Founders of Theatre in the X: (from left to right) Walter D'shield's, Laneshe L. White, and Carlo Campbell.
Theatre in the X provides the people of West Philadelphia and the African American community at large the opportunity to see professional quality theater in their own neighborhood for no cost. By removing the barriers of location and price the audience is able to experience theater that they possibly would not be able to access otherwise. Theatre in the X also provides opportunities to playwrights, actors, directors, stage managers, DJs, sound engineers and vendors of color.
Theatre in the X has presented this program for four summers (2013, 2015, 2016. 2017). In 2013 we presented two weekends of performances of Amiri Baraka’s historical A Black Mass in tandem with Nilaja Sun’s more recent No Child. We featured 2 directors and 16 actors ranging from high school students to seasoned adult actors. The audience was estimated at over 200 people.
In 2015 we were able to present three free performances of Othello in Malcolm X Park with an all Black cast, directed by Ozzie Jones. Presenting an all Black production of Othello allowed for the actors to embody roles that they normally would never be considered for with traditional casting. Although the show ran close to two hours, the audience was engaged throughout the entire show, and park goers who weren't in the area for the show stopped and joined the audience. An estimated 450 people were able to experience this unique outdoor theater.
In honor of our third season Theatre in the X 2016 presented three Sundays of three plays: The Meeting by Jeff Stetson, a fictional meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Love, Queens who Suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, an homage to Ntozake Shange's For Color'd Girls featuring the writing of Philadelphia female poets, and New Black Math by Suzan-Lori Parks, a creative explanation of what a Black play is. Despite one of the three performance dates being a record high for heat, and one of the three taking place during a torrential downpour audiences attended the run.
2017 Productions
January 20
Painted Bride Art Center
Running Numbers (staged reading)
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Brett Gray, Nastassja Baset, Carlo Campbell, Walter DeShields, LaQuanda McCoullum, Niya Colbert, LaNeshe L. White, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Kyle A. Jackson and Dwayne Alistair Thomas
March 24
CEC Community Education Center
Boy (staged reading)
by Kyle Jackson
Directed by: Nastassja Baset
Featuring: Gregory Holmes, Miranda Thompson. Lenny Daniels, Nazeer Harper, Anthony Cooper, Lena Lewis, Carlo Campbell, Niya Colbert
May 19
North Philly Peace Park
Seasons (staged reading)
by Biko Eisen-Martin
Directed by: Carlo Campbell
Featuring: Richard Bradford, Cortnee Love, Ron Lee Jones, Nancie Marie, Lenny Daniels, Will Lewis, Alicia Dominique, Brandon Drummond, Meryl Lynn Brown, Bob Murphy, Mitchell Bloom, Willa Jaffe, and April Davis
August 6, 13, and 20
Malcolm X Park
Running Numbers
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Abdul Sesay, Jarrett McCreary, Khadijah Davis, Iman Aaliyah, Aurica Hurst, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Carlo Campbell, Walter DeShields, Niya Colbert, Brandon A. Drummond and Dwayne Alistair Thomas.
September 15 & 16 (Fringe Festival)
The Bank
Running Numbers
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Abdul Sesay, Jarrett McCreary, Cortnee Love, Aurica Diane, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Kyle A. Jackson, Niya Colbert, Donald Smith Jr., and Brandon A. Drummond.
December 8
Moore College of Art & Design
Art of Survival, Agents of Escape
Devised and performed by: LaNeshe Miller-White, Carlo Campbell, Niya Colbert, Lena Lewis, and Andre White.
Directed by: Christina May
Facilitator: Li Sumpter
Theatre in the X has presented this program for four summers (2013, 2015, 2016. 2017). In 2013 we presented two weekends of performances of Amiri Baraka’s historical A Black Mass in tandem with Nilaja Sun’s more recent No Child. We featured 2 directors and 16 actors ranging from high school students to seasoned adult actors. The audience was estimated at over 200 people.
In 2015 we were able to present three free performances of Othello in Malcolm X Park with an all Black cast, directed by Ozzie Jones. Presenting an all Black production of Othello allowed for the actors to embody roles that they normally would never be considered for with traditional casting. Although the show ran close to two hours, the audience was engaged throughout the entire show, and park goers who weren't in the area for the show stopped and joined the audience. An estimated 450 people were able to experience this unique outdoor theater.
In honor of our third season Theatre in the X 2016 presented three Sundays of three plays: The Meeting by Jeff Stetson, a fictional meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Love, Queens who Suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, an homage to Ntozake Shange's For Color'd Girls featuring the writing of Philadelphia female poets, and New Black Math by Suzan-Lori Parks, a creative explanation of what a Black play is. Despite one of the three performance dates being a record high for heat, and one of the three taking place during a torrential downpour audiences attended the run.
2017 Productions
January 20
Painted Bride Art Center
Running Numbers (staged reading)
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Brett Gray, Nastassja Baset, Carlo Campbell, Walter DeShields, LaQuanda McCoullum, Niya Colbert, LaNeshe L. White, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Kyle A. Jackson and Dwayne Alistair Thomas
March 24
CEC Community Education Center
Boy (staged reading)
by Kyle Jackson
Directed by: Nastassja Baset
Featuring: Gregory Holmes, Miranda Thompson. Lenny Daniels, Nazeer Harper, Anthony Cooper, Lena Lewis, Carlo Campbell, Niya Colbert
May 19
North Philly Peace Park
Seasons (staged reading)
by Biko Eisen-Martin
Directed by: Carlo Campbell
Featuring: Richard Bradford, Cortnee Love, Ron Lee Jones, Nancie Marie, Lenny Daniels, Will Lewis, Alicia Dominique, Brandon Drummond, Meryl Lynn Brown, Bob Murphy, Mitchell Bloom, Willa Jaffe, and April Davis
August 6, 13, and 20
Malcolm X Park
Running Numbers
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Abdul Sesay, Jarrett McCreary, Khadijah Davis, Iman Aaliyah, Aurica Hurst, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Carlo Campbell, Walter DeShields, Niya Colbert, Brandon A. Drummond and Dwayne Alistair Thomas.
September 15 & 16 (Fringe Festival)
The Bank
Running Numbers
by Cheyenne Barboza
Directed by: Christina May
Featuring: Abdul Sesay, Jarrett McCreary, Cortnee Love, Aurica Diane, Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Kyle A. Jackson, Niya Colbert, Donald Smith Jr., and Brandon A. Drummond.
December 8
Moore College of Art & Design
Art of Survival, Agents of Escape
Devised and performed by: LaNeshe Miller-White, Carlo Campbell, Niya Colbert, Lena Lewis, and Andre White.
Directed by: Christina May
Facilitator: Li Sumpter
