The MKE Black Theatre Festival, an annual event produced by Black Arts MKE, a Black-led performing arts organization that serves predominantly Black communities, has announced its full lineup for its three-week-long festival featuring ticketed and free events across Milwaukee.
Black Arts MKE will offer a rich array of performances and events designed to uplift and honor Black creatives from Aug. 7-25. Headlining this year’s festival are three powerful productions: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf, The Realness, and Stories About The Old Days.
The festival, now in its third year, marks the beginning of a year-long celebration of Black Arts MKE’s 10th anniversary that will culminate in the organization’s first-ever gala on Dec. 6, followed by the annual performance of Black Nativity by Langston Hughes.
Throughout August, the festival will feature both ticketed and free events. The dynamic programming includes full-production plays, a staged reading, an audition masterclass, a youth and family night, auditions, a poetry set, and more, according to a press release, and events will be hosted at various venues across Milwaukee, including Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall, Todd Wehr Theater and Studio 4A at Marcus Center, The Table, Alice’s Garden, Insomniac Studios, and HoneyBee Sage.
The full schedule for the 2024 MKE Black Theatre Festival is below.
- August 7, 6:30 p.m. at Alice’s Garden: Youth & Family Night, directed by Ashley S. Jordan.
- August 8-25, 7:30 p.m. at Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, directed by Linetta Alexander. Tickets are now on sale.
- August 8-25, 7:30 p.m. at Todd Wehr Theater: The Realness, a break beat play by Idris Goodwin, directed by Denzel Taylor; special pre-performance event Meet the Playwright Idris Goodwin, Opening Night on August 8 at 5:00pm. Tickets are now on sale.
- August 12, 5:30 p.m. at Insomniac Studios: Open Audition Masterclass with Lori Woodall—Headshots for Emerging & Professional Actors, an Audition Workshop & Auditions for In The Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks. No RSVP necessary, open to all emerging theater professionals and students.
- August 15-17, 7:30 p.m. at The Table: Stories About the Old Days by Bill Harris, directed by Nic Starr & Sheri Williams Pannell in collaboration with Bronzeville Arts Ensemble. Tickets are now on sale.
- August 19, 5:30 p.m. at Studio 4a Marcus Center: Auditions for Auditions for Black Nativity by Langston Hughes. Sign-up link here.
- August 20, 7:30 p.m. at The Table: A live reading of In The Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks directed by Lori Woodall, pay what you can.
- August 24, 4 p.m. at HoneyBee Sage: Poetry Set with The Jasmine Sims. Free to attend.
More information about the MKE Black Theatre Festival can be found here.
