Sinclair Theatre Will Host Online Presentation WE WEAR THE MASK: BREATHE

Sinclair Theatre will stream online a series of monologues We Wear The Mask: Breathe, free of charge beginning August 7th and available through August 9th. This compilation of Black Voices is a collaboration between Sinclair Theatre, Wilberforce University and Sinclair's Office of Diversity. Monologues were written by Black authors and are being performed by current and former Sinclair actors in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The project was aptly titled by its director Edward Hill, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Strategic Initiatives at Wilberforce University.

According to Hill, "The poem We Wear the Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar refers to people hiding their true feelings and emotions from everyone else behind a 'mask.' In the poem he refers to the cheerful facial expression that people think is necessary so that others don't see how they truly feel."

Authors range from the well-known Dominique Morisseau, to emerging artists like, Keith A. Wallace, Kia Corthron, Christine Toy Johnson, Dave Harris, and Sinclair Alumnus Amber Smith.

Gina Neuerer, Chair of Music, Theatre and Dance, developed the project because "Engaging our students and continuing their education during the pandemic is a challenge, but now our students are feeling the anger of the injustice of our country's systemic racism, and I want to help them to find multiple paths for their rage and fear and activism, with one of those paths being involvement in theatre performance."

Actors lending their voices to this project include:

• S. Francis Livisay, We Wear the Mask, by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• Amber Smith, Character Jasmine from Pipeline, by Dominique Morisseau
• Mackenzie Moore, Jazelle the Gazelle, by Dominique Morisseau
• Amber Smith, Character Mya from Tired, by Amber Smith
• Kasaahn Johnson, Character Omari from Pipeline, by Dominique Morisseau
• Bryana Bentley, You Think You Know Us, by Christine Toy Johnson
• Shaun Diggs, Press-Ure, from Blood at the Root, by Dominique Morisseau
• Mari Pullings, Wake, Child, by Dave Harris
• S. Francis Livisay and Deangelo Powell, Survival Code, from Blood at the Root, by Dominique Morisseau (Choreographed by Rodney Veal)
• Bryana Bentley, For Black Women Who Experienced Genocide When the Police Murders of Their Sons Was Too Much, by Keith A. Wallace

The monologues will be compiled into one production package by Dan Brunk, professor of Sinclair Theatre's technology classes. In order to view this free production, you need to visit Sinclair's ticketing site at www.sinclair.edu/tickets and register for an attendee number which will allow you admission to the site during the streaming period of August 7-9th.

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