Director Deena Jiles-Shu’aib looks on as Tonya Treadwell (Trenton) and Jon Cintron (Trenton) rehearse a scene from ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black.’
Mercer County Community College theatre program students are set to present To Be Young, Gifted and Black at the Trenton Campus as one of the highlights of its Black History Month events.
The play is based on the writings of A Raisin in the Sun author Lorraine Vivian Hansberry, who was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Her career was cut short when she died from cancer in 1965 at the age of 34.
To Be Young, Gifted and Black, adapted after her death by Robert Nemiroff, features passages from Hansberry’s plays, interviews, diary entries, letters and other observations. In turns angry, loving, bitter, amusing, and defiantly proud, the story, voice, and message are all Hansberry’s own, coming together in a major work about the black experience in mid-20th century America.
The cast includes Dayton residents Madison King and Mariah King; Princeton resident Marisa Dixon; Trenton residents Dwayne Barnes, Jon Cintron, Ashley Hines, Wellington Talkpa, Tonya Treadwell and Amariss White; and Yardley, Pa., resident Elizabeth Koenig.
The show is directed by Deena Jiles-Shu’aib and produced by MCCC theatre program coordinator Jody Person, with stage management by Shauri Johnson, light design by Robert Terrano, and sets and costumes by Kate Pinner
The show follows last year’s performance of The Colored Museum at the Trenton campus.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 and Feb. 8; and 2 p.m. Feb. 9 in Kerney Hall, 102 North Broad St., Trenton.
Tickets are $18 for adults, $16 for seniors, and $8 for students, faculty and staff.
Student performances will The Vagina Monologues, set to be performed at the Trenton campus March 7, 8 and 9, followed by the musical Hair, scheduled for April 25 to May 4 at Kelsey Theatre on the West Windsor campus.
More information is online at kelseytheatre.net.
