True Colors Theatre Company’s three-show 2017/18 season, dubbed “Truth & Clarity,” will include the voices of Tupac Shakur and August Wilson. Co-founder Kenny Leon will direct two of the three productions.
Here’s a closer look.
Holler If Ya Hear Me. SEPT. 12-OCT. 8. This American musical, which had a monthlong Broadway run in 2014, is inspired by the music and lyrics of rap legend Tupac Shakur (1971-1996). This non-biographical musical, with a script by frequent Leon collaborator Todd Kriedler, is set on a single block in an industrial Midwestern city and deals with friendship, family, revenge, change and hope among those who struggle for peace amid daily challenges. Leon directs.
King Hedley II. FEB. 13-MARCH 11, 2018. The eighth play in August Wilson’s Century Cycle takes place in 1985 in the backyard of an urban Pittsburgh neighborhood full of decay. King Hedley II, an ex-con desperate to make a new life for himself, tries to coax seeds out of the ground. A metaphor for his own life and dreams. Wilson (1945-2005) is one of the great American playwrights of the 20th century. This drama, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, had a nine-week Broadway run in 2001 and was nominated for six Tony awards. Viola Davis won for best featured actress as King’s wife, Tonya. Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre staged it in 2003/04. At True Colors, Jamil Jude directs. He is a freelance director, producer, playwright, dramaturg and co-producer of The New Griots Festival in Minneapolis.
Dot. JULY 17-AUG. 12, 2018. Southeastern premiere. A comic drama that deals with aging parents and midlife crises in an urban West Philly family. For the Shealys, Christmas means family time, but this year Dotty and her grown children have more on their minds. As Dotty struggles to hold on to her failing memory, her children struggle to balance how to care for her as well as themselves. The script is by actor-playwright-director Colman Domingo, who has won Obie and Lucille Lortel awards as well as Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League nominations. Leon directs. You might recognize him from the L.A.-set “Walking Dead” spinoff “Fear the Walking Dead,” in which he plays Victor Strand.
True Colors performs at 8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 2:30 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Its home is the Southwest Arts Center, 915 New Hope Road.
Season subscriptions are on sale now; season subscribers can buy and reserve their seats before single ticket sales go on sale May 1. Contact Ticket Alternative at 877.725.8849 or purchase through the True Colors website HERE.
True Colors was founded in 2002 by Leon and managing director Jane Bishop (who died in 2012). They envisioned a theater that looks like the world and that encourages people of all cultures to sit side by side and bring their unique perspectives to the art onstage. True Colors’ work is grounded in African-American classics, bold interpretations of world drama and a commitment to diverse new voices.
