COLORED PEOPLE'S TIME Opens at Los Angeles Theatre Center This April
Leslie Lee's play directed by Ben Guillory features performances from April 16 to May 17.
Colored People's Time: A History Play is written by Leslie Lee, Produced and Directed by Ben Guillory, and presented by The Robey Theatre Company in association with the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Performances will take place at Los Angeles Theatre Center, Theatre Four, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Previews April 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. Opens Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 8 p.m. Regular performances Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. Closes Sunday, May 17.
The clock ticks...Time moves forward....and so do we. From the end of the Civil War, to the beginnings of Jim Crow, we witnessed the grit and resilience of Colored people who simply had no choice but to make the most of living the fear, pain and joy of being Black in America. They found the tenacity and fortitude to win the small everyday battles that allowed them to simply get through another day. Freemen and Women with hope and faith in each other were able to not just survive but triumph when all odds were against them. The heroes like Marcus Garvey and Joe Louis were cause for celebration; Sistas like unknown Nadine, dying of tuberculosis, unable to find the means to get to the hospital herself for treatment, yet finding the empathy to give room so another man does not find himself destitute and in the streets. Then, there's Alberta and Belle, one puttin' down the funk to be able to pay the rent, the other to entertain fighting Black men intent on letting this country know we are ready, willing, and able to fight for this country even though this country is fighting tooth and nail to deny them human rights. The clock ticks and we witness the everyday experience of Colored people who through it all are compelled to become the unintended heroes that live through Colored People's Time.
Leslie Lee (1930-2014) was a prolific playwright who also wrote for film and television. His play The First Breeze of Summer was nominated for a Tony Award. His television film Born to Trouble: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. He wrote for the daytime drama Another World. His other plays include Black Eagles, Between Now and Then, Cops and Robbers, The Ninth Wave, Elegy to a Down Queen, The War Party, and much more.
The Robey Theatre Company Producing Artistic Director Ben Guillory produces Colored People's Time and directs a cast that includes James Lawson II, Jah Shams, Autumn Renae, Kimberly Bailey, PhiLip Bell, Enisha Brewster, Kermit C. Burns, Darrell Philip, and Cydney Wayne Davis.
Ben Guillory is this year's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from Stage Raw.
Associate producer: Jenny Cadena. Production Stage Manager: David Bollar. Assistant stage manager/Sound design: Crystal Nix. Music supervisor/Composer: Cydney Wayne Davis. Graphic design: Jason Mimms. Costume design: Naila Aladdin Sanders. Set design: Zoya Naqui. Properties: Melissa Kaye Bontempt. Carpenter: Adrian Fernandez Baumann. Assistant to the producer: Melvin Price. Assistant to ASM: Amayah Watson. Assistant to Costume Designer: Marcus Hillhouse Williams.
Colored People's Time debuted off-Broadway in 1982.
The title derives from mid-20th Century African American slang for "fashionably late." You don't have to wait any longer. Colored People's Time is NOW.
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