McKnight Theater Artist Fellows to Debut Works in Progress, 6/28

2015-16 McKnight Theater Artist Fellows Aimee K. Bryant and James A. Williams will present selections from theatrical works in progress on June 28 at 7 p.m. at the Southern Theater. Advance reservations for this free event are strongly recommended and can be made at pwcenter.org, info@pwcenter.org or 612-332-7481. The Southern Theater is located at 1420 South Washington Avenue in Minneapolis.

The McKnight Theater Artist Fellowships at the Playwrights' Center recognize Minnesota theater artists other than playwrights whose work demonstrates exceptional artistic merit. Along with actors Bryant and Williams, lighting designer Barry Browning is also a 2015-16 McKnight Theater Artist Fellow.

In addition to the $25,000 fellowship, the McKnight Foundation provides up to $7,000 in development funds to McKnight Theater Artist Fellows, allowing them to build new theatrical works with collaborators they choose. The showing on June 28 will share the following works in progress:

Aimee K. Bryant will share an untitled work in progress, directed by Derrick Sanders. Bryant will perform this one person show with music, which features Real Life Superheroes and explores the themes of relationships, identity and loss.

James A. Williams will present "Kenya Karibou," which recounts his first visit to Kenya in 2004. Though the land and language are new, he finds that family secrets, memories and promises stay with him even halfway around the world. The piece will be directed by Marion McClinton, with sound design by Katharine Horowitz and featuring actors Traci Allen Shannon* and Antonio Duke (*Member of Actors' Equity).

About the artists:

Aimee K. Bryant was named Best Actress of 2015 by City Pages. Her most recent theater credits include the roles of Venus in "A Night in Olympus" at Illusion Theater; Martha, Officer Pilate, Miriam, Ida B. Wells, and Mrs. Thomas in "The Gospel of Lovingkindness" at Pillsbury House Theatre; Sara in "Nina Simone: Four Women" at Park Square Theatre; Mother Earth in "The Nature Crown" with Theatre Forever; Celie in "The Color Purple" at Park Square Theatre; understudy of all the characters in "Seedfolks" at Children's Theatre Company; Shun in "Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet" with Pillsbury House Theatre; ensemble member in "My Fair Lady" at the Guthrie Theater and Marian the Librarian in "The Music Man" with Ten Thousand Things. Aimee is a Core Artist with Ten Thousand Things and a Founding Ensemble Member of Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago. She moved to the Twin Cities after completing her B.F.A. at Howard University. 2015 marks Aimee's 20th year performing in the Twin Cities.

James A. Williams has been a mainstay of the Twin Cities theater scene since 1976. He is a founding member of Penumbra Theatre and former Director of Teen Programming at Pillsbury House + Theatre. Recent performances include "Scapegoat" (Pillsbury House); "George Bonga: Black Voyageur" (History Theatre); Akeelah and The Bee (CTC); "The Other Place" (Park Square); "Habibi" (MN Fringe); "Abe Lincoln and Uncle Tom in the White House" (Carlyle Brown & Company); "The Brother/Sister Plays" (Pillsbury House); "Othello" (Park Square); "Bulrusher" (Pillsbury House) and "Fences" (Penumbra), for which he received an Ivey Award and was named 2008 Artist of the Year by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He's been named best actor twice by City Pages and received Macalester College's 2012 Distinguished Global Citizen Award.