Interview: Eddie Stephens of AMERICAN MOOR at Green Room Theatre Company

American Moor, by Keith Hamilton Cobb, is a powerful, humorous, and deeply engaging examination of race and the relationship between actors and the directors who hold the power to cast them. Cobb, an accomplished Black actor and playwright, originally wrote American Moor to perform himself. Since its premiere in 2013 at Westchester Community College and its Off-Broadway run in 2019, the play has earned numerous honors, including an Elliot Norton Award, an AUDELCO Award, two IRNE Awards, and inclusion in the permanent collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Green Room Theatre Company is producing American Moor in four different venues as part of The Newish (not a typo) Shakespeare Festival. Information about the festival’s second production, Como Te Gusta (As You Like It in Spanish), is available at grtccv.org.

American Moor Performance Dates:

Palm Desert – Regional Access Project, March 13 and 14
Desert Hot Springs – Carl May Community Center, March 21 and 22
Indio – St. John’s Episcopal Church, March 27 and 28
Palm Springs – Revolution Stage, April 3

Assuming many BroadwayWorld readers are actors or directors who have auditioned or held auditions, imagine this: You are a highly regarded, classically trained, seasoned Black actor preparing to read for the role of your dreams — Othello. You are the right age, physically ideal for the part, thoroughly prepared, and ready to bring your lived experience to the role. Unless you falter, you are nearly a shoo-in.

Then there is the director. A young White man with an MFA from a prestigious university and a few years of experience. Has he directed Shakespeare before? More specifically, Othello? Unknown. But he has an MFA — something you cannot purchase at a print shop.

Now take it further. The director has little understanding of the lived wisdom you share with Othello: a successful Black man who has navigated and survived the pressures of a White establishment. Similarly, you have built a stage career despite the limited roles historically available to Black actors. When the director interrupts and redirects you, you comply. You may disagree, but he is the director.

Enter Eddie Stephens, an award-winning actor taking on the layered challenge of portraying the embattled Black actor in American Moor. Though Eddie describes himself as a relative newcomer, his performance demonstrates remarkable depth and growth. Ronald Douglass, who has appeared in numerous film, television, commercial, and live productions in the Coachella Valley, shares the stage as the White Director.

Director Kathryn Ervin, Professor Emerita of Theatre Arts at California State University San Bernardino, brings extensive experience to the production. Her directing credits include Pippin, Rowing to America, In the Heights, Urinetown, Once on This Island, and Invisible, adapted from The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and H.G. Wells. She has also served as a guest director at theatres across the United States.

Eddie and I first met as cast members in To Kill a Mockingbird. I later attended his performance of American Moor and encouraged him to let me know when he would stage it again. Through our conversations about the play, I came to better understand how limited my perspective can be. As a White woman — even one who worked for civil rights legislation decades ago — I recognize that my understanding of the lived experience of Black men and women remains incomplete. Eddie likewise acknowledged that he does not fully grasp the ongoing struggle for women’s equality. Yet we strive to support one another, as alliances have long existed between movements for justice.

That, however, is not the central focus of American Moor.

Cobb’s 90-minute play is a moving and unforgettable theatrical experience about something universal: the desire to live fully as oneself, to be heard, and to be respected for who we are, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.