Theater for the New City to Present DARE TO BE BLACK at 'Scratch Night' Tomorrow

Theater for the New City presents SCRATCH NIGHT at TNC (Michael Scott-Price, Curator) on Tuesday, December 22nd at 7pm ($5 Suggested Donation), featuring Dare to be Black by Tommie J. Moore. This work-in-progress presentation is directed by Rome Neal.

It's 1908. Both Your Ma And Pa Are Emancipated Slaves Living Below The Mason Dixon Line. It Is Still A Racist White America. Negro Lynchings Are Popular And Inconsequential. What Do You Do? Do You Demand Your Freedom? Maybe. Do You Knock Out White Men? No! Do You Have Sex With White Women? No! Do You Marry White Women? Hell No! Well Jack Johnson Did. Jack Johnson Was An African American Before His Time. He Did Things In The Late 1800'S Through The Early 1900'S That Some May Consider Suicidal. And Although, His Physical Stature Was Threatening, His Charm And Story Telling Made Him Lovable. Jack Was The First African American Heavyweight World Champion. And White America Could Not Stand It. After Jack Beat Dozens Of White Hopefuls Trying To Retrieve The So-Called White Title, The Great White Hope Era Ended When Jack Destroyed America's Best, Jim Jeffries. Unable To Find Anyone To Beat Him In The Ring, The Courts Charged Him With Violating The Mann Act. The Law That Banned Interstate And Foreign Trade Of White Women For Prostitution. Of Course The Charges Were Bogus And Jack Did Not Hesitate To State That Fraudulent Practices Were Adopted. And Now Today, Sen. John McCain and House Rep. Peter King Are Trying To Get President Obama To Pardon Jack Johnson For Those False Charges. LET US GET HIM PARDONED.

Tommie J. Moore is a writer/playwright/actor. He has Bachelor's Degree in English/Theater Arts. He has appeared in numerous plays. Also, Tommie has played principal roles in two independent films, including, "Al Qarem." Due to his love for writing, he has written two short films that will be going into production in 2016. ("Lottery Ticket" and "What?"). He has written the, predestine multi-award winning play "Dare to Be Black," (The Jack Johnson Story) which will be in production at "The New City Theater" in February 2016.

Is the Artistic Theatre Director of the Nuyorican Poets Café theatre program. Mr. Neal received an Obie Grant with Café founder Miguel Algarin for excellence in theatre. Over the years he has received five Audelco Awards for his direction of Pepe Carril's "SHANGO de IMA" and Samuel Harp's "DON"T EXPLAIN" Mr. Neal also received two Audelcos for his acting: one for Lead Actor in Gabrielle N. Lane's "SIGNS," (produced at TNC) and one for Solo Performance in his critically acclaimed "MONK," by Laurence Holder. Neal also received the National Black Theatre Festival's coveted Lloyd Richards Director's Award.

His fifth Audelco Award was a technical award for his light design of "SHANGO de IMA." Mr. Neal received a Triumph Award for his acting in Alex Mc Donald's "PRISM"(produced at TNC) and a Monarch Merit Award for his outstanding contributions in New York Theatre. His directorial credits includes his adaptation of William Shakespeare's "JULIUS CAESAR SET IN AFRICA (which received it's first reading at TNC)," Sekou Sundiata's "THE CIRCLE UNBROKEN IS A HARD BOP" Amiri Baraka's "MEETING LILLIE," "SHANGO de IMA," "Prism," Ishmael Reed's "THE C ABOVE C ABOVE HIGH C" and Amiri Baraka's "PRIMITIVE WORLD: AN ANTI- NUCLEAR JAZZ MUSICAL," all performed at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe and National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem North Carolina.

Rome directed Wesley Brown's "LIFE DURING WARTIME" at the Cafe and The National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta Georgia. His production of Alex McDonald's "PRISM" was performed at the Ex-Ponto Festival in Slovenia, Eastern Europe.

FUTURE Scratch and New City, New Blood: 2015/2016 Scratch Night at TNC and New City, New Blood Reading Series development season began in November 2015. The selection process is ongoing.

For submission information: www.theaterforthenewcity.net/submissions.htm and materials should be sent attn: Michael Scott-Price, Literary Manager of Theater for the New City. The selection process is ongoing. You can rsvp to: literary@theaterforthenewcity.net.