Steve Who?…Biko By Rudolph Shaw, June 6, 12, 2009, Queens

Caribbean American Repertory Theatre Inc. (CART) continues its Black History Month and Beyond… celebration with a presentation of two  one-act plays: Steve Who?…Biko by Rudolph Shaw with excerpts from I Write What I Like by Steve Biko and the Caribbean classic Jestina’s Calypso by Earl Lovelace. The production is being presented in collaboration with the Theatre of the Living Word  at the Presbyterian Church of Saint Albans located at 190-04, 119 Avenue (2 blocks off Farmers Blvd.), St. Albans, in the borough of Queens on Saturday, June 6 & Friday, June 12 @ 7:30 PM. The production will also be presented in collaboration with the Meyer Levin School of the Performing Arts, located at 5909 Beverly Road, in Brooklyn, on Friday June 19 @ 6:00 PM. Tickets are $20.

Steve Who? Biko, by Rudolph Shaw, with excerpts from I WRITE WHAT I LIKE by Steve Biko, is directed by Fulton Hodges. The cast features Rev. Dr. Edward Davis, Rudolph Shaw, TomThornton Winston Yarde and Curt Hampstead. Steve Bantu Biko was born in King William’s Town, South Africa and was assassinated September 12, 1977 (aged 30) in Pretoria, South Africa. He founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement. His writings and activism attempted to empower blacks. He was famous for his slogan “black is beautiful, which he described as meaning: “man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being”.

Jestina’s Calypso by Earl Lovelace is directed by Rudolph Shaw and features Shirley Parkinsonwright, Jennifer Joseph, Diane Dixon, Winston Yarde, Curt Hampstead, Andrew Clarke and Clin Hercules. The writer, Earl Lovelace was born in Toco Trinidad and Tobago. He is the author of 8 plays and 5 novels including SALT which won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers Prize. The play addresses issues of self esteem in post colonial times.

CART invites the Press and other Cultural Organizations to call 718-454-4234 or 212-963-6459 for information and reservations.

This project is supported, in part, by public funds from the Cultural Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Councilman Comrie of Queens, Bahamas Tourism, Radisson Hotels, Jet Blue Airways, Nathan’s Cove Resort in Anguilla, and Sybil’s Restaurant.