San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company Announces 2023-24 Season

The 29th season of San Francisco's African-American Shakespeare Company will see its Artistic Director L. Peter Callender taking on two of what he terms “bucket list roles.” First as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in October, followed by Shylock in the Merchant of Venice in May. Other offerings include a streamed reading of a controversial play about Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, the annual holiday classic Cinderella, and Pipeline written by Dominique Morisseau that finally makes its Bay Area debut.
 
The Slave Who Loved Caviar by Ishmael Reed: The friendship and collaboration between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat is the subject of what Ishmael Reed terms “a theatrical investigation” into their partnership. One that has been acknowledged as “a sort of artistic vampirism” with Warhol in the role of vampire. In what is perhaps an interesting coincidence, Warhol passed away in February of 1987, followed by the death of Basquiat just 18 months later in August of 1988. The reading will be filmed live in August in front of a live audience and streamed on September 1.
 

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, October 22 through November 23

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman is a true classic of the American canon. It has also been long-time  dream of L. Peter Callender's  to take on the role of the weary traveling salesman, Willy Loman. The production will be directed by Callender's colleague and frequent collaborator Ted Lange. While the Oakland-born Lange is well known for his early-career work as the affable bartender Isaac Washington on ABC's The Love Boat, he has built a very successful career as a director since, one acknowledged by the NAACP when they presented him their Renaissance Man Theatre Award. The play puts the American dream through its paces and Lange and Callender aim to tell the story through the eyes of a Black and Latina couple (Willy and Linda Loman) who find themselves forced to confront the reality that they have built their lives on precarious ground. “This role has been on my bucket list for years,” says Callender. “But I never thought I was ready to take it on until now. It terrifies me. But at this point in my career, why play a role that doesn't? Death of a Salesman opens October 22 and runs through November 23 at The Taube Atrium, 401 Van Ness in San Francisco. 
 

Cinderella, December 13 through December 17 

The beloved family holiday classic returns once more to take audiences on a journey of a young woman looking to leverage herself out of drudgery into a better life with the help of a singular fairy grandmother and a pair of very custom shoes indeed. Directed by company founder Sherri Young, Cinderella runs for 4 performances only, December 13-17 at the Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness in San Francisco.  
 

Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau, March 16-31 

Pipeline by MacArthur Fellowship recipient Dominique Morisseau is a powerful and emotionally charged drama set in 1994. One that tells the story of Nya, a single Black mother and inner city school teacher dealing with her son who is attending a private school that she is personally paying the tuition for after being suspended twice in public school. After he has a conflict with a teacher at the private school, she finds herself questioning her choices as a parent and her son's anger as she digs in to save his future. 

“To my mind, this is perhaps one of the most important contemporary plays out there right now,” says Callender. “I have directed it twice before for companies in Florida and feel more than ever the need to continue to shine a light on the need to resist the systemic, mental reprogramming inherent in the school-to-jail pipeline mentality currently plaguing Black and brown youth.” Directed by Nataki Garrett, Pipeline runs March 16-31 at The Taube Atrium, 401 Van Ness in San Francisco. 
 

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, May 11 through May 26

One of the few Shakespeare plays that the AASC has not yet presented, The Merchant of Venice trades in themes that still resonate all these hundreds of years after Shakespeare took quill to paper: Racism? Check; Revenge? Check; Demands for a pound of flesh? Check.
 
Directed by Giulio Cesare Perrone, Callender wants this production to make us turn and see each other and ourselves in ways we have not. "Nelson Mandela said resentment is like drinking poison hoping it will kill your enemies,” he says. “The poison of racism and the further fracturing of our nation, prompted the choice of this play. We are more alike than not. I want our audiences to see the hatred of the "other" from the blistered, tear-soaked eyes of a Black Jew. We do exist and have for hundreds of years. While our stories are similar, we march on different grounds.” The Merchant of Venice runs Saturday May 11-26 at The Marines Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. 

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About the African-American Shakespeare Company

The award-winning African-American Shakespeare Company (AASC) was established in 1994 by professional theater artists from The American Conservatory Theatre as an alternative answer to the “Color Blind Casting” initiative that began in the early 90s. While this initiative temporarily changed the diversity on stage, African-American Shakespeare Company noticed color blind casting was ignoring these artists' rich cultural heritage and not making the most of the dynamic, cultural vibrancy that actors of color could bring to classical works. Moreover, since mainstream classical theaters often lack the ability to attract truly diverse audiences, The African-American Shakespeare Company aspires to highlight the dynamic cultural vibrancy that artists of color bring to classical productions. 

The African-American Shakespeare Company's received a Certificate of Honor from Mayor London Breed and former San Francisco Mayor and now California Governor Gavin Newsom; named “Best Live Theatre” by San Francisco Magazine in 2018; received a Jefferson Award for Public Service (Silver Recipient) in 2018; The Paine Knickerbocker Award in 2014 for Outstanding Achievement for a Theater Company by the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, along with a Community Partner Award from University of San Francisco's Leo T. McCarthy Center for outstanding collaboration in providing a quality Service-Learning program.

African-American Shakespeare Company is funded in part by Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest; San Francisco Arts Commission, City and County of San Francisco's Dream Keeper's Initiative, Grants for the Arts, California Arts Council, Theatre Communication Group, Black Seed Fund, Black Theatre Fund, Theatre Bay Area, Wattis Foundation, Bothin Foundation, Kimball Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Union Bank Foundation, Community Vision, Boys and Girls Club, Office of Economic and Workforce Division, and the RHE Foundation.
 

About L Peter Callender, Artistic Director 

In addition to being Artistic Director of AASC, L. Peter Callender continues to enjoy a In addition to being Artistic Director of African-American Shakespeare Company in San Francisco, Ca., L Peter Callender is a former resident director at American Stage Company in Saint Petersburg Fl, directed at Westcoast Black Theater Troupe in Sarasota, Fl, and is Associate Artist at N.Y. Classical Theater. Mr Callender has had the honor of being a guest lecturer at Stanford University, for three years, teaching Acting Shakespeare and Fundamentals of Directing. He's also conducted Master Classes in acting at Emory University in Atlanta and at the Juilliard School, in New York City, where he received his formal training in theater. His further training took him to Webber/Douglas Academy in London, England (now the Central School of Speech and Drama), and the Waseda Sho-Gekijo studying the Suzuki Technique with Tadashi Suzuki in Toga-Mura, Japan. Mr. Callender is a multi-award-winning actor and director whose professional career spans over 40 years from Broadway to the Bay Area. 
 
He has performed in over 22 Shakespeare plays and has directed 9. His directing credits include JITNEY, JOE TURNER'S COME AND GONE, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, SKELETON CREW, ROMEO AND JULIET and PIPELINE at American Stage, winning Best Director awards for all but one. He's also directed PIPELINE for WestCoast Black Theater Troupe. Other directing credits include: THE WINTER'S TALE, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, MACBETH, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and CINDERELLA for AASC; SAFE HOUSE for The Aurora Theatre and WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT... for San Jose Stage Company. 
 
His acting credits are numerous, but a few favorite roles include: Tom and Jamaican Waiter in PRELUDE TO A KISS at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway, Louis Armstrong in SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF and Walter "Pops" Washington in BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY (at American Stage), Sam in 'MASTER HAROLD'...and the Boys, at Syracuse Stage, and Aurora Theatre (in Berkeley, Ca); Robert Mugabe in BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE at Aurora Theatre; Becker in JITNEY,  Richard in RICHARD THE THIRD, Antony in ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and Othello in OTHELLO at African-American Shakespeare Company. As a playwright, his first play STRANGE COURTESIES will be produced at San Jose Stage Company next spring. His adaptations of OTHELLO (which he performed at AASC), and ROMEO AND JULIET (which he directed at American Stage), have won critical acclaim. Callender's movie credits include NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, SWEET NOVEMBER, DR. DOOLITTLE, BLUE STEEL and MINORITY REPORT. On TV: The George Carlin Show, RocLIVE! L. Peter Callender is also a renowned acting coach with clients locally, nationally, and internationally. More on Mr. Callender can be found at www.lpetercallender.com
 

About Sherri Young, Founder & Executive Director of AASC

An M.F.A. graduate from The American Conservatory Theatre and former Commissioner for the San Francisco Art Commission proudly serving under former Mayor and now California Governor Gavin Newsom, Young founded The African-American Shakespeare in 1993 and has been its Executive Director since. She has directed sixteen productions, produced and executed four programs for the organization and speaks at various colleges, universities, and conferences across the nation. Young manages the approximately 60 company members and volunteers for the organization's programs. Some career highlights includes the creation of the company's signature holiday performance Cinderella, effectively building and stabilizing the organization over the past twelve years as well as increasing audience attendance and new funding support by foundations and individual donors. Young next legacy is to acquire a performance space for the organization. www.african-americanshakes.org

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