Description

Austin Dean Ashford was last seen on our stage in his one-man show (I)sland T(rap). He joins us this summer with another, highly inspiring story. Welcome to Melvin Tolson High School—it’s summer school, it’s hot, the barbed-wire fence is fixed, and a young African American boy has been shot, leaving his group of friends reeling from the loss and wondering if their voices can ever be heard. Enter a former Great Debater to teach a master class on public speaking and challenge this group of boys to speak out and give voice to their hopes and fears. Filled with pressing issues, inspiring characters, and graced with comic flourishes, this one-person dramedy debates what happens to young minds when our educational spaces begin to resemble a prison more than school and a place to learn and grow. Black Book was awarded the Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, which recognizes outstanding plays about social justice or civil rights. For his acting work in the play, Ashford has also received the Outstanding Performance Award, and the production was awarded the Outstanding Production of a New or Company-Generated Work by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Additionally, Black Book received The Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award.

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