ETHIOPIA at Theatre Project

The long-awaited World Premiere of the first “living newspaper,” a uniquely American theatrical form developed under the Federal Theater Project to give news to communities and work to artists, ends the 2024-2025 season. Written in 1937, this bold work blended theater and music to tell the hot-off-the-press story of Italy’s colonialist attack on Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia while the world stayed silent. The work was banned by the Roosevelt administration and never performed... until now. Alongside, a new “living newspaper“ by DC writer Sybil R. Williams (“Stormy Weather,” “Alceste”), who has teamed up with DC composer and pianist Janelle Gill (“Desdemona,” “Chuck and Eva”) to imagine a new musical-theatrical response to that original play. Williams and Gill expand the vision of the original work to explore how America’s black and brown communities responded to Europe’s aggression, and particularly the story of Mayme Richardson, a leading black soprano that became an activist for the Ethiopian causes. Jazz, classical, and African music blend and soar in this exciting history-making musical moment.
Featuring: Ezinne Elele, Elise Jenkins, Madison Norwood, Shana Oshiro, Daniel J. Smith, Nakia Verner, Marvin Wayne. Designers: Set: Tsedaye Makonnen, Adrienne Gaither, Kathryn Kawecki. Lights: Alberto Segarra. Costumes: Rakell Foye