Program Details:
The Resident Artist (RA) at The Black Rep will be a key collaborator, a part of the artistic leadership team, and have access to all aspects of the organization. The RA’s specific projects would be matched with their strengths and interests based on the projects that are lined up for the upcoming year as they happen and in the various stages of development that they are in. The goal is to provide programming that is responsive to the community and in pursuit of the theater’s mission and values. Cast in the Black Arts Movement, The St. Louis Black Repertory Co is committed to producing quality professional dramas, comedies and musicals by primarily African American playwrights and maintaining an Education and Community Program to create opportunities for youth and the social and cultural awareness of its audiences.
Recent projects have included – Arthur Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN with Ron Himes playing Willie Loman – produced both with The Nebraska Rep and then at The Black Rep – and we closed last season with EUBIE!, directed by Ron Himes. For our next main stage season, we expect that the RA would have the opportunity to Assistant Direct on at least one: the world premiere of HOLD ON by Paul Webb, Directed by Ron Himes (Jan 2024); and August WIlson’s KING HEDLEY II, Directed by Ron Himes (June/July 2024)
The Black Rep’s mission: To provide platforms for theatre, dance, and other creative expressions from the African-American perspective that heighten the social and cultural awareness of its audiences.
Key points: The founding vision for The Black Rep is no less relevant today: a more equitable distribution of opportunities and resources for Black students and professionals in the theatre; improved representation on and back-stage in the theatre industry; and a fostered community culture of support and mentorship for those who will follow us.
In designating this program for mid-career artists, the Resident Artist will very likely have other artistic obligations throughout the year of their residency. To support the RA, the host theatre will be flexible in providing leave and virtual work time for these obligations. We might also imagine a small portion of this residency to take place virtually, depending on how the theater is doing its work and/or the schedule of the Resident Artist.
An SDCF committee will evaluate the Resident Artist applications along with the host theater staff. The selection committee includes Justin Emeka, Lydia Fort, Kent Gash, Anne Kauffman, Chay Yew, and staff from the host theater. The host theaters will conduct interviews with the Resident Artist finalists in October 2023.
For the Resident Artist’s eligibility requirements, click here.
SDCF is now accepting Resident Artist applications until Friday September 22, 2023. To access the application, click here.
Background:
This New Futures Residency is named for Lloyd Richards, whose career blazed a trail through our industry. Starting as an actor in 1940s New York, in 1956, Sidney Poitier arranged an interview for Richards with producers to direct Lorraine Hansberry’s new play A Raisin in the Sun. Richards’ work on the production garnered his first of five Tony nominations for Best Direction of a Play; he later won the award in 1987 for his work on Fences. Richards led the National Playwrights Conference (NPC) at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center for more than 30 years, developing work with hundreds of playwrights. From 1979-91, he was Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre and Dean of the Yale School of Drama.
Richards was the first Black director to be nominated for and then to win the Tony Award for Best Direction. Aside from his first nomination for Raisin in the Sun, the other four honored his work directing August Wilson’s plays on Broadway. Richards’ collaborations with Hansberry and Wilson sustained his deepest beliefs about our industry: “We must each bring the wonder of our particular cultural heritage to the context of the here and the now. That is American Theatre—theatre which reaches into the ethnic memory of each of us and is informed by its wisdom, form, and artistry, and brings that to the context ‘now,’ where we all dwell, and informs the now, which provokes and enriches us all.”
In addition to his artistic accolades, Richards was a staunch advocate for artists’ rights as workers. A founding member of SDC, Richards served as president from 1970 to 1980. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993; he died in 2006.
For Lloyd Richards’ full biography, click here.
The 2023 Lloyd Richards New Futures Residency is made possible with support from The Diana King Memorial Fund presented by The Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, the Miranda Family Fund, Jujamcyn Theaters, Concord Theatricals, and support through the SDCF fellowship funds named for Shepard and Mildred Traube and Sir John Gielgud, and many generous individuals.
About Lloyd Richards:
Lloyd Richards with his Tony Award for Best Direction for Fences, 1987. PHOTO c/o the Lloyd Richards Estate (Lloyd Richards Papers, Yale University).
This New Futures Residency is named for Lloyd Richards, whose career blazed a trail through our industry. Starting as an actor in 1940s New York, in 1956, Sidney Poitier arranged an interview for Richards with producers to direct Lorraine Hansberry’s new play A Raisin in the Sun. Richards’ work on the production garnered his first of five Tony nominations for Best Direction of a Play; he later won the award in 1987 for his work on Fences. Richards led the National Playwrights Conference (NPC) at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center for more than 30 years, developing work with hundreds of playwrights. From 1979-91, he was Artistic Director of Yale Repertory Theatre and Dean of the Yale School of Drama.
Richards was the first Black director to be nominated for and then to win the Tony Award for Best Direction. Aside from his first nomination for Raisin in the Sun, the other four honored his work directing August Wilson’s plays on Broadway. Richards’ collaborations with Hansberry and Wilson sustained his deepest beliefs about our industry: “We must each bring the wonder of our particular cultural heritage to the context of the here and the now. That is American Theatre—theatre which reaches into the ethnic memory of each of us and is informed by its wisdom, form, and artistry, and brings that to the context ‘now,’ where we all dwell, and informs the now, which provokes and enriches us all.”
In addition to his artistic accolades, Richards was a staunch advocate for artists’ rights as workers. A founding member of SDC, Richards served as president from 1970 to 1980. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993; he died in 2006.
For Lloyd Richards’ full biography, click here.