Centrestage to Host Salon Chat Series In Conjunction With Gleam

In partnerships with the Open Society Institute, Urbanite, and Enoch Pratt Library, CENTERSTAGE presents a series of expert panels exploring Gleam, the stage adaptation of the groundbreaking novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by controversial Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston.

· Wednesday, January 11, at 5:30 pm, Dr. Ruthe T. Sheffey, world-renowned authority on the writings of Zora Neale Hurston, will join audiences at CENTERSTAGE prior to the Opening Night performance of Gleam. Dr. Sheffey is a longstanding member of the Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University, serves as the editor of the Zora Neale Hurston Review, and is the founding president of the Zora Neale Hurston Society.

· Wednesday, January 18, at 6 pm, Urbanite will host a panel titled Sensual Healing: Feeling the Needs of the Community Around You at the Enoch Pratt Library, Central Branch, located at 400 Cathedral Street.

· Wednesday, January 25, at 6 pm, CENTERSTAGE will host a panel exploring the issue of Code Switching: What's Your Linguistic Identity? at the Enoch Pratt Library, Central Branch. This discussion addresses the ability of going between two different linguistic patterns, and how it is accepted within a community.

All three events are free and open to the public. Gleam, by Bonnie Lee Moss Rattner, is based on Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, and is directed by Marion McClinton. Performances are January 4-February 5, and tickets can be purchased by visiting www.centerstage.org/gleam, or calling 410.332.0033. This production is supported by Legg Mason and Miles & Stockbridge, media partner Maryland Public Television, and by an Art Works grant from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

The State Theater of Maryland, CENTERSTAGE will announce its 50th Anniversary Season in April. The not-for-profit company serves as Maryland’s hub for smart, provocative, and entertaining theater and as a catalyst for conversation with the community. Each year, a consistently broad range of productions in two intimate performing spaces attracts highly diverse audiences of more than 100,000 people—including more than 8,000 fiercely loyal members, many of whom have been with the theater during its entire history. Additionally, CENTERSTAGE offers a variety of dramaturgical, community, and educational programs to broaden access and enhance the theatergoing experience.