Layon Gray News

Playwright Gregory S. Carr shares a manifesto for the BIPOC Theatre. 'I am not August Wilson,' he writes.

From the writer and director of the Off-Broadway hit play  Black Angels Over Tuskegee,  playwright Layon Gray explores women in baseball  with his latest work Girl Gone: Or Before A League Of Their Own. 

Girl Gone: Or Before A League Of Their Own opens their limited Off- Broadway engagement at the Actors Temple Theatre this Sunday December 8th. The play explores women in baseball during World War 2. 

From the writer and director of the Off-Broadway hit play Black Angels Over Tuskegee, playwright Layon Gray explores women in baseball with his latest work Girl Gone: Or Before A League Of Their Own. 'Set in 1945, before there was ' A League Of Their Own,' a group of girls were placed together to see if such a league could work. Two weeks before this team was to make its exhibition, the coach is mysteriously found dead leaving the girls to face this big event alone. Lies, and deceit come to light as this powerful drama unveils. This suspenseful drama captures an era in American history when women were called upon to keep baseball alive as the men went off to fight in World War II.

The 2019 National Black Theatre Festival has ended with memories of grandeur and spectacular stage plays. Here is my review of the productions I attended.

The North Carolina Black Repertory Company (NC Black Rep) will showcase productions from thirty theatre companies (twenty-five professional and five universities) at the 2019 National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF) in honor of the festival's thirtieth anniversary. Fourteen states will be represented, as well as one international selection from Cape Town, South Africa. Additionally, NC Black Rep will produce two shows at the festival: George Wolfe's Jelly's Last Jam, the opening night performance, and an outdoor production of Twelfth Night set in Jamaica, directed by stage and TV veteran Ted Lange.

Full casting has been announced for the 40th Anniversary production of Jamaican playwright Easton Lee's The Rope and The Cross, which will be staged on Easter Sunday, April 21 at The New Vibe Lounge in Rockville Centre, Long Island.

Following yet another successful performance of David Heron's Against His Will - The Staged Reading on Sunday March 24, The New Vibe Lounge in Rockville Centre Long Island has announced its 'April of Excellence' schedule, which will feature two very different mainstage productions targeted at the venue's rapidly expanding audience.

Award winning actress Aixa Kendrick and the cast of Layon Gray's critically acclaimed warrior drama Black Sparta will return to the New York stage for two performances only before heading to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for the production's regional premiere.

Award winning actress Aixa Kendrick and the cast of Layon Gray's critically acclaimed warrior drama Black Sparta will return to the New York stage for two performances only before heading to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for the production's regional premiere.

Award winning actor and playwright David Heron will host the staged reading of Christian Elder's new adult drama Insex at the Billie Holiday Theatre on Monday October 15 at 7 pm.

Award winning actress Aixa Kendrick is celebrating her latest success as part of the ensemble cast of Layon Gray's Black Sparta, which recently concluded its Off Broadway run at The Actors Temple Theater in Manhattan.

Black Sparta is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female official frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

The highly anticipated play Black Sparta will open this weekend. The play is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female official frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

Black Angels Over Tuskegee  enlightens and educates Off-Broadway audiences in its 9th year! The narrative depicts the lives of six men who struggle through the Jim Crow era and emerge with distinction as the first African-American pilots in the U.S. Army Air Forces.  With courageous brotherhood, their intelligence, patriotism and strength propel a dream into flight while fighting both military and social wars. The captivating all-male cast delivers a powerful performance that will entertain, inspire and inform as audiences discover the story that provoked a monumental change in American history. Black Angels Over Tuskegee, which is inspired by true events, is currently showcased  Saturday Nights at 8pm,  June 23rd - August 18th  at the Actors Temple Theatre at 339 W. 47th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in New York City. 

Black Sparta is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all - female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present - day Republic of Benin. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female of?cial frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

Black Sparta is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey in the present-day Republic of Benin. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female official frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

Layon Gray's Kings Of Harlem rocked the Broward Performing Arts Center with its four awards Monday, April 2, 2018 when the winners of the 42nd annual Carbonell Awards were announced. The play received Best Ensemble, playwright Layon Gray won Best Director,  Andre L. Gainey won Best Supporting Actor, and the cast  and  producers  received the final award of the night  Best Production.

Kings of Harlem, an exuberant play about an African-American basketball team in the 1930s and Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim's intricate musical about painter George Seurat, took their respective places in South Florida theatrical history as Best Play and Best Musical on Monday, April 2, when the winners of the 42nd annual Carbonell Awards were announced. The ceremony was held at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.