‘The Colored Museum’ kicks off theater series

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The season-opening production in the Youngstown Playhouse Griffith-Adler series will be “The Colored Museum,” a play by George C. Wolfe, and directed by Pat Foltz. It will open Friday and run for three consecutive weekends in the theater’s Moyer Room, closing Oct. 24.

“The Colored Museum” is a collection of 11 playlets with music that deconstruct African-American stereotypes while tweaking and toying with white assumptions. It remains a clever, creative and incisive take on race and the complexities and challenges of African-American identity, culture and history.

The cast includes Shba Cochrane, Jacinda Madison, James Major Burns and Timothy Thomas in a number of roles.

Nancy Wolfgang supplied musical arrangement, and Joshua Green created the choreography.

“The Colored Museum” is being performed in conjunction with the group Enabling Racial Reconciliation in Greater Youngstown. Members of the new group will be on hand to host a talk-back after each performance. They include Leah Brooks, president of YWCA; the Rev. Pamela Buzalka, June Ewing, Dennis Henneman, the Rev. Tom Sauline, the Rev. Ed Weisheimer, Penny Wells and the Rev. Robin Woodberry.

During the run of the play, the Youngstown Playhouse will host the first annual Minority Business Mixer on Oct. 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the new space off the main lobby. It will include refreshments and samples from local caterers.

The full performance schedule for “The Colored Museum” is as follows: Friday, Saturday, Oct. 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday and Oct. 25 at 2:30 p.m.

For more information or reservations, call the box office at 330-788-8739, or go to theyoungstownplayhouse.com.