Les Blancs (The Whites)
Written by Lorraine Hansberry
Adapted by Robert Nemiroff
Directed by Fred Abrahamse & Damien J. Wallace
Christ Church Neighborhood House
20 N American St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
October 25 – November 5, 2023
In collaboration with Abrahamse and Meyer Productions of Cape Town, South Africa, EgoPo presents the Philadelphia premiere of Lorraine Hansberry’s rarely produced masterwork. This immersive staging features an international cast of 19 along with African food, drink, dance, and music. Set in revolutionary Africa, Les Blancs asks whether we can move beyond a colonial mindset, and, if so, what new paradigm will exist on the other side. Included in all EgoPo Subscription and Memberships.
Les Blancs sponsored by Dr. Joel and Mrs. Bobbie Porter
Opening night sponsored by Joyce Spindler
International Collaborators sponsored by Lee Hoffman and Leslie Whipkey
“Les Blancs (The Whites)” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
www.concordtheatricals.com
Estimated run time is 2.5 hours, 1 intermission.
Play does contain racial violence, hate speech, slavery conditions in Africa.
About Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African American female author to have a play performed on Broadway (A Raisin in the Sun). At the age of 29, she won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award — making her the first African-American dramatist, the fifth woman, and the youngest playwright to do so. Hansberry's family had struggled against segregation, challenging a restrictive covenant in the 1940 US Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee.
“It is a lonely, wild, and often fatal thing to be Black and brook no compromise. Lorraine Hansberry was rigorous and unyielding in her life, but she was gone too soon and claimed too quickly by those who thought they understood her. Like many other Black giants of her time, her image proved pliable in death. She was turned into a saint so that her life could be turned into a moral. Yet she struggled beneath the weight of her own complexities and sorrows. She achieved literary celebrity but called herself a “literary failure,” was supported in a marriage that ultimately collapsed, resisted her family but didn’t denounce it, became an icon of the civil-rights movement that she relentlessly criticized, and wrote a masterpiece only to watch as it was widely misunderstood…” - Blair McClendon, The New Yorker
Cast & Crew
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Damien Wallace
Co-Director/Abioseh Matoseh
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Fred Abrahamse
Co-Director
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Chris Sannino
Sound Designer
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Tim Martin
Lighting Designer
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Ontaria Kim Wilson
Dramaturg
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Karen Smith
Percussionist
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Jay Ansil
Violinist/Composer
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Lungile Lallie
Tshembe Matose
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Cheryl Williams
Madame Neilsen
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Matthew Baldwin
Charlie Morris
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Eric Kramer
Major George Rice
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Dawn MCcall
Eric
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Marcel Meyer
Scenic Designer/Dr. Willy DeKoven
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Annette Kaplafka
Dr. Marta Gotterling
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TC Cadwell
Peter
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Ethan Hammett
Tonsillitis Boy/Warrior
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Darryl Bell
Father/Warrior
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Kayla Byrd
Young Woman/Warrior
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Sterling Calhoun
Ngago
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Taye Hopkins
Soldier/Male Ensemble
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Katie Leech
Creative Director for Crossing Oceans Season Imagery
Curated Books
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To Be Young, Gifted and Black
To Be Young, Gifted and Black is a special kind of autobiography, in a very special voice. Both the story and the voice belong to a young woman from Chicago who moved to New York, won fame with her first play, A Raisin in the Sun—and went on to new heights of artistry before her tragically early death.
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Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays
Adapted by longtime collaborator and ex-husband, Robert Nimeroff, this is the collection of unfinished plays by Lorraine Hansberry prior to her death. They represent the capstone of her achievement. Includes a new preface by Jewell Gresham Nemiroff and a revised introduction by Margaret B. Wilkerson.
Co-Presenters
Abrahamse and Meyer Productions
Abrahamse & Meyer Productions is an internationally acclaimed classical theatre company, founded in 2006 by Fred Abrahamse & Marcel Meyer. Based in Cape Town, South Africa, the company regularly performs on stages across Europe, The United States of America and South Africa. The company is known for its innovative re-inventions of classic texts. This year marks the company’s 15th anniversary. Abrahamse & Meyer Productions has a repertory of 50 plays and musicals that have been staged in 90 separate season, on three continents, creating 731 job opportunities for local artists, and winning 10 of the 72 national and international theatre awards the company has been nominated for.