![]() ![]() A scholar/artist, Johnson has performed nationally and internationally and has published widely in the area of race, gender, sexuality and performance. It's an honor for me to bring these stories back 'home' to where it all began." Johnson is Carlos Montezuma Professor of Performance Studies and African American Studies at Northwestern University and an artistic fellow at the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College, Chicago, where he developed Sweet Tea into a play. It was at that gathering in 1995 that the tales by older black men encouraged me to collect the stories of as many black men of the South as I could so that there could be a living archive for generations to come. In many ways, opening the show at Signature is like a homecoming, because the impetus for writing the book came from a gathering sponsored by US Helping US, People Into Living, Inc., a black HIV/AIDS outreach group based in DC. Johnson said in a statement, "I am overjoyed about bringing Sweet Tea to Signature and the DC/NOVA area. "With this play, Johnson reinforces the spoken-word tradition while challenging stereotypes - and finding humor, humanity and hope within." Inspired by Johnson's personal journey, Sweet Tea "explores the perceptions, angst, triumphs and vulnerabilities of this minority within a minority…a population rarely acknowledged in writings about the South," according to Signature. In a special limited engagement, Signature is presenting the Washington, DC, premiere of the multi-character show inspired by Johnson's award-winning book.ĭirected by Rajendra Maharaj ( 365 Days at New York's Public Theater, and Marat Sade at the Classical Theatre of Harlem), Sweet Tea "collects life stories from black gay men of all ages who were born, raised, and continue to live in the Southern United States," according to Signature. ![]()
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