“Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf,” an exploration of the intersection of Black and Brown communities, particularly in and around the American educational system, will be featured at the Broom Street Theater from April 19 to May 22.
The play, by Madison playwright and Slam poet Charles Payne, features an ensemble of four actors who play teachers, students, and their families, and is a mix of poetry, prose, and music, with original music by composer Richard Jones. The format of the play is a chorepoem, similar to the format of The Vagina Monologues, and heavily influenced by the 1976 work for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange.
“It was important to me in writing this play to give BIPOC actors the opportunity to play a role where they could really see themselves in it,” Payne said in a press release.
Co-directed by Matt Franklinson and Gina M. Gomez, “Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf” stars Madison-based actors Morgan Stewart, Christian Kind, Asiah Doyle and Laura McMillan.
Written during the pandemic, the play is based on Payne’s experiences as a teacher and a student. “Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf” was named as a semifinalist in the 2021 American Players Theatre’s New Voices competition and a finalist for Forward Theatre’s playwriting competition in 2022.
For more information about and tickets to “Da Classroom Ain’t Enuf,” click here.
