The Rep to Hold 'Conversations...Racism,' 2/27

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) will hold a special event, Conversations…Racism, surrounding the topic of race on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, February 27, 2012 from 7-9 p.m.

A free event, The Rep invites the public to explore the topic of race through scenes from Driving Miss Daisy, Blood Knot andSpinning Into Butter, performed by actors from Mustard Seed, Upstream and Imaginary Theatre Companies.

Each scene will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Carol Daniel of KMOX, with special panelists Amy Hunter, Director of Racial Justice at YWCA Metro St. Louis; David Carl Wilson, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Webster University; and Nicole Hudson Hollway, General Manager of the St. Louis Beacon.

Carol is a News Anchor for KMOX. She began her career at the "Voice of St. Louis" in 1995 as an anchor, reporter and talk show host. She is also co-host of the Emmy award-winning lifestyle television show on KMOV-TV, "Great Day St. Louis".  She was hired when the show first launched in 2008. Carol has also been honored for her work by the National Newspaper Association, St. Louis Association of Black Journalists, The Missouri Broadcasters Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Monsanto YWCA and she is a member of the YWCA Women’s Leader Class of 2005. She also received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission’s Distinguished Local Media award.

As director of racial justice for YWCA Metro St. Louis, Amy Hunter is responsible for ensuring that eliminating racism, part of the YWCA’s two-prong mission of eliminating racism and empowering women, is incorporated in all of the organization’s internal and external programming. She serves as a representative of the YWCA in matters that address institutionalized and systemic oppression in area corporations, organizations and throughout the St. Louis community. Hunter is a consultant for the University of Missouri St. Louis and is a presenter on issues of race and social justice throughout the United States and Canada.

David Carl Wilson is the Dean of Webster University’s College of Arts & Sciences. He is chairman of the board of directors of Upstream Theater and an active board member for the Academy of Science-St. Louis, the Missouri Biotechnology Association, the Missouri Institute of Biotechnology and Innovation, the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, the Missouri Humanities Council, and the German American Heritage Society. He chairs the Ethics Committee for the St. Louis Science Center, and has been a fellow with Leadership St. Louis.

Nicole Hudson Hollway is the General Manager of the St. Louis Beacon, a non-profit news organization that applies the values and tools of journalism to solving the issues facing the St. Louis region. Nicole has spent her career applying digital media to products in industries ranging from Broadway to finance. Over the past two years, the Beacon has partnered with the Missouri History Museum to focus on issues of race and class in St. Louis through an ongoing series of reporting and events. Nicole is currently working on the book Token: Getting Real About Race in a "Post-Racial" America, a non-fiction semi-autobiographical look through the lens of the "other."

Doors open at 6 p.m. Coffee and dessert refreshments will be available for purchase from Café at The Rep.

For more information on The Rep’s Conversations program, please call (314) 968-7340, ext. 240 or visit http://www.repstl.org.

Conversations…Racism is scheduled during the run of David Mamet’s powerful and provocative production of Race playing on The Rep’s Mainstage through March 4.

For more information about The Rep’s production of Race including a guide introducing the characters, plot and background on the play; photos related to the production; and more, visit The Rep’s comprehensive public website at http://www.repstl.org.