The 51±¾É« Theatreās fall production of āSingle Black Femaleā earned a Citizen Artist Award at the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival held virtually on May 22. The national festival is sponsored by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Award recognizes programs in higher education using theatrical production to promote long-term societal impact through an artistic lens, to encourage empathetic exploration of the complex cultural and physical world and to advocate for justice on campus and throughout the world.
Based on the two-woman play by Lisa B. Thompson, āSingle Black Femaleā explores the lives of two 30-something African American middle-class women āas they search for love, clothes and dignity in a world that fails to recognize them among a parade of stereotypical images.ā
MFA student Richon May directed the play, which starred fellow graduate students Alexandria Miles as a university English literature professor who commiserates with an attorney played by Danielle James.
UNO also earned recognition for a second fall production, āThe Emperor Jones.ā
āBoth shows in the fall were big winners,ā film and theatre professor David Hoover said.
The Kennedy Center also recognized UNO students and theater professor Diane Baas in these categories:
Special Achievement in Overall Production Design
āThe Emperor Jonesā
Special Achievement in Lighting Design
āThe Emperor Jonesā ā Diane Baas
Special Achievement in Performance
āSingle Black Femaleā ā Alexandria Miles
āSingle Black Femaleā ā Danielle James
āThe Emperor Jonesā ā Justin Davis
Special Achievement: Overall Production
āSingle Black Femaleā
āThe Emperor Jonesā
Special Achievement in Directing
āThe Emperor Jonesā ā Bill Ware
