Athens, Ga. – UGA will launch its Black History Month festivities with a special performance of Peaches by Progress Theatre. The production will be Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Morton Theatre. The event is free and open to the public.
Inspired in part by Nina Simone’s classic song, “Four Women,” Peaches examines the stereotyping of African-American female identity from the era of slavery to present day. Written and directed by Cristal Chanelle Truscott, Peaches features a character that is depicted as the “angry” black woman. Women of color across the globe can relate to such a story, says Tracey Ford, assistant director of the African American Cultural Center at UGA, because this characterization represents one of the most highly-portrayed stereotypes for women of color.
Progress Theatre is a touring ensemble of performers committed to using art to encourage social consciousness, cross community dialogue and cultural awareness. Since 2001, Progress Theatre has inspired audiences coast to coast with performances that fuse theatre, dance, blues, storytelling, spirituals, R& B, poetry, and hip-hop to explore the social concerns and insights of today’s young adult generation.
The group has been featured at the world famous Apollo Theatre as well as Performance Space 122 in New York. The ensemble pushes beyond the borders of “traditional” theatre, asserting themselves as a voice in the up and coming generation of American theatre.
Sponsors of the performance to date include UGA’s African American Cultural Center, UGA’s Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the UGA Graduate School, the Willson Center for Humanities and the Arts, UGA’s Black Theatrical Ensemble, UGA’s Women’s Studies Institute, and UGA’s department of theatre and film studies.
For more information about Progress Theatre, visit www.progressivetheatre.com.