Phoenix Theatre Ensemble to Bring AMERICAN MOOR to Boston Center for the Arts

Phoenix Theatre Ensemble (PTE) announces that Keith Hamilton Cobb's explosive American Moor will play a 4-week run beginning July 19 at Boston Center for the Arts as a co-production with Boston's O.W.I. (Bureau of Theatre) company.

 

Keith Hamilton Cobb is best known to the general public for his television work in daytime dramas (Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, etc.) and Gene Rodenberry's Andromeda, but he has always been at heart a classical stage actor and has an impressive resume to back him up. This love for the theatre brought him to develop a remarkable and controversial work that takes the audience into a sanctified and often secretive place - the audition room. The production is directed by Kim Wield.

Funny, ironic and deeply moving, American Moor explores the process of auditioning for the role of Othello. An audition process that most often ends up with a large black man on stage responding to white middle-aged decision makers who portend to understand how a charismatic, intelligent, black man should react in an alien society.

The script was honored by being inducted in the Permanent Collection of The Folger Shakespeare Library. Michael Witmore, Director of the Library, stated "Keith Hamilton Cobb's American Moor is incredible...I have spent my life thinking about Shakespeare, but that did not prepare me for the depth of thinking and feeling that his performance provoked." The Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's 2015 production was awarded an Audelco Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.

Craig Smith, PTE Producing Artistic Director, says "American Moor is greatly entertaining and at the same time asks questions that need to be asked. Our national theatre community prides itself on progressiveness and open expression. But are we really? Is there a patronizing quality to our approach that is similar to what happens in the play of Othello itself? We are thrilled to be working with O.W.I. (Bureau of Theatre) to bring this remarkable play to the people of Boston."

IF YOU GO:

AMERICAN MOOR by Keith Hamilton Cobb

July 19-August 14

At Plaza Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116

Tickets: www.bostontheatrescene.com; Phone: (617) 933-8600; TTY: (617) 424-0694

Discount Group Tickets: info@officeofwarinformation.com or call 617-933-8600

A non-profit 501(C)3 company now in its 13th season. Under the leadership of Elise Stone, Artistic Director, and Craig Smith, Producing Artistic Director, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble presents 3-5 mainstage productions annually, a reading series, a new play development program, and an arts-in-education program in NYC Public Schools. PTE is the recipient of NYIT Award Nominations, 3 NYIT Awards, and an Audelco Award. The company is a constituent of Network of Ensemble Theatres, ART/NY, and League of Independent Theatres.

O.W.I. (Bureau of Theatre): A non-profit 501(C)3 company now in its 13th season. Under the leadership of Pete Riesenberg, Producing Artistic Director, O.W.I. presents 3 mainstage productions and two SecondStage productions annually, a reading series through the Boston Public Library and is currently a Resident Company of the Boston Center for the Arts. O.W.I. is a member of StageSource, increasing cultural participation through advocacy, communication, and education, while fostering access and non-discrimination in the belief that theater should shape, as well as be shaped by, the diversity of the community it represents.