Kamilah Forbes, Camille A. Brown, Keith Josef Adkins and More Join A CALL FOR REVOLUTIONARY THEATRE 2020

In his 1965 essay, "The Revolutionary Theatre," Amiri Baraka called Black theatre-makers to respond to the racial injustice and civil unrest in the United State of America and demanded that theatre challenge the status quo. Now in 2020, history repeats itself. While racial injustice persists sparking historical worldwide civil unrest, the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the globe, the depth of these historic and relentless pressures are being revealed and the threat to the lives of Black people and the idea of an "America for all" is a clear and present danger. There is a communal grief from this toll. Amidst an important election cycle, there is a collective push for unprecedented change in our world, in our communities, and in our field. We are needing the salve our Black Joy has been able to do for centuries, we need the articulation of a change. It is time for a revolution. It is time for revolutionary theatre!

Black Theatre Commons (BTC), founded in 2014 as a commons based arts service organization to support Black theatre artists and institutions currently led by a Steering Committee of Daniel Bryant, Jonathan McCrory, Harold Steward and Meredith Suttles, released a statement that addressed how it is responding to this current moment with the support of BTC project manager Cheyenne Myrie. Drawing on the immense legacy of Black Theatre, it was in this statement that the organization announced A Call for Revolutionary Theatre 2020 in an effort to galvanize energy, thought and actions during this transformative time through the lived experience of the people doing the grassroots work. As part of this call, BTC invited eighteen (18) leading Black theatre-makers and arts administrators from across the country to write articles that explore tangible strategies for sustaining Black theatre, fortifying its existence, and reigniting its purpose in the wake of this current moment. Black Theatre Commons is generating a virtual intersectional destination to amplify the valuable perspectives of our Black indigenous practice and share insights on how to meet this profound transformative moment with our courage and sacred elixir -- the art. A Call for Revolutionary Theatre 2020 articles will be released online from the organization's website: www.blacktheatrecommons.org and its social media pages @blacktheatrecommons.

"Instead of taking our place at anyone's 'table,' it is time to continue to step towards the creation of our own" said Bryant, BTC Steering Committee and Co-Curator, "A table where we can, dream, re-envision, rebuild and re-shape. A table that supports the powerful artistic legacy we want to create on our terms."

"It is time to expose the systems of inequity and injustice everywhere on our own terms. In doing so, we are reinforcing that it is imperative that we make space for voices, people, and subsects of our Black diasporic community to be centered and amplified" said McCrory, BTC Steering Committee and Co-Curator. "And we,

Black people, need to be the collective force to naming and guiding that radical space of transformation for ourselves. It is the BTC's goal to have this tangible action be the FIRST of many."

A Call for Revolutionary Theatre 2020 articles will be released every weekday for 10 days, October 19-30, 2020, on BTC's website at www.blacktheatrecommons.org. Writers include Andy Jean, Awoye Timpo, Camille A. Brown, Candace L. Feldman, Charlique C. Rolle, Claudia Alick, Harold Steward, Jamil Jude, Kamilah Forbes, Keith Josef Adkins, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, Nikkole Salter, Sade Lythcott, Sage Crump, Stephanie McKee, Steven G Fullwood, Valerie Curtis-Newton, and Zhailon Levingston. This series was co-curated by BTC Steering members: Daniel Bryant and Jonathan McCrory and line producer Nia Farrell.

It is time for revolutionary theatre and a conversation that engages the imaginations and ideations around how these times can or should impact the way Black theatre artists work in their chosen field. The Black Theatre Commons is energized at this moment to support and uplift this revolutionary movement for change in our industry.