Feb. 21 - Mar. 28, 1976 Proscenium Theatre PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE presents A SATIRE BY ABRAM HILL LOIS P. McGUIRE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2355 E. 89th St. Cleveland, OH. 44106 (216) 795-7070 Authentic French Cui:;;ine In the Heart of Cleveland's Cultural Center 1140 Bellflower Rd. Cleveland, Ohio 231-4469 luncheon, dinner and after-theatre ON FALL & WINTER MERCHANDISE Exotic,/ndoor Plants For The Latest In Women's Apparel Featuring Fabulous "FUNKY" Fashions For All Your Special Occasions THE See THE GRAPEVINE First GRAPEVINE 20 COLONIAL ARCADE EUCLID AT 6th For men and women - In shoes, sandals and sabots. NATURAL 9 LEATHER ..........for people who '"~ · steeartl1~snoe GOODS J ;icke t s Sanda l s Boots ~ ONLYAT Belts 1•.;.::;;~;i..__-• WEST THE GREAT NORTHERN Baqs . BILL JONES LIGHT COMPANY One Berea Commons 1844 Coventry Road LEATHER SHOPS Berea, Ohio Cleveland Hts., Ohio 44118 1864 Coventry 15110 Detroit 826-1600 (216) 321-9303 Cleveland Hts. Lakewood 932-0141 ?'.' ~ 2119 Left to right standing: Terez Woods, Eva Withers, Gordon Parks, Augustine Alford. Seated left to rfght: Linda Flournoy, Norma Powell, Donald Wakefield, Deborah Stover, Diane Weaver. Left to-right standing: Donald White, Elnora Winslow, Chester Eberhardt, Mary Conley, Mickey Woods. Seated left to right: Marcia Evans, Calvin Levels, Yvetta Lockett, Milton Franklin. :-··=·-BIBB'S'":'.·=······ RECORDS FOR THE BEST IN D.J. service 15461 EUCLID AT TAYLOR 761-6265 13229 SUPERIOR AT EUCLID 761-6266 OPEN DAILY 10:30 a .m . .. 11 :00 p.m., HOLIDAYS 12-5 Charles E. Bibb, Sr. Proprietor We must come Ask together and unite! us. Compliments of • Checking Accounts MANDINGO'S • Savings Plans • Fast Cash Loans 12002 St. Clair • Auto Loans Phone: 681-2242 • Home Improvement Loans Whatever your money 1!550!5 EUCLID AVI!:. needs, we want to help And EAST CLEVELAND . Orl l O 44172 es1.so7s there are lots of ways we can. Just ask us. CLEVELAND TRUST 9701 Euclid Avenue ORIGINAL CERAMICS Phone: 687-3345 BURNS ART STUDIO 9:30 to 2:30 M-T 9 :30 to 6:00 Fri. ::L.\SSES - SUPPLIES - GIFTS Member FDIC THE KARAMU PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE presents ST RIVERS ROW a Satire by Abram Hill Directed by Dorothy Silver Set and Lighting Design by Costume Design by James Merrill Stone Carol Blanchard Sound Design by Propsmistress Lance Rosenthal Debbi Jasien THE CAST Sophie ... ... ... .. .. ..... ....... .. ....... MARY CONLEY Dolly Van Striven ............ ..... .... ..... .. ..TEREZ E. WOODS Prof. Hennypest ......... ... ............... ....... DONALD WHITE Tillie Petunia ... .. .. .................... ......... DIANE WE/\VER Chuck ............ .. ... .. ....... ..... .... ..... CALVIN LEVELS Cobina Van Striven .... ..... ................... DEBORAH STOVER Oscar Van Striven ... ... .... .... .......... .. DONALD WAKEFIELD Mrs. Pace, .. .. .... ... .. ...... ...... .... .. NORMA POWELL Lily Livingston .. ....... : ..................... ... MICKEY WOODS Rowena ... .. .... ............................ LINDA FLOURNOY Ed Tucker .. : ......... ... ............. ......... GORDON PARKS Dr. Leon Davis . .......... ... ... .. ..... .... ... MILTON FRANKLIN Louise Davis .... .. .... ..... ·....................... EVA WITHERS Ruby Jackson ....... ........... ................ YVETTA LOCKETT Beulah ............... ....... , .. ........ .... ELNORA WINSLOW Joe Smothers .. ....... ... .. ............. CHESTER EBERHARDT Understudy - AUGUSTINE ALFORD Understudy - MARCIA EVANS Understudy - WILLIE HICKMAN PRODUCTION STAFF Stage Manager, Lloyd Strother; Assistant Stage Manager: Michael Hart; Lighting Operators : Tony Jacobs, Amanda Brown, Dana Perry-Cooper, Yolandia M. Hurtt; Sound Operators : Lynna Snyder, Reginald Reed, Ron Hester; Props Crew: Pamela Hamilton, Quentin Van Wilson, Guy Cournoyer, Chico Kilburn, Nicole Strother, Raymond Harris; Dresser: Alieshia Cobb. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Collector Antiques.Bijou Antique Bazaar, Browse House Antiques, Brownstown Gal· leries, Bernice Kent, Chris Colombi, Calvin Levels, Olivia Martin, Black History Archives; Western Reserve Historical Society, Jean Hutson, Curator, Schomburg Collection, Case Western Reserve University, Salvation Army, Ohio University Theatre Department, Dodds Camera, Peter Bailey, Ebony Magazine; Carol Khan White. This project is supported by a grant from the Education and Expansion Arts Programs of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., a federal agency. THE PROGRAM TIME -1930's PLACE - Strivers' Row, Harlem ACT I Scene 1: Morning Scene 2: Evening ACT II Scene 1: A little later the same evening Scene 2: Later still The Van Striven's residence stands high and mighty in the heart of Harlem on West 139th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. In bygone days ( 1913), when this and similar homes in the block were built, they became the town­ houses for upper-class whites. As the complexion of Harlem changed, the "noire bourgeoisie," especially those yearning for social status, purchased these properties. By.the 1920's, the block had become known as "Strivers' Row", a trim, tree-dotted, exclusive community of "society" blacks. Fearing slum en­ crochment, affluent lawyers, doctors, teachers, real estate brokers, business people and renowned celebrities established a rigid pattern of disciplined living, guarded orderliness and more than a hint of luxury. Striving to set an exclusive and fashionable way of living became the order of the day. Neigh­ bor competed with neighbor to outdo one another. Musicals, teas, and soirees set the social vogue in their homes, whereas yacht parties, theater, concerts, opera-attending, week-end retreats at resorts and summer homes....,.. added luster to the doings of the tribe. The Van Strivens considered them­ selves socially miles ahead of their neighbors. It is no mere coincidence that our story deals with a family by the name of Van Striven. -ABRAM HILL MEET THE DIRECTOR DOROTHY SILVER Now in her twenty-first season with Karamu, Dorothy Silver first came here as a free-lance director and later joined the staff on a full-time basis. In her tenure here she acted in, as wel I as directed a number of Karamu produc­ tions. Her list of directing credits in­ cludes TAMBOURINES TO GLORY, VIET ROCK, BOESMAN AND LENA, AMEN CORNER, RUN CHILDREN RUN, THE HYMIE FINKLESTEIN USED LUMBER COMPANY, MAT­ TERS OF CHOICE and HAMLET JONES, which she adapted to a musical from Langston Hughes' classic, LITTLE HAM. Her most recent Karamu acting credit was an appearance in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF? THE PLAY "There certainly is a place in American literature for the strivings of the Negro middle class to record its dogged struggle, and satirize its pretensions." - STERLING BROWN (Howard University) In his classic Harlem comedy, STRIVE RS ROW, Abram Hill attempts to deal with an aspect of black life not previously dramatized on stage. "As a director and a play­ wright, I have tried to bring about a balance in the Negro Theatre. Most big-time commer­ cial productions on race themes have dealt with only about 10% of the Negro people - as a rule the exotic lower depths. All I'm trying to do is to introduce a few of the other types who run the gamut from the professionals, middle class, and the everyday Dicks, Toms and Harrys." ~ STRIVERS ROW, a hilarious comedy about the upper middle class residents of Harlem's "blue-vein district," and their silly attempts to make themselves living proof JI that the American Dream works, is based, in part, on life experiences of the playwright. Says Peter Bailey in a perceptive article about the Striver's Row district, "Hill, who grew up on a distinctly unfashionable section of W. 139th Street, often had to pass through the elegant row on his way to school. In passing through, he says, "I developed an impression of the people living there. Later on during my college years, I met some of those people's children. From these experiences I wrote the play. I wanted to do something amusing and light." Originally entitled ON STR IVERS ROW, the play has been received well by lower and middle class audiences alike. It was presented briefly by the Rose McClendon Players in 1939 and again in 1940 by the American Negro Theatre (of which Hill was a co­ founderf where it ran for 101 performances. By then a Harlem classic, STR IVERS ROW was revived by the ANT in 1946 and was recently done by New York's New Heritage Repertory Company in 1974. Gilbert Moses, one of Karamu's distinguished alumni, is currently negotiating for a Boadway production later this year. Striven' Still ... Strivers' Row, which was declared a landmark by the New York City Landmark Preservation Commission on March 16, 1967, remains today as it did in 1919, an enclave for black middle class residents. The spacious four-story homes in this exclusive residential area, now known offi­ cially as the St. Nicholas Historic District, were built by Stanford White in 1913 for a group of affluent whites, who after six years, fled in panic, leaving house after house and block after block in yawning vacancy in the "black scare" of 1919. Despite the current market value of $100,000 for the historic rowhouses, which characteristically have 12-14 large rooms, two baths, French doors, hardwood floors and elegant courtyards, original purchases were made during this period for an average of $8-9,000, and three years ago these homes could be purchased for as little as $25-35,000. Since the first black family moved into the Row in 1919, its inhabitants have existed almost as a separate entity, with only a slight, nodding acknowledgement of the Harlem surrounding