The National Black Theatre Announces Staged Reading of DAMAGED VIRTUES

"Damaged Virtues," author / playwright Calvin Alexander Ramsey's fact based drama examining the patients and practices of Dr. J. Marion Sims - considered the father of modern gynecology - will be presented as a staged reading at the National Black Theatre (2031 Fifth Avenue) in Harlem on Tuesday, November 28, 2017 as part of the "Keep Soul Alive" Reading Series. The performance is scheduled for 7:30pm and the suggested admission / donation is $10.00. R.S.V.P. requested and for more information and reservations, go to: www.nationalblacktheatre.org.

Directed by Freddie Hendricks, the play deals with Dr. Sims and the enslaved Black women from various plantations around Montgomery, AL and the involuntary contribution they made to medicine in 1845 up to the Civil War. This timely play, which has had previous productions in Atlanta and at La Mama in the East Village (NYC) in 2010, will be performed approximately a mile from where the statue of Dr. Sims - now a subject of controversy and debate - stands on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street in East Harlem.

Maryland-born, NY-based Calvin Alexander Ramsey is a photographer, painter and playwright whose work includes drams and musicals which have been performed nationally in Washington, D.C., Alaska, San Francisco an North Carolina. A former advisory board member of the Robert Woodhull Library Special Collections at Emory University in Atlanta, he is also the recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Award. Ramsey adapted one of his plays for print as the acclaimed children's story "Ruth And The Green Book," (illustrated by Floyd Cooper). A documentary film "The Green Book Chronicles" is also in production.

Founded by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer in 1968, the National Black Theater is located between 125th and 126th Streets in Manhattan. Take the #2, #3, #4, #5 or #6 subway to 125th Street. Keep Soul Alive is a reading series that showcases the works of twenty (20) Black playwrights with readings taking place on the second and last Tuesday of every month. For additional information, call (212) 722-3800. For information on Calvin Alexander Ramsey's books, plays and other projects, go to: www.calvinalexanderramseysr.com.