Wednesday, Oct 5, 2005
The National Conference for Community and Justice and Arkansas Repertory Theatre will host a community conversation Thursday, Oct. 6 at 5:30 at Little Rock Central High School’s library to discuss the 1957 desegregation crisis and its impact on the community.
The forum is in conjunction with The Legacy Project, a two-year, community-based artistic program. Rajendra Maharaj, The Rep’s lead artist for the project, is collaborating with students and community members to create a play with music about the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School, the Little Rock Nine, and their legacy for America. Maharaj, who was the assistant director for the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun, is an Audelco Award-winner, an artistic associate with Lark Theatre Company, a former board member of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People, and a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts.
The October 6th conversation is the first of several scheduled during the next two years to encourage community members to share their individual thoughts, feelings and stories about the 1957 civil rights events which captured the world’s attention and prompted a constitutional crisis when Governor Orval Faubus closed Little Rock high schools in 1958.
“During this first conversation, we are particularly encouraging “lost year” students – those students whose high schools were closed during the 1958-59 term – to join the discussion,” said Ruth Shepherd, NCCJ’s executive director. Maharaj added, “We recognize many young people were unable to pursue an education that year; some never graduated, and others left the state. We want to hear the stories, see the pictures and understand these perspectives as we embark on the artistic work for The Legacy Project.”
Funding for The Legacy Project is provided by Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, a private, nonprofit foundation whose mission is to improve the lives of Arkansans by funding programs and projects that improve education; economic development; and economic, racial and social justice.
The Legacy Project is also funded by a New Generations Program, cooperatively designed by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Theatre Communications Group, to expand unique and innovative audience development programs that have proven effective in reaching young and/or culturally specific audiences. Little Rock Central High is located at 1500 Park Street. The entrance to the library is on Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive. Maharaj will open the discussion with a brief description of his artistic vision for The Legacy Project. Refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Leslie Golden, The Rep’s associate producer, at 501-378-0445, ext. 2107.
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The Legacy Project Arkansas Repertory Theatre
Arkansas Repertory Theatre is proud to introduce The Legacy Project, a two-year, three-tiered artistic program which will include 1) testimonial research, 2) playwriting and 3) performances.
Led by theatre artist Rajendra Maharaj, professionals and student participants will collaborate to write a play with music about Little Rock Central High School, the Little Rock Nine, and their legacy for America. This community-based project will reflect collaboration among other institutions and organizations as well, including the National Conference for Community and Justice, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, central Arkansas neighborhood associations, and civic leaders guiding the 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1957 Little Rock Central High School integration crisis.
During year one, interviews will be requested of community members and LRCHS alumni from the 1950s through today to gather first-hand accounts and impressions of the crisis and the healing process. The narratives will be shaped into a play for preliminary community readings scheduled at the end of year one. Re-writes, auditions and rehearsals will occur in year two, culminating in public performances in September, 2007.
The final production will benefit a multi-generational and multi-racial general populace. The Legacy Project will further inform The Rep’s outreach efforts as The Rep continues to make Arkansas’ only professional, non-profit theatre an artistic forum for all populations
Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, who recently directed Arkansas Rep’s production of Dreamgirls, is the lead artist on the playwriting and performance elements for Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s The Legacy Project. Maharaj is a recipient of the prestigious NEA/TCG Group Career Development Program for Directors. Rajendra was the Assistant Director on the Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun at the Royale Theatre. He has directed and choreographed at New Federal Theatre, HERE, Chelsea Playhouse, LaMama, Access Theatre, Gene Frankel, Amas Musical Theatre, Lambs Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, John Houseman Theatre, Lark Theatre, RASA Theatre and PS NBC. His regional credits include the world premiere A Walk Through Time at Freedom Theatre; Nightswim and Classyass, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival; and Damn Yankees at St. Louis Black Rep. He is a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and an Associate Member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Rajendra held residencies with Freedom Theatre, Second Stage Theatre and New Dramatists. Awards include Van Lier Directing Fellowship and the Brooklyn Arts Council Re-Grant Award. He is the recipient of the AUDELCO Award for Excellence in Black Theatre Off-Broadway for his direction of the musical Damn Yankees; he also received a nomination for his choreography. He is also the recipient of the Woodie King Jr. Award for Outstanding Direction of Damn Yankees. Rajendra is the recipient of the AUDELCO Award for his direction and chorography of the musical revival of Jamaica. Commissions include writing the books for two new musicals entitled Mississippi Night and Diss Diss Diss Dat. He has also written two plays for the Ensemble Studio Theatre Lab, Twenty-Five and Gray, and was commissioned to develop a children’s musical, African Quilt, based on the African folk tales. Rajendra is a former director-in-training of the Emmy Award-winning directing team at ABC’s All My Children. He is recipient of the Ensemble Studio Alfred P. Sloan Commission for an original play with music entitled BlackfootNotes and a co-conceiver of a spoken word play Exposures. He is the director/choreographer of a new musical based on Lewis & Clark’s journey, by Arthur Kopit. Rajendra is Associate Artistic Director for the Lark Theatre Company and Co. Artistic Director of RASA Theatre Company. He is a member of the Board of Directors for ASSITEJ/USA. Rajendra has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. Academically, he holds a Master in Fine Arts in Directing from CUNY Brooklyn College. |
