For the ninth year, Black Arts MKE is staging Black Nativity, a 1961 musical written by Langston Hughes.
The production will run Dec. 5-8 in the Marcus Performing Arts Center’s Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall (121 E. State St.). Each show runs 90 minutes and features a post-show talkback.
Black Nativity tells the classic nativity narrative from a Black perspective, with African drumming, traditional gospel and more current arrangements selected by music director Antoine Reynolds. Black Arts MKE revisits Black Nativity each year “to reflect on the philosophical and spiritual truths that remain over generations, even as the world and culture changes.”
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Ashley Jordan will return to direct the show after her standout directorial debut in Black Nativity in 2023. Collaborating with Artistic Director Wanyah Frazier, the current production will offer more scenes of mysticism paired with longer sequences of contemporary ballet choreographed by Debrasha Greye.
Hughes, who died in 1967 at the age of 66, was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form known as jazz poetry, Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance.
“The production will explore the Black family and an authentic depiction of Black church culture as the focal point,” Jordan said in a news release. “Plus, there will be a lucid dream layer that connects to historical Jerusalem culture. Jesus, both as a child and adult, will move throughout the space and as the story progresses scenes will oscillate from domestic life to transcendent experiences, reflecting both the struggles and triumphs of faith.”
More information and tickets can be found at here.
