This year, the prestigious National Black Theatre Festival® will honor Jubilee Theatre Artistic Director Ed Smith with the festival's first annual Lloyd Richards' Director's Award. Smith is receiving this award because of his significant contributions to black theatre and American theatre in general. The festival will be held from August 3 through 8, 2009 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The theme for this year's festival remains the same as the past ten festivals: An International Celebration and Reunion of Spirit. Mr. Smith will be presented with the award at the Opening Night Gala Awards Banquet, which will be held on Monday, August 3.
Larry Leon Hamlin founded the National Black Theatre Festival® (NBTF) in 1989. His goal was to unite black theatre companies and ensure the survival of the genre into the next millennium. With the support of Dr. Maya Angelou (who served as the Festival's first Chairperson) the NBTF was born. The NBTF is a biennial event that brings together the black theatre companies of America and the world. Approximately 25 companies are selected to perform during the week for a total of over 100 performances. The festival hosts nightly Celebrity Receptions as well as an International Vendor's Market. This year, the Youth/Celebrity Project will serve at least 6,000 children and teenagers. Nearly 50 celebrities of television, film and stage will lend their support to the celebration. Over 50,000 people are expected to attend this theatrical experience. In 1958, Lloyd Richards galvanized Broadway with his production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. This production began a new era in the representation of African-Americans on the American stage. In 1979, he was tapped to become dean of the prestigious Yale University School of Drama and Artistic Director of the highly influential Yale Rep.In 2002, Ed was recommended by the notable and distinguished director Lloyd Richards to direct Ossie Davis's last play, A Last Dance for Sybil, featuring Ruby Dee, Earl Hyman, and Arthur French. Ed acknowledges this production as one of his best experiences in American Theatre.
Ed was a full professor at State University of New York at Buffalo and at Florida State University. He also taught at the University of California in Los Angeles, and while at Wayne State University he taught in the Hilberry graduate program and was director of the Black Theatre Program. Ed is the author of Black Theatre: Ethnic Theatre in the United States (Greenwood Press). He has fed his love of traditional/jazz recordings by working as a radio jazz announcer for almost 20 years. Currently, Ed acts as Jubilee Theatre's Artistic Director.
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