonight performing August Wilson’s work—celebrating his legacy as well as the work they’ve put in over the past five months—for friends, family, and invited guests.

May 1

National Finals

Two students will travel to New York City, where they’ll attend a Broadway show, work with two of Wilson’s closest collaborators—director Kenny Leon and dramaturg Todd Kreidler—and explore popular Manhattan attractions before making their Broadway stage debuts at the August Wilson Theatre along with national finalists from all over the country.

The American

Century Cycle

“I wanted to place this culture onstage in all its richness and fullness and to demonstrate its ability to sustain us in all areas of human life and endeavor and through profound moments in our history in which the larger society has thought less of us than we have thought of ourselves.” The American Century Cycle consists of 10 plays—one for each decade of the 20TH century—that explore the AfricanAmerican experience, and were written by August Wilson over the course of 25 years.

August Wilson & Center Theatre Group

For over 25 years, Center Theatre Group has celebrated August Wilson’s work through productions at our theatres, educational programming, and assisting with his development process. In the 1990s, Center Theatre Group joined a network of regional theatres producing Wilson’s plays. We participated in such production sharing for seven of Wilson’s 10 plays—The Piano Lesson (1990), Two Trains Running (1992), Seven Guitars (1996), Jitney (2000), King Hedley II (2000), and the World premieres of Gem of the Ocean (2003) and Radio Golf (2005). Wilson traveled with the plays from theatre to theatre, analyzing and editing at each stop—including at our theatres, where he often sat among the audience—to perfect his works before they moved to New York. Center Theatre Group began to move toward completing The American Century Cycle on our stages by producing our eighth and ninth of the 10 The American Century Cycle plays at the Taper: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (2013) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2016).

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED

Top (L-R) Lou Myers in The Piano Lesson. Photo by Gerry Goodstein. Russell Hornsby and Michole Briana White in Jitney. Photo by Craig Schwartz. Skye Barrett and John Douglas Thompson in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. Photo by Craig Schwartz. John Earl Jelks, Yvette Ganier, and Phylicia Rashad in Gem of the Ocean. Photo by Craig Schwartz. Lillias White in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

1985

april 27, 1945 Frederick August Kittel is the fourth of six children born to Daisy Wilson, a house cleaner, and Frederick Kittel, a German immigrant who is mostly absent. Daisy Wilson raises the family in the predominantly black Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where her son ultimately set nine of the 10 plays in The American Century Cycle.

1900 1910 Gem of the Ocean “It’s all an adventure. That’s all life is. But you got to trust that adventure.” Citizen Barlow arrives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Hill District in 1904 as part of the wave of freed slaves migrating from the South to the North following the Civil War. Barlow finds a haven—and eventually, redemption—at the home of 285-year-old Aunt Ester.

1920 1930 1940

Joe Turner’s Ma Rainey’s Come and Gone Black Bottom “When a man forgets his song he goes in search for it…till he find out he’s got it with him all the time.” In 1917, Herald Loomis returns to Pittsburgh in search of his wife—but haunted by the memory of bounty hunter Joe Turner, the man who had illegally enslaved him. “Conjure man” Bynum helps Loomis release himself from his past.

The Piano Lesson

“If you colored and can “You can sit up here make them some money, and look at the piano then you all right with for the next hundred them. Otherwise, you years and it’s just just a dog in the alley.” gonna be a piano.” The only play of The American Century Cycle not set in Pittsburgh takes place in 1927, during a recording session at a white-owned Chicago studio with legendary blues singer Ma Rainey. Ma and her band deal with the pressures of a music business that abuses and victimizes its black artists while trying to find solace in the blues.

In the throes of the Great Depression, in 1936, Boy Willie and his sister Berniece battle over the possession of a piano covered in carvings that illustrate the history of the family and their ancestors. Boy Willie wants to use the money to buy land the family worked on as slaves; Berniece wants to keep the piano but has no intention of playing it.

Seven Guitars “I always did believe in love. I felt like if you don’t believe in love you may as well not believe in nothing.” After 90 days in the county jail, Floyd Barton wants to jump-start both his temporarily abandoned recording career and his love affair with Vera. But in 1948 Pittsburgh, Floyd and his friends find that if you’re a black man—even if you were willing to die for your country in World War II—the deck is still stacked against you.

1960

1984

After being accused of plagiarizing a paper on Napoleon Bonaparte, 15-year-old Wilson drops out of Gladstone High School. It was the third high school Wilson attended in less than two years; he faced hostility and harassment as a black student in the Jim Crow era. Wilson continues his education informally at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and on the streets of the Hill District, soaking in the language of its people and the culture of his community.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom premieres to critical acclaim, quickly moves to Broadway, and wins Wilson his first New York Drama Critics Circle award. Wilson comes up with the idea for The American Century Cycle. He told an interviewer that after writing Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, “I said, ‘I’ve written three plays in three different decades, so why don’t I just continue to do that?’”

1962–63 Wilson enlists in the U.S. Army and is discharged after one year.

1963–65 Wilson works a variety of jobs and begins writing poetry, purchases his first typewriter, discovers legendary singer Bessie Smith and the blues, and changes his name to August Wilson to honor his mother.

1968 Wilson and Rob Penny co-found the Black Horizon Theater in the Hill District, a black nationalist community-based theatre that produces plays from and inspired by the black canon as well as new work by emerging AfricanAmerican writers. Wilson serves as resident director.

1970 Wilson marries his first wife, Brenda Burton, and has his first daughter, Sakina Ansari Wilson.

1973 Wilson’s first play, Recycling, is staged.

1978

1981

Wilson moves to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he concentrates more on playwriting and becomes a company member of the Penumbra Theatre.

Wilson marries his second wife, Judy Oliver.

1979 Wilson writes Jitney, which he considers his first real play, and is also the first play of what would become The American Century Cycle.

1982 Jitney premieres at Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Repertory Theatre. Wilson meets Lloyd Richards, the African-American artistic director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, who goes on to direct Wilson’s first six plays on Broadway.

1950

1960

1970

1980

Fences

Two Trains Running

Jitney

King Hedley II

“A man’s got to do what’s right for him. I ain’t sorry for nothing I done. It felt right in my heart.” Troy Maxson is a garbage collector and a former Negro league home run king who believes racism destroyed his shot at going pro. In 1957—10 years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color line—Troy and his son Cory clash over what Troy sees as Cory’s doomed pursuit of a college football scholarship.

“This what we call life ain’t nothing. You can blow it away with a blink of an eye. But death… you can’t blow away death. It lasts forever.” In 1968—the same year Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated—the city of Pittsburgh plans to demolish Memphis Lee’s restaurant. Lee, his neighbors, and his patrons ponder whether their community and identity can survive urban renewal.

“But I’m through making excuses for anybody... including myself. I ain’t gonna pass it on. I say we stay here.” In 1977, the gypsy cab, or jitney, station in the Hill District run by Becker is going to be demolished by the city to make room for new construction. Becker must decide whether to fight City Hall, look for a new place, or close up shop—at the same time as his son, Booster, is released from prison.

“The people need to know the story. See how they fit into it. See what part they play.” In the backyard of a house in a Hill District blasted by decay and urban blight in 1985 Pittsburgh, King Hedley II, with a warrior spirit but no education or prospects, daydreams with his friend Mister about opening a Kung Fu video rental store using the money they make selling stolen refrigerators.

Bottom: (L-R) Viola Davis and Keith David in Seven Guitars. Photo by Joan Marcus. James A. Williams in Radio Golf. Photo by Craig Schwartz. Roscoe Lee Browne and Laurence Fishburne in Two Trains Running. Photo by Jay Thompson. Harry Lennix in King Hedley II. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

Fences premieres starring James Earl Jones.

1986

1989

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone premieres. Two years later, the Broadway production receives six Tony Award® nominations.

The Piano Lesson premieres at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Wilson is named the 1990 Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine.

1987

1990

Fences opens on Broadway, wins the Tony Award for Best Play, and earns Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. The play goes on to gross $11 million during its inaugural Broadway season, setting a record for a non-musical.

The Piano Lesson opens on Broadway and wins Wilson his fourth New York Drama Critics Circle Award and his second Pulitzer. Two Trains Running premieres. Wilson moves to Seattle, Washington.

1997 1996 1994 Wilson marries costume designer Constanza Romero.

1995 Seven Guitars premieres, earning Viola Davis her first Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play the following year.

1990 Radio Golf “No matter what you always on the edge. If you go to the center you look up and find everything done shifted and the center is now the edge.” In 1997, Ivy Leagueeducated Harmond Wilks, who wants to become Pittsburgh’s first black mayor, plans to redevelop the Hill District and bring in Whole Foods and Starbucks. But when an owner of a house slated for demolition refuses to sell, Wilks finds his morals and ideals tested by those around him.

At the Theatre Communications Group National Conference, Wilson delivers the keynote speech, “The Ground on Which I Stand,” sparking debate and controversy in the theatre world with its passionate call for a reevaluation of the place of AfricanAmerican theatre in the culture.

Wilson’s second daughter, Azula Carmen Wilson, is born.

2005

1999 King Hedley II premieres. President Bill Clinton awards Wilson the National Humanities Medal. The Hill District Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh awards Wilson an honorary high school diploma—a first for the library.

2003 Gem of the Ocean premieres at Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum before heading to Broadway.

2000

Radio Golf, the last play in The American Century Cycle, premieres at the Taper in August. In June, Wilson is diagnosed with terminal liver cancer; he dies on October 2 in Seattle. Two weeks later, the former Virginia Theater on Broadway is renamed the August Wilson Theatre.

2010

2017

The first Broadway revival of Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis and directed by Kenny Leon, receives 10 Tony nominations and wins Best Actor in a Play, Best Actress in a Play, and Best Revival of a Play.

Fences receives four Academy Award nominations: best picture, best actor (Denzel Washington), best supporting actress (Viola Davis), and Best Adapted Screenplay (August Wilson).

2010

2016 The movie version of Fences premieres, directed by Denzel Washington with a screenplay by Wilson. Washington and Viola Davis star, reprising their 2010 Tony-winning Broadway roles. It is the first feature film adaptation of an August Wilson play.

Jitney becomes the final play of The American Century Cycle to receive a Broadway production.

Craig Robinson is eager for his predominantly Latino students at Animo Leadership Charter High School to connect to the universality of Wilson’s stories. “I think it will surprise the students when they see that, in many ways, African-American families are similar to their families. We all find joy and happiness, we all experience struggle and obstacles in life, and we all love and make sacrifices for our families,” he said. “I am hoping that students will realize that and see August Wilson as a voice of the people.” He added, “Understanding melts ignorance. The more my students can connect to these characters and this play, the more they will understand another culture. The more they understand another culture, the more likely they are to develop compassion and empathy for others.” For Damiek Barrow, the accessibility of Wilson’s work is key. “I hope to see the students’ confidence grow along with their love of literature,” he said. “August Wilson has a way of making non-readers rush to class and show genuine disappointment when they don’t get a chance to read that day in class.” He added, “Our students need inspiration and motivation, and this program is a valuable resource that can give them hands-on experiences, which is more than I can ever do by myself.”

2016/2017 August Wilson In-School Residency educators and Center Theatre Group teaching artists. Front row (L–R): Melanie Dubose, Khanisha Foster, and Mildred Langford. Back row (L–R): Nijeul Porter, Craig Robinson, and Ramon Ramirez. Not pictured: Damiek Barrow and Tony Sancho.

The August Wilson In-School Sitting in the audience tonight are four groups of students who are also on a journey with August Wilson and Center Theatre Group: the classes participating in the 2016/2017 August Wilson In-School Residency. Since 2011, we’ve partnered with Title 1 high schools in Los Angeles County to engage students in an in-depth, personal, and artistic study of Wilson and his theatrical contribution to society. Participating educators and Center Theatre Group teaching artists kick off the Residency with a meeting to exchange ideas and plan the curriculum. Each week over the course of the semester, teaching artists visit their classrooms weekly to immerse students in Wilson’s work.

“Educators are our most essential partners in bringing August Wilson and his work to life for students,” said Center Theatre Group Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact Leslie K. Johnson. “The power of the In-School Residency Program resides in its ability to connect learning about great theatre with classroom curriculum and ultimately to students’ lives and the real world in a dynamic way that makes a lasting impact.”

This year’s teachers are Damiek Barrow at Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles; Melanie Dubose and Ramon Ramirez at East Los Angeles Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles; and Craig Robinson at Animo Leadership Charter High School in Inglewood. In their applications to the program, the teachers all expressed their hope that Wilson’s work would provide context for discussing important cultural, social, and historical issues and get their students excited about and engaged deeply in the text. “These students understand issues involving immigration and minimum wage firsthand,” explained Melanie Dubose of her English class at East Los Angles Performing Arts Magnet, which is why she thinks they’ll find much to relate to in August Wilson’s plays. “The students are interested in issues related to social justice. They have strong feelings about injustice. They are interested in what is happening around the world.” A teaching artist, she said, will “keep the work alive and present for the students.”

Educators and students who have participated in the past have gotten all this out of the Residency—and more. “The biggest takeaway for my students was that their lives and experiences matter and that they are worthy of love and praise,” said Anne Verrier Scatolini, whose students at Phoenix Continuation High School in Los Angeles completed the program in 2013/2014. “They learned that they can hope and dream of a better future for themselves and their families. And that they have the power to make that change a reality. And that we are all in this together.”

“The biggest takeaway for my students was that

their lives and experiences matter

and that they are worthy of love and praise.” ― A N N E V E R R I E R S C AT O L I N I

Residency Program Journey Fabiola Lopez participated in the Residency for four years with her classes at Thomas Jefferson High School, from 2011–2015. She said that the plays of August Wilson were the first works of art many of her students could directly identify with in class. “They see family dynamics that are familiar, their culture, their struggles,” she said. “And they are instantly invested because they are not only reading/listening/bringing to life some character in a play or a narrative—they are feeling, understanding, and recognizing the work at an innate level.” The program also turned students into theatre experts. “This experience helped scaffold the students’ journey through the theatre world and made it to where they went into a performance as an August Wilson scholar, full of knowledge and insight and the confidence to share it with the world,” she said. That impact radiates out into the world and the future. Benin Lemus’ class at Los Angeles River School participated in the 2014/2015 program. Over winter break, one of her students returned to the classroom from college to visit, and told her that he and a classmate were planning to see the film version of Wilson’s Fences. “A program like the August Wilson In-School Residency reaffirms the power of art and that students have the social capital to participate in cultural experiences, like going to see the film version of the stage play after having read and studied its author,” she said, giving them “that lasting connection” to a work of art.

Teaching artist Tony Sancho (center) and students in conversation during a classroom visit.

Alumni

Speak Out A number of students discussed how the program had changed their lives. “I owe so much of who I am today” to the August Wilson Monologue Competition, said 2013 Regional Finalist Angelina Finau, who also interned at Center Theatre Group in summer 2016.

“I didn’t know that

I could believe in myself until

I was part of it.” Eliana Pipes, a National Finalist in 2013, is pursuing both playwriting and performance. She called the program “an absolute turning point in my journey as an artist.” She added, “Discovering that I could find myself in the words of a writer who was so roundly recognized and celebrated made me feel like I had a play to give the world, too.” She and many other alumni talked about the confidence they gained through the workshops and performances. “The August Wilson Monologue Competition made me a better actor by teaching me to trust the work and take on new obstacles as they come,” said Shaila Essley, a 2015 National Finalist. Just as important was the support she got from her fellow participants:

Since 2011, hundreds of students have come through Center Theatre Group’s doors as participants in the August Wilson Monologue Competition—and today they’re pursuing their education and embarking on careers. We asked our past Regional Finalists to reflect on what the August Wilson Monologue Competition experience meant to them, what they’re up to today, and what their hopes are for the future of theatre.

“The encouragement and positive energy

that radiated from every finalist created an environment where I felt safe enough to make big choices or mistakes.”

The students also spoke about their enduring connection to Wilson’s work. “August Wilson gave me and everyone who has gone through this program so many beautiful words to find our own voices through,” said 2014 National Finalist Jonah Gould. “I so often return to his plays for all their life, laughter, and wisdom.”

The program has also impacted how these students view the future: they are committed to carrying on Wilson’s legacy. Shan Shaikh, a 2014 Regional Finalist, runs a production company “that focuses on delivering quality films that tell the stories (you don’t see in Hollywood films) of everyday people”— much like Wilson’s work. Katharine Lauffer, a 2015 Regional Finalist, has continued to seek opportunities to introduce people to August Wilson. She believes that the future of theatre lies in both “using texts from our past—from Shakespeare to Wilson—to explore contemporary circumstances while fostering new work from playwrights who will serve as the voice of their time,” she said.

“My dream is that theatre will continue to serve as a source of community and

give voice to those who are silenced.”

Rhyver White at the 2012 Regional Finals. Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging.

This Is the

Year of

August Wilson

Twelve years after his death, August Wilson just might be having the year of his life. In the course of one week in January, the film adaptation of his play Fences earned four Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best adapted screenplay for Wilson, and Jitney made its Broadway debut to widespread critical acclaim. Jitney, which premiered in 1982 and is set in the 1970s, is the 10TH and final play in The American Century Cycle to appear on the Great White Way.

American Theatre noted that in the 2016/17 season, Wilson was the most produced playwright in the country, with nine of his 10 Cycle plays onstage, including at Center Theatre Group, where the Mark Taper Forum hosted Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Other notable productions include Sarasota, Florida’s Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe’s The Piano Lesson; Red Bank, New Jersey’s Two River Theater’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; and Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Seven Guitars. Denzel Washington, who directed and stars in Fences and is planning to produce movie versions of all 10 plays in The American Century Cycle, deserves some of the credit for the attention coming Wilson’s way. But much of it belongs to Wilson himself, and his singular dedication to his craft. “Unlike others who have batted in [his] league—Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, Tony Kushner— Wilson managed to keep his eyes resolutely focused on the stage, producing one of the strongest streaks of any American artist in any form,” wrote American Theatre editor-in-chief Rob Weinert-Kendt earlier this month. Wilson’s work also resonates in this particular moment in America, as we grapple with race and history. “We’re in a time of identity-first culture, a time in which those identities are being pitted against one another for political sport,” wrote New York Times critic Wesley Morris in a recent consideration of Wilson’s legacy. He continued: What I’ve come to love about Wilson is how much tradition meant to him. His most agitated characters breach or exploit it. Others are trying to uphold some notion of legacy without it crushing them. …Day-to-day work and day-to-day struggle operate in complete awareness of the larger AfricanAmerican experience of work and struggle. That’s cultural tradition. That’s racial heritage. Center Theatre Group is proud to join artists and organizations around the country in carrying on Wilson’s legacy—and cementing his art’s place in the American theatre tradition.

(L–R) Jason Dirden, Damon Gupton, and Glynn Turman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Photo by Craig Schwartz.

MAKE THEATRE PART OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE Nkechi was a

STUDENT BODY

good nigerian american girl. She did everything right. She went to med school

Made plans.

Free workshops Specially priced tickets Teens only events

Life happened

and plans changed.

CenterTheatreGroup.org/StudentBody

Thank You

Center Theatre Group relies on a committed family of donors who help us to share the transformative power of theatre through productions on our three stages and education and community programming. Tonight’s competition would not be possible without their generous support. Presented By:

Feb 26 – Mar 26, 2017

The August Wilson Program also receives generous support from Center Theatre Group’s Corporate Circle, Joseph Drown Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Education Endowment, the Rosenthal Family Foundation, Hope Landis Warner, and the Wells Fargo Foundation. The August Wilson Monologue Competition’s National Sponsors Are:

The national August Wilson Monologue Competition also received generous support from Publix Supermarket Charities.

August Wilson Program Faculty Center Theatre Group engages a team of accomplished theatre professionals to guide students through August Wilson’s work—and help them learn and grow in the process. ANDI CHAPMAN, Program Advisor, is an

actress, director, and educator. An alumna of New York’s Davis Center for the Performing Arts, the Yale School of Drama, and the American Film Institute, she is a participant in the prestigious Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, an adjunct professor at Chapman University, and the Associate Artistic Director of Ebony Repertory Theatre.

KHANISHA FOSTER, Resident Teaching Artist, is a mixed-race actress, writer, and teaching artist, Associate Artistic Director of 2nd Story, ensemble member of Teatro Vista, and a 2009 Theatre Communications Group Young Leader of Color. She currently hosts the podcast How I Wrote That, which focuses on women in TV and screenwriting and is pursuing a master’s degree from Stephens College. MILDRED LANGFORD, Teaching Artist,

is an actress and educator. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from George Mason University and was a part of the Intensive Ensemble Training at The School at Steppenwolf. Prior to joining Center Theatre Group, she worked as a teaching artist at Pegasus Theatre and Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago.

NIJEUL X. PORTER, Teaching Artist, is a

cultural organizer, educator, and producer. He holds a master of fine arts in management from California Institute of the Arts and a bachelor of fine arts in theatre from Howard University. He serves as Director of Student Programs for Greenway Arts Alliance and has worked in partnership with organizations such as artEquity, The Pasadena Playhouse, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

MANUEL PRIETO, Teaching Artist, is the

Executive Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School. He holds a master of arts in nonprofit management and a bachelor of fine arts in theatre design from the University of Southern California. His design work has been featured in productions for television and theatre that include the E! Network, Cornerstone Theatre Company, El Teatro Campesino, Pasadena Playhouse, and 24TH Street Theatre.

TONY SANCHO, Teaching Artist, is an

Center Theatre Group Board Education and Community Partnerships Committee 2016/2017

Diana Buckhantz Co-Chair

Laura Rosenwald Co-Chair

William H. Ahmanson Judith Beckman Dannielle Campos Vin Di Bona Ed Nahmias Gary Frischling Kiki Ramos Gindler Carrie Harlow Devin Kelley Jody Lippman Jo Muse Kim White Peterson Sari Polinger Michael Ritchie Monica Rosenthal Stephen Rountree Eva Stern Sue Tsao

center theatre group Education and Community Partnerships Leslie K. Johnson

Director of Social Strategy, Innovation and Impact

Kathryn Mackenzie

Department Operations Director

Traci Kwon

Arts Education Initiatives Director

Camille Schenkkan

Hal Banfield

Lead Videographer

Sarah Rothbard

Program Book Editor

Deanna McClure Art Director

Tara Nitz

Program Book Designer

Jalisa Jackson

August Wilson In-School Residency Intern

Ian-Julian Williams Associate Producer

Special Thanks to Center Theatre Group Staff and the Mark Taper Forum House Staff and Crew. Additional thanks to the following for their support of the August Wilson Program: Kevin Alvarez, Andrea Crocker, Trecey Dory, Ramy Eletreby, Estela Garcia, Toby Jacobrown, Tanya KaneParry, Jacole Kitchen, Jocelyn Lopez, Rocio Lopez, David Mack, Stephen McCormick, Nija Okoro, Juan Parada, Yatin Parkhani, Lamar Richardson, Laura and Jamie Rosenwald, Jami Rudofsky, Beth Ryne, Rodney Lloyd Scott, Michael Sheppard, Lee Sherman Many photos used throughout tonight’s production were taken by Ryan Miller/ Capture Imaging.

Jesus Reyes

Community Partnerships Director

JONATHAN P. SIMS, Teaching Artist, earned

Jennifer Harrell

Adam Nicolai

Program Manager

Felipe M. Sanchez Program Associate

Operations Assistant

Debra Piver

Resident Teaching Artist

Khanisha Foster

Resident Teaching Artist

In Memoriam

Center Theatre Group dedicates this year’s August Wilson Monologue Competition Los Angeles Regional Finals to Gordon Davidson. In Fall 2016, we lost two longtime advocates of August Wilson and his work: Center Theatre Group Founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson and actor Bill Nunn, founder of the Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project.

Gordon Davidson

Gordon Davidson gave Wilson an artistic home in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group, which became part of a regional network of theatres producing Wilson’s plays on their way to Broadway from 1990– 2005. He also served as an early advisor to Center Theatre Group’s August Wilson Program staff.

(L–R) Gordon Davidson and August Wilson. Photo by Craig Schwartz

Bill Nunn

Film and stage actor Bill Nunn was born and raised in Pittsburgh and lived in the Hill District. In 2008, he founded the Bill Nunn Theatre Outreach Project in his and Wilson’s hometown, which provides public school students with access to theatre arts and presents the Pittsburgh Regional August Wilson Monologue Competition.

Your August Wilson character buttons were conceptualized by a group of high school students who participated in a special costume design workshop and illustrated by Grace Haynes.

Next Generation Initiatives Director

actor, musician, and educator. He began his work as a teaching artist in Chicago 20 years ago. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago where he served as an adjunct faculty member for nine years and works with Chicago’s Goodman Theatre every summer to teach acting, voice, and movement.

his master’s degree in acting (The British Tradition) from Birmingham School of Acting in the United Kingdom and his bachelor’s degree in theatre arts with a minor in screenwriting from Azusa Pacific University. He teaches and directs at Pacifica Christian High and Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio.

Acknowledgments

center theatre group Mission

To serve the diverse audiences of Los Angeles by producing and presenting theatre of the highest caliber, by nurturing new artists, by attracting new audiences, and by developing youth outreach and arts education programs. This mission is based on a belief that the art of theatre is a cultural force with the capacity to transform the lives of individuals and society at large.

Master of Ceremonies Kaj Goldberg Kaj Goldberg is a native of Los Angeles. He grew up in Tarzana, California, as a child and remained in the San Fernando Valley, graduating from Taft High School. He and his family have recently moved to Pasadena. After living abroad in Europe for almost five years, Kaj decided to return home to California to pursue a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of San Francisco, where he combined his studies with his love of surfing, skiing, and mountain biking. Upon graduation, Kaj headed back home to Los Angeles, where he began working in the film and television industry. He rose quickly through the ranks of Fox TV, Paramount Television, and MTV as a studio executive. But his love of news made him give up his studio career, and the journalism bug bit hard. He was hired by CBS News in Palm Springs in 2002, and after just a year and a half, Kaj moved to the ABC affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, as weather anchor/reporter. He then worked for CBS2 in Los Angeles before joining the KTLA weather team in 2015. On his off days, Kaj enjoys practicing yoga with his wife or spending as much time as possible with his three children.

“The story’s been written.

All that’s left now is the playing out.” —KING HEDLE Y II

centertheatregroup.org | @ctgla