40 Years of Nurturing a Black Performing Arts Community

40 years of nurturing a black performing arts community

KATE ROBERTS

For 40 years, Penumbra Theatre has illuminated black life and culture through art, education, and community programs. From its home in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, Penumbra has become the nation’s largest and preeminent African American theater company. Under the leadership of founder Lou Bellamy, Penumbra has helped launch the careers of many respected theater professionals, most notably two-time Pulitzer Prize- winner August Wilson. When the theater was founded in 1976, black artists in the Twin Cities were relegated to small or stereotypical roles—today black talent can be seen on professional stages throughout Minnesota.

enumbra owes its creation to an late nineteenth and early twentieth intersection of forces: the settle centuries. Because of discriminatory Pment house movement, with its practices, settlement houses (the tradition of culturally specific arts best known is Chicago’s Hull House) programming; the civil rights and provided a range of services for their Black Power movements that infused clients. Theater historian Macelle the Black Arts movement; and federal Mahala noted in Penumbra: The Pre- funding. In 1976, the Hallie Q. Brown mier Stage for African American Drama, Community Center in St. Paul was “African American settlement houses one of many organizations nation- necessarily served as gathering places wide that received funding through and venues for entertainment as well the Comprehensive Employment and Hallie Q. Brown 50th anniversary button, 1979 as places to go for referrals for various Training Act (CETA). Henry Thomas, forms of social and economic ser- the director of Hallie Q. Brown, used audience of more than 50,000. Word vices. Arts programming had always the $150,000 grant to create a new spread quickly throughout the Twin been a component of these centers’ cultural arts program and hired Cities that Penumbra was a theater offerings for reasons of necessity as Lou Bellamy, a young man from the worth watching.1 much as philosophy.”2 neighborhood, to lead it. The fol- The roots of St. Paul’s Hallie Q. lowing year, Bellamy and a troupe Brown Center, like the Phyllis Wheat- KATE ROBERTS is senior exhibit devel- billed as Penumbra Theatre Company ley House in Minneapolis, are in the oper for the Minnesota Historical Society. presented six plays before a total settlement house movement of the

178 MINNESOTA HISTORY LeRoi Jones (later Amiri Baraka) became a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement, founded in the midst of the great social and political upheaval of the late 1960s. Penumbra has been committed from the start to creating art rooted in the principles of social justice, activism, and creative autonomy that grew out of the Black Arts Movement.

art for art’s sake,” wrote playwright and director Paul Carter Harrison, “Mankato State began a defining

In 1941, Hallie Q. Brown’s “The Twenty-One Masquers” presented three short plays— involvement that was to have a lasting a “whodunit” and a melodrama, followed by a drama that revealed the pain of impact on Bellamy’s artistic vision.”5 lynchings and mob violence. As an artistic counterpoint to the era’s political protests and Black Power From its inception in 1929, the where he remembers doing “a mata Movement, the Black Arts Movement Hallie Q. Brown Center offered cul- dor routine, pantomiming a fight sought to recover and recast the turally relevant programs for children with a bull to ‘America’ from West Side history, study, and representation of and adults in the visual arts, music, Story,” Bellamy enrolled in Mankato African American culture from black dance, and theater. “Hallie did a play State College (now Minnesota State perspectives. Throughout the late a year, and everyone participated,” University, Mankato).4 1960s and 1970s, art by, for, and about recalled longtime Rondo resident African Americans proliferated, lead- Marvin Roger Anderson. “If you ing to the founding of dozens of black couldn’t remember your lines, you heodore (“Ted”) Paul Jr., who theater companies across the country. were a tree.”3 Like many others who headed the theater program at After graduating from Mankato grew up in the neighborhood, Lou TMankato State, was commit- State, Bellamy returned to St. Paul, Bellamy spent much of his free time ted to presenting plays that raised where he worked a number of jobs. at the center—taking day trips to area his students’ social consciousness. He began to establish himself as a lakes, going to dances, and appear- “Amid the national emergence of the director through productions such as ing on stage. After graduating from Black Arts Movement that advocated River Niger at Theatre in the Round St. Paul Central High School in 1962, art for social change as opposed to and Dutchman, the first production at

SPRING 2017 179 Mixed Blood Theatre. Both theaters were located in Minneapolis’s West Bank neighborhood, adjacent to the University of Minnesota, where Bel- lamy enrolled in graduate school. He took courses in African American literature and appeared in Othello, the last play presented in the university’s old performing arts building, Scott Hall, and My Kingdom Come, the first play in the new Rarig Center on the West Bank. In 1973, Bellamy was guest director for a production of Amiri Baraka’s The Death of Malcolm X at the Hallie Q. Brown Center. In the post-production report, Bellamy wrote, “Future productions should be selected on the basis of a wide range of plays that exemplify as many facets of the Black experience as possible.”6 With the infusion of CETA funds three years later that created his new job as cultural arts director, Bellamy was able to practice what he preached. Signed into law by President Rich- ard Nixon, CETA offered full-time jobs in public agencies and private Lou Bellamy as Othello, University of Minnesota, 1973. Bellamy went on to become a tenured non-profit organizations to people professor in the university’s theater department. with low incomes or records of long- term unemployment. Inspired by the Works Progress Administration’s arts programs during the 1930s, the San Francisco Arts Commission initiated a CETA/Neighborhood Arts Pro- gram to employ painters, muralists, performing artists, and others. This program became a national model that was replicated in Minnesota and across the country. “CETA . . . was founded on the belief that there was a body of knowledge inside the inner city that was worth saving, and given the resources, that body of knowledge could train people and build institu- tions,” Bellamy said. “There would be no Penumbra if it weren’t for that federally funded program.”7

Poster from a 1973 production of The Death of Malcolm X. Productions like this one, directed by Penumbra’s first season (1977–78) Lou Bellamy, acknowledged the Black Arts Movement’s insistence on affirming African Ameri- included three plays directly con- can identity through the presentation of culturally specific drama. nected to the Black Arts Movement

180 MINNESOTA HISTORY Notes

Special thanks to Lou Bellamy, Sarah Bellamy, and Cecily Marcus, curator, Givens Collection of African American Literature, University of Min- nesota Libraries, for their assistance with this article. 1. Macelle Mahala, Penumbra: The Premier Stage for African American Drama (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013), 4–5, 8. 2. Mahala, Penumbra, 2. 3. Notes taken by author from panel discus- sion, “Let’s Talk: Celebrating Rondo,” Penumbra Theatre, Dec. 12, 2016. 4. Lou Bellamy, “An Artist’s Life: In His Own Words,” Lou Bellamy: 2006 Distinguished Artist (Minneapolis: McKnight Foundation, 2006), 48. 5. Paul Carter Harrison, “Beyond the Great White Way,” Lou Bellamy: 2006 Distinguished Artist, 12. 6. Lou Bellamy, “Play Production Report,” Aug. 16, 1973, Penumbra Theatre Archive, Givens Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota Libraries, https://www .umbrasearch.org/catalog/1d4bf754deda2137dd 39febd2d0ff550992033fa. 7. Mahala, Penumbra, 5. 8. Horace Bond, “Penumbra (1977-78), The First Season,” 5. Penumbra Theatre Archive, Givens Collection of African American Litera- Brochure, JOBS—Inquire Within, 1977. CETA funded a range of cultural activities, including ture, University of Minnesota Libraries, https:// African American theater in St. Paul, Detroit, New York, and other cities. www.umbrasearch.org/catalog/8ffe2d70c6936 35d59a588574a897c505b15961c. 9. August Wilson, The Ground On Which I (Eden, by Steve Carter, The Taking August Wilson in 1996.9 Penumbra Stand (New York: Theatre Communications of Miss Janie, by Ed Bullins, and The has experienced the funding chal- Group, 2001), 11. Offering, by Gus Edwards) as well as lenges Wilson described, resulting in

William Wells Brown’s 1858 work staff cutbacks and cancelled perfor- Preceeding pages: photos and images on p. 178 The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom; mances. But the theater’s mission—to (top), 180 (bottom), 184, courtesy Penumbra the premiere of Heartland, Louisi- create professional productions that Theatre Archive, Givens Collection of African American Literature, University of Minnesota ana by Horace Bond, who had been are artistically excellent, thought- Libraries; p. 179 (right), Lou Bellamy Rare Book Bellamy’s graduate school adviser provoking, relevant, and illuminate Collection, Givens Collection of African Ameri- at the University of Minnesota; and the human condition through the can Literature, University of Minnesota Librar- Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, chosen, prism of the African American expe- ies; p. 180 (top), University of Minnesota Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries. according to Bellamy, “to sell some rience—remains unchanged. In 2017, tickets and let people have some fun, as Penumbra Theatre Company marks Following pages: p. 183, 185, 187 (bottom), courtesy Penumbra Theatre Company; p. 186, sketch too.” Recalling the company’s first its 40th season, Lou Bellamy is primed courtesy Mathew J. LeFebvre, costume courtesy season, Bond wrote, “All we needed to turn artistic leadership over to his Arizona Theatre Company; p. 187 (top), set model to do was to assemble a string of ‘Odd daughter, Sarah Bellamy. courtesy Penumbra Theatre Archive, Givens Collection of African American Literature, Uni- Couples’ together and our theater versity of Minnesota Libraries; all other objects, would be safe for the next season, but MNHS Collections. Object photos by Jason that was not the direction we wanted Onerheim p. 178, 179 (left), 181, 182, 183 (bottom), Related . . . to take.”8 184, 186, 187 (top). Penumbra is one of only a handful ▸ Justin Maxwell, “Reciprocal Rela- tionships: August Wilson and the of theaters founded during the Black Playwrights’ Center,” Minnesota Arts Movement that is still in exis- History 60/4 Winter 2006–07: tence. “Black theater in America is 132-42. PDF available at www alive . . . it is vibrant . . . it is vital . . . .mnhs.org/mnhistory it just isn’t funded,” said playwright

SPRING 2017 181 The exhibit Penumbra Theatre at 40: Art, Race and a Nation on Stage, on view through July 30 at the Minnesota History Center, is produced in partnership with Penumbra Theatre Company, the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Givens Collection of African American Literature, and Umbra: Search African American History. The exhibit showcases these and other items from each of the partners’ collections as well as from private lenders.

Program, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men with notes by Peter Vaughan, 1989. Peter Vaughan became theater critic for the Minneapolis Star in 1977, and attended Penumbra’s first performance. Vaughan published more articles on Penumbra than anyone else in the early years. He and Lou Bellamy learned from each other about how to interpret and promote African American theater.

182 MINNESOTA HISTORY BLACK NATIVITY

Penumbra’s annual holiday show, Black Nativity uses the power of African American gospel music to tell the story of the birth of Christ. Written by Langston Hughes, this timeless work combines traditional songs, folklore, and African American spirituality.

Joe Carter in Black Nativity, 1993. For many regular attendees, baritone Joe Carter’s full-throated renditions of standards like “I Wonder As I Wander” were among the highlights of Black Nativity.

Black Nativity quilt, designed by Sarah Bellamy, 2007. In 2007, Penumbra teamed up with the Textile Center of Minnesota to form a quilting circle. People of all ages came together to explore the importance of quilting in African American culture while learning technical skills from master artists. Made under the direction of Cecile Margaret Lewis, this is the first of four works completed by Penumbra’s quilting circle. Finished works were premiered during the performance of the quilting song in Black Nativity.

Joe Carter’s staff from Black Nativity, 1987.

SPRING 2017 183 PENUMBRA AND AUGUST WILSON

Poster, August Wilson, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, 1982. In 1982, Penumbra presented Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, the first professional staging of a play by August Wilson. Penumbra Theatre scholar Macelle Mahala describes the musi- cal satire as “a fairly unwieldy and somewhat unsuccessful production. It had a 26-person cast and included 14 songs and the liberal use of a strobe light.” Just three years later, Penumbra presented the world premiere of Jitney!, set in a taxi dispatch office in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Jitney! featured the jazz-inspired exchanges between characters that theater-goers nationwide would soon recognize as Wilson’s singular sound. Jitney (the exclamation point was later dropped) is one of Wilson’s 10 plays known as The Twentieth Cen- tury Cycle. Together, they capture the American experience from an African American point of view. Wilson was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes for two plays from the cycle, Fences and The Piano Lesson. To date, Penumbra has produced more of Wilson’s works than any other theater in the world.

184 MINNESOTA HISTORY My early attempts at writing plays, which are very poetic, did not use the language that I work in now. I didn’t recognize the poetry in the everyday language of black America. —AUGUST WILSON, in Bonnie Lyons and George Plimpton, “August Wilson: The Art of Theatre No. 14,” Paris Review, 1999.

Poster, Lou Bellamy as Troy Maxson in Fences, designed by Seitu Jones, 1990.

SPRING 2017 185 Ma Rainey’s costume from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, designed by Mathew J. LeFebvre, 2011. The only play in August Wilson’s Twentieth Century Cycle that takes place outside his home town of Pittsburgh, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom digs to the racist core of Chicago’s 1920s blues scene.

186 MINNESOTA HISTORY Set model, Two Trains Running, by August Wilson, designed by Vicki Smith, 1993.

I like to tell everyone and am proud to say that I was there from the beginning. —AUGUST WILSON, 20 Years Running: Penumbra’s Victory, 1996.

Lou Bellamy (left) and August Wilson with Jujamcyn Theaters Award, 1999. The Jujamcyn Theaters Award honors a resident theater organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent. “Our budget is just big enough to get us into trouble,” Lou Bellamy said in accepting the $50,000 award. “We want to do everything in the world and we don’t have the money to do it. This award will help us smooth the way.”

SPRING 2017 187

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