August Wilson's King Hedley II at Miami's Black Box Theatre-Free Dress Rehearsal!

AAPACT HONORS THE MEMORY OF THE LATE PLAYWRIGHT August Wilson

The African American Performing Arts Community Theatre proudly
presents its production of King Hedley II, written by the late,
incomparable playwright August Wilson. The play stars some of South
Florida's finest actors, Andre' L. Gainey, Carolyn Johnson, Charles
Bonamy, Earlington Valstalsky Taylor, Viviene Dawson and William J.
Barnes. Directed by Teddy Harrell, Jr.       

The African American Performing Arts Community Theatre presents the
play from November 3 through December 4, 2005 at the Carrie P. Meek
Senior and Cultural Center at the Charles Hadley Park Black Box
Theatre, 1300 NW 50th Street, Miami, Florida.

Evening Performances are 7 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee
Performances are Sundays at 3 pm.

On November 3, 2005, AAPACT is offering a Free Dress Rehearsal
Performance of King Hedley II to the General Public at 6:30 pm.

Please call 305-751-4043 or email to aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP.

There will be a Special Talk-Back session sponsored by The Florida
Humanities Council and moderated by Dr. Dorothy Jenkins Fields,
Founder of The Black Archive History & Research Foundation of South
Florida, Inc. on Friday, November 4, 2005 immediately following that
evenings performance.

Showtime is 6:30pm.

This is a Free Performance to the first 50 people to reserve
tickets.

Please call 305-751-4043 or email to aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. 

Set in 1985 in two tenement backyards in Pittsburgh's Hill District,
King Hedley II is an epic tragedy of the common man and the crushing
weight of everyday life and our ultimate struggle to regain our
sense of community and culture in a crumbling urban society.

King Hedley II takes place during a time of drive-by shootings and
Reaganomics that don't trickle down as far as the Hill District.
King Hedley II (Gainey) and his friend, Mister (Taylor), make ends
meet by fencing "hot" refrigerators until they can get the money
together to start a video store. King's wife, Tonya (Dawson) is
pregnant but, already a grandmother at 35, she does not want to have
the baby. King is insistent. The arrival in town of his mother
Ruby's (Johnson) ex-lover Elmore (Barnes) triggers a series of
events that cause King to question his manhood and his identity.

King Hedley II continued playwright August Wilson's monumental cycle
of plays chronicling African-American life in twentieth century
America. King Hedley II is a still-young man who has already seen
more than his share of trouble. His beloved girlfriend, Neesi, died
not long ago, and his current relationship with wife Tonya seems an
imperfect substitute. He also spent seven years in prison for
killing a man who cut his face with a knife. Hedley bears the
permanent physical scar.

The audience will feel the characters frustration, anger, and pain
as Hedley, one of Wilson's great creations, a man of infinite
complexity displays he is capable of gentleness and towering rages.
He may very well be seen as a modern Shakespeare `s Othello. And
like Othello, Hedley is immersed in a world where tragedy is the
inevitable conclusion of a cycle that is at once within his control
and beyond it.

To August Wilson's acclaim it has been said that:

"No one except perhaps Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams has
aimed so high and achieved so much in the American Theatre." –John
Lahr, New Yorker

"What makes Wilson America's greatest playwright-aside from his gift
for dialogue, which blends searing poetry with uncompromising
realism-is the bracing humanism with which he provides insight into
the struggles and aspirations of all individuals."- Elysa Gardner,
USA Today

"King Hedley II dazzles you about the world we live in and the music
its language. A grand, impassioned play, it finds fertile ground in
a blasted corner of the American landscape."-Wall Street Journal

Teddy Harrell, Jr, Director of King Hedley II and Founder of the
African American Performing Arts Community Theatre (AAPACT)
shared, "Producing this play, at this time is so gratifying to
AAPACT. Many theatrical professionals grieve the loss of this
immensely talented playwright. His gifts to the American Theatre
cannot be forgotten. AAPACT will produce more of August Wilson's
plays for South Florida audiences to witness his remarkable works."

Andre' L. Gainey (King Hedley II) has dazzled audiences throughout
South Florida in such productions of Purlie Victorious, Flying West,
Hampton House, One Monkey Don't Stop No Show Riff Raff, Piano
Lesson, Fiction of Law, Prelude to a Kiss, Sizwe Bansi is Dead and
On The Porch opposite Danny Glover at the Miami Arena. Mr. Gainey is
a co-founder of AAPACT and has directed two of its plays-The Island
and Sizwe Bansi is Dead. He is a Miami-Dade County School Board
Educator at William Turner Technical School.

Carolyn Johnson (Ruby) is a veteran actress who has been seen in
such plays as the Christmas Cantata, The Rapture, Old Settler and
Flyin' West in which she was nominated the coveted South Florida
Curtain Up Award for Best Featured Actress in a play.

Charles Bonamy (Stool Pigeon) is not a stranger to August Wilson
plays, Mr. Bonamy was featured in the role of Troy in the Wilson
play Fences at the University Center for Performing Arts. He has
also performed in the plays You Can't Take It With You, Runaways and
A Tomb With A View at the Pompano Players Theatre. Mr. Bonamy has
been featured in numerous commercials, movie and television roles.

Earlington Valstalsky Taylor (Mister) has been featured in such
plays as Top Dog Under Dog, The River Niger, Othello, A Chorus Line,
West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet, Once on this Island, Rocky Horror
Picture Show, Brigadoon and Music Man.

Viviene Dawson (Tonya) love for theatre has led her to perform in
such plays as Shakin' The Mess Outta Misery, The Color Purple,
Double Lives, Never Nothing Again, Six Women Dancing and Prisoner.
Ms. Dawson is a graduate of the School of Drama at Miami Dade
College.

William J. Barnes (Elmore) is a native of Hampton, Virginia. As an
actor he has performed in AAPACT's Sizwe Bansi is Dead. Mr. Barnes
is a celebrated spoken word artist having authored a series of
poetry books. Mr. Barnes media endeavors include an HIV'AIDS PSA for
Florida International University and as an On-Air Personality and
voice over artist for NOVA Southeastern University – WNSU Radio X.

Teddy Harrell, Jr. (Director) conceived AAPACT in 1998 and has
directed three of its previous productions, Riff Raff, Once On this
Island and co-directed Sizwe Bansi is Dead. As an actor he has been
featured in numerous productions in South Florida including The
Island and Sizwe Bansi is Dead for AAPACT. 

Free Dress Rehearsal Performance on Thursday, November 3, 2005, to
the General Public at 6:30 pm. Please call 305-751-4043 or email to
aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. 

Special Talk-Back Session sponsored by the Florida Humanities
Council on Friday, November 4, 2005 at 6:30 pm immediately following
that evenings' performance. There is free admission to the first 50
people to reserve tickets. Regular Ticket price $15.00. Please call
305-751-4043 or email to aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. 

Official Opening Gala Performance on Saturday, November 5, 2005.
Gala begins at 6:30 pm. Showtime at 7:30 pm. Meet and greet the cast
of King Hedley II. Gala Ticket price is $25.00. Please call 305-751-
4043 or email to aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. 

Special Free Industry Performance on Monday, November 14, 2005 at
7:30 pm. AAPACT invites all South Florida actors, directors,
producers, technical theatre professionals, writers and other
artists to see King Hedley II. Please call 305-751-4043 or email to
aapact@yahoo.com to RSVP. 

Advance tickets are $15.00 and at the door is $20.00. The cost of
the Saturday night Gala is $25.00. Senior and Group rates available.
Special rates offered to organizations.

Important Note: NO PERFORMANCES HELD DURING THE WEEKEND OF
THANKSGIVING – NOVEMBER 25, 26 & 27, 2005.

The African American Performing Arts Theatre Company was founded in
1999. The company is composed of local black actors, directors and
stage technical professional who strive to enhance and promote
cultural awareness and education through the performing arts to
inner city youth and theatergoers in the surrounding Miami-Dade
County community. AAPACT is a not-for-profit 501(3) c organization,
all contributions are tax deductible.

For additional information visit us on the World Wide Web at
http://www.aapact.com.

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