a Youngblood Reading of
RUNNING WHILE BLACK
to benefit the New Federal Theatre
written by Jahna Ferron-Smith
directed by Steve H. Broadnax III*
featuring Maxwell Eddy, Starr Kirkland, Drew Lewis*, Naomi Lorrain, Rachel Sachnoff, Chet Siegel, Amber Reauchean Williams, & Jehan O. Young
Production Stage Manager: Fran Acuña-Almiron
Nicole is an unmarried, nearly thirty-year-old Black Creative living in Brooklyn, New York in 2019. How does she stay grounded? She runs. Running While Black follows one Black woman's journey to becoming a consistent, recreational jogger and the circumstances that drove her to that point. The consequences of thirty years' worth of coping mechanisms begin manifesting uncontrollably, as Nicole is finally overwhelmed by the one thing she can't outrun: change.
Friday, October 16th at 7pm
This virtual live-streaming event will be held on the Zoom platform and is free to attend, though a reservation is required in order to receive the access link via your email confirmation.
This reading is a fundraiser for the New Federal Theatre.
New Federal Theatre's mission is to integrate artists of color and women into the mainstream of American theatre by training artists for the profession, and by presenting plays by writers of color and women to integrated, multicultural audiences - plays which evoke the truth through beautiful and artistic re-creations of ourselves. EST Member Artist Elizabeth Van Dyke was recently appointed as Artistic Director of the New Federal Theatre.
Jahna Ferron-Smith is a Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Fellow at the Juilliard School, as well as a member of the Obie Award-winning playwrights collective, EST/Youngblood. Her plays have been performed at Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Her plays include THE WOODS. (developed at SPACE on Ryder Farm), SIR. (published by Samuel French), and SALT: A Rom-Com (The Lark Jerome New York Fellowship Finalist).
We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers' unions Actors' Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists, SAG-AFTRA through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.