Hip-hop and Theater Meet at the DC Black Theater Festival

Tyler Perry vs. Spike Lee. Madea vs. Malcolm X. The debate continues... "How should African- Americans be defined in the media?" "What stories should be told?" The African- American culture is one that is rich and deep. Many different stories. Many different experiences. So while Madea and Malcolm X are both relevant to the African- American experience they are not the only stories that exist. The DC Black Theater Festival will bring a host of stories written and presented by African- American Playwrights from across the country. One of the plays that will be featured is called Verbalized Ink.

Verbalized Ink pulls from the hip- hop experience to bring forth a story that is compelling and dramatic. Verbalized Ink is not a choreopoem. It finds a way to use the language of spoken word and hip-hop to take the audience on a journey through love, despair, forgiveness and redemption.

Verbalized Ink was conceived and written by playwright/director Andre N. Jones. Jones got the idea to weave together spoken word pieces he had previously written and recorded into a theatrical production. Verbalized Ink first premiered as a short at the ETC Performance Series in Philadelphia in April 2009. He received such great feedback that he decided to make it a full length production. Verbalized Ink premiered as a full- length play at The Philadelphia Live Arts and Philly Fringe Festival in September 2010 and then went on to The Inaugural Philadelphia Urban Theater Festival in October of that same year. Audience members gave rave reviews about the play. Director David Deratzian called it "modern day shakespeare. Others called it "...a riveting play filled with lyrical and poetic language".

Verbalized Ink makes it way to The Ossie Davis Stage- The Warehouse Theater, 1021 7th St. NW Washington, DC 20001 for two shows: 6/17 at 7:30pm and 6/18 at 2pm. Tickets are only $15 and can be purchased on the DC Black Theater Festival website: www.dcblacktheatrefestival.com.

"Wordplay meets drama. Boy meets girl family trauma. What happened to peace?" www.dcblacktheatrefestival.com