"The Upper Room is the thought-provoking, culture-bridging new play by David Barr III that deals with issues of race, religion, art, and education. The show, which arrives here just as Thomas Gibbons’ conversation- sparking drama ‘Permanent Collection’—which also is about race, art, and education—moves into it’s final week at Skokie’s Northlight Theatre.

The two plays make comfortable companion pieces even if many of the questions they raise have the potential to make audiences decidedly uncomfortable. And their resemblances do not end there. Both works are based on actual historical situations yet riff freely on the facts. And both reveal the loyalties, priorities and divisions that developed within Black institutions and “mainstream” museums of art during the mid-20th century, while seeking to consider their long-term repercussions.

The Upper Room is a hugely ambitious work with several memorable characters. And best of all, it may just make you think about the current problems in our educational system – from the talk about standards to the depressing cutbacks in what has always been a rudimentary arts curriculum – in a whole new way. There is much to savor in The Upper Room, including the ties between Blacks and Jews that have often seemed frayed since the late 1960s."

“Chicago playwright David Barr III is not the first writer to make the connection between the African-American experience in the Jim Crow South and the Jewish-European experience as the Nazis consolidated their power. But it’s a good deal less common to see a Chicago theater company produce a world-premiere drama about a Jewish refugee teaching at a historically Black college.

Carefully researched, deftly structured and meticulously plotted, THE UPPER ROOM is Barr’s sincere and personalized attempt to pay homage to such teachers at such institutions. And indeed, the real-life influence of Jewish refuge professors on African-American schools such as Hampton University (where Barr went to school) has been well documented.

In his past dramatic endeavors, Barr has shown great willingness to take on tough issues---such as the propensity of some Black leaders to hold back on young African-Americans out of a misguided sense of protection. And his attempt to link the Jewish and Black experience in higher education (and beyond) is typically fearless, lucid and caring."

The Civil Rights Movement…

Voices from our past…dreams for the future…a battle that still rages.

It was a war fought with prayer and courage. Live on stage, MY SOUL IS A WITNESS is a vivid retelling of this crucial time in American history.

From tragic assassinations to explosive debates over non-violent protest, from cathartic, soul cleansing public gathering to narrow escapes from vigilantes--- the legendary events of the Civil Rights Movement come to life through reenactments so real it’s as though you’re part of the action.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm, President John F. Kennedy in their crucial moments both public and private all appear here.

But MY SOUL IS A WITNESS also chronicles the stories of the nameless, faceless heroes of the Civil Rights era. People who were the backbone and key to the success of the Movement itself. Like the young people who faced down high pressured fire hoses and blood thirsty police dogs during Dr. King’s ‘Freedom March’ in Birmingham, Alabama. It also cites the unflinching determination of White protestors such as Robert Zellner, John Segenthaler and slain SNCC worker Andrew Goodman in their colorless, selfless march for freedom. MY SOUL IS A WITNESS is a testimony to the passion, courage and sacrifices of all o these American heroes.

But MY SOUL IS A WITNESS is a rousing look at people and events that still resound today.

This extraordinary new play also celebrates the power of theater as a powerful, yet instructional storytelling medium. Great acapella music—from soaring Negro spirituals to pulsating protest songs – serves as a dramatic conduit to the gut wrenching vignettes. The scenes are wrought with clarity and deep emotions. The sentiments contain a strength and an immediacy that cannot be denied. The music will soothe the heart and raise the spirits.

“Barr’s writing earns high marks for its deft sketches of dozens of characters—named and unnamed—who rise from the archives of history to re-enact their roles in the various chapters of he saga. Equally skillful is the fluid ease with which he sets up ach scene hits his emotional core, and moves on.

Even so, this play would not rise to the inspiring heights it achieves if it were not for the versatile cast—New York based actors and, not inconsequentially, singers whose acapella, between scenes renditions of spirituals that buoyed the Movement are as powerful as they are haunting. The overall result is a moving – in some places wrenching—theatrical experience. It is entertaining, educational, and exceptionally well-executed."

“Last night I witnessed one of the most incredible theatrical performances I have encountered. MY SOUL IS A WITNESS not only was an extraordinary well written piece by David Barr III, but it was as though I lived the Civil Rights Movement myself. The play was well directed, produced, performed and met all expectations for a show of this nature.

This show is great for any campus across America; two year, four year, or graduate school. Every person in attendance has something to learn and gain from the experience. I will strongly encourage other institutions to bring MY SOUL IS A WITNESS to their campus. This is a must see and a guarantee."

“MY SOUL IS A WITNESS is a powerful and moving experience. The relevance of the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement to today’s world is clearly articulated through word, music and action.

As we reaffirm our dedication to educating the community regarding social justice. I can think of no better organization to turn to for support than The JENA Company. {the producing theater} We are interested in bringing MY SOUL IS A WITNESS back to the area for next year."

“It seems like we have been talking about MY SOUL IS A WITNESS and planning for David Barr II and the performance at Wartburg for a long time. Now that it is all over, all I can say is WOW! WOW! WOW! You produce some great stuff.

The performance was professionally done. The superb acting and singing by the five actors made the Civil Rights Movement come alive. The singing a times sounded like it was coming from a 25 piece chorus. One patron who has been attending our Artist Series for 45 years said, ‘Myrna, this ranks right up there as one of the best.’

You have a definite winner and I hope JENA and David Barr III will continue to collaborate on other projects."

“What a wonderful success the JENA Company presentation of MY SOUL IS A WITNESS at Springfield College. The dramatic elements of the play were riveting, and the gospel and protest music was inspiring.

The program itself was amazing. It offered such a wide range of overwhelming emotion. It challenged my heart, my consciousness and my respect for other people. I have no doubts that I will carry this performance with me for the rest o my life and I have the JENA Company and everyone associated with the production of MY SOUL IS A WITNESS to thank for that."

“Dear John: I am writing to tell you what a wonderful success the JENA Company presentation of My Soul IS a Witness as at Springfield College this February. The dramatic elements of the play were riveting, and the gospel and protest music was soothing and inspiring. The actors were excellent and moved seamlessly from one role to another. One of the best aspects of the play was that it granted our students a retrospective of crucial civil rights events in American history as well as allowed the older members of the audience to reflect on the very tumultuous period that they themselves had lived through.

The event was wonderfully eclectic, with students, faculty, and individuals from the Springfield area community. The house was more than sold out, and compliments flowed to me following the show. Many members of the local community telephoned the college president’s office to express their gratitude that Springfield College had hosted such a memorable drama. Our fine arts program surely gained many new devotees. I was also so pleased that every member of the company, from you, yourself, John, to all the members of the touring group, were friendly, accommodating, and thoroughly dedicated to this quality production.

Thank you!

“My Soul Is a Witness” Features Outstanding Acting and Singing

“ ‘My Soul is a Witness’, playwright David Barr III’s rich and intriguing new documentary play about the key events and people of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955-1968 returned by popular demand to the Publick Playhouse last week, and featured outstanding acting and song.

Using only a sparsely furnished stage and a minimum number of costumes, the actors were effective in conveying the mood and temperament of that era during a surprisingly effective two - hour show.

Barr’s well written script created a timeline that drew the audience into some of the most tense moments of the deep South that forever changed the face of America."

To Mourn, Heal And Unite

“Two brand new American productions, flew in recently, depicting two disparate communities’ experiences in that land. The US consulate’s presentation, My Soul Is A Witness, was prepared specifically for this tour by Pegasus Players, Chicago David Barr III wrote it originally for the JENA Company, New York, in 2005 and Pegasus, with whom he also works, turned it into this portable edition traveling light: few personnel, minimal props and costumes, no sets. The docudrama is a rapid reader on the civil rights movement, 1955-68. Its title bears several associations for Americans, from the Black spiritual, ‘My soul is a witness to the Lord’, to the popular book by the same name that gives a chronology of the movement during 1954-65. Of course, in 90 minutes, only few people and events can be recalled, but they rivet the audience from start to finish. The show relates a capsule history of man’s inhumanity to man, inspiring and moving to tears with stories of those who kept the faith and resisted.

Alex Levy, the director, underlined the links between Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. twice incorporating Gandhi’s maxim, ‘Be the change that you wish to see’. The cast of five gilded in and out of characters such as King and Malcolm X to those lesser known in India like Emmett Till, the Chicago boy murdered for ‘acting fresh’ with a white woman, and Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Right through, they all sang, a cappella effortlessly. They roused with the protest favourite ‘Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn me Around’ and moved with the macabre ‘Strange Fruit’ (on lynching) and the gospel ‘traditionals’, proving how Black songs mourned, healed and united. To serve the objective of educational theatre, the organizers should have arranged performances for schools and colleges.”

Stars, Stripes and the Chakra: A theatre group from the US performs on the occasion of 60 years of India Independence

“ India’s struggle for freedom and Gandhi’s unique Satyagraha movement has been inspirational for most of the world. To congratulate India on 60 years of independence, and to commemorate 60 years of Indo-US relationship, Chicago’s famed theatre group, Pegasus Players, performed at the American Center in Delhi of Friday, August 17, 2007. The play, My Soul is a Witness written by David Barr III puts together, a vivid picture of the Civil Rights Movement in America from 1955-68. Drawing similarities between India’s struggles for freedom and America’s Civil Rights Movement, Peter Eisenhauer, First Secretary, Cultural Affairs, Embassy of the United States of America said, ‘The tools of the Civil Rights Movement in America, non-violent Civil Disobedience, had their roots in the soils of India’s struggles for freedom.’

The cast of five had the audience spellbound for the entire duration of the play as they shuttled from one important event in their history to another, telling evocative tales such as those of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm amongst many others. Using only 3 wooden chests as props, the powerful performances were interceded by soul songs. The play ended with Gandhi’s famous quote, ‘Be the change you wish to see’, which received a standing ovation from the audience which comprised mainly of young students and theatre lovers from Delhi. ‘The play is a perfect way to mark this momentous occasion because it is a well known fact that Gandhi was a huge influence on the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and this is our way of paying tribute to India and her great leader,’ said director Alex Levy.

Pegasus who are on their first visit to India, have already performed in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Cast member Reji Woods, who deserves a mention for his energetic portrayal of Martin Luther King, Jr. says, ‘We’re loving India’.”

A Rousing Musical

“A rousing, soul-stirring musical production, “My Soul is a Witness” has successfully played over 60 cities in the United States of America, from coast to coast, in two recent tours. It is a vivid retelling of the Civil Rights Movement. Written by David Barr III, recipient of various American playwriting awards, this documentary play (originally produced by the JENA company of New York) is a vivid retelling of the Civil Rights Movement, between 1955 and 1968.

It deals with a war fought with prayer and song. And bodies put in the way of danger. It brings up the tragic assassinations of the time and raises explosive debates over non-violent protest. It talks of all the drama of those days, from great public gatherings to narrow escapes from vigilantes, bringing these events to life through startlingly real re-enactments. And while all the great names—Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, President John Kennedy—do feature, all in crucial moments, both public and private, this play immortalizes unsung heroes too, testifying to their passion, courage and sacrifices. Like the young people who faced fire hoses and police during King’s march for freedom in Birmingham, Alabama.

Celebrating the power of theatre as a storytelling medium, the play makes use of music-from soaring gospel to pulsating protest songs—to soothe the heart and raise the spirit.”

Pegasus Players Narrates Vignettes Of The Civil Rights Movement

“PS Kolkata, in collaboration with Spandan, a local cultural organization, there was a workshop of the Chicago-based theater company Pegasus Players at the American Center on August 12. The troupe gave a stellar performance of ‘My Soul Is a Witness’ the following day at the Gyan Manch auditorium in Kolkata. More than 45 theater professionals participated in the workshop and at least 300 persons attended the performance, braving the flooded monsoon streets. The workshop, conducted by director Alexander Levy and his five-member cast, focused on warm-up exercises, scene development using simple props, and ensemble creation strategies. The performance by the Pegasus Players relived the history of the civil rights movement through powerful performances and dark humor interspersed with emotional gospel and protest songs. The Pegasus Players’ performance of ‘My Soul Is A Witness’ struck a chord with the city’s theater aficionados, given its universal theme of the struggle for civil rights and the influence of Gandhi on Martin Luther King, Jr. The sparse staging, combined with pulsating protest songs juxtaposed with somber gospel numbers, was a learning experience for Kolkata’s theater director, actors and arts community, who generally identify American theater with Broadway razzle-dazzle. The visit and performance received prominent publicity in major English and vernacular dailies.

Consulate General Mumbai’s Public Affairs Section hosted the Pegasus Players, a Chicago-based theater group in Mumbai. The group received standing ovations for their performances of ‘My Soul is a Witness’ on August 15 and 16, 2007. Over 1,200 theater lovers and professionals, faculty members, and students attended the two performances at the Academy of Theater Arts. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mumbai, formally announced a collaboration between his university and the American Center in the arts. Mumbai audiences drew parallels between the oppression and the intercommunity hatred depicted in ‘My Soul Is A Witness’ and India’s own communalism, as well as India’s own non-violent protests against colonial oppression, crowned 60 years before this Independence Day performance. The play particularly highlighted the power of the media to focus national attention on formerly local problems of discrimination, and to change the course of history in the United States. Theater professionals also commended the Pegasus Players’ success in staging a powerful play with a minimum of costumes and set-up. Marathi-language reporters noted all of the above in coverage of the production. The program advanced the MPP goals of democracy and human rights as well as multi-cultural understanding.”

“The Black Ensemble Theater’s new production, “ THE HOUSE THAT ROCKED”, is a zesty look at the careers of three rock ‘n’ roll’s founding fathers—Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and Little Richard. {The Play} keeps you riveted, thanks to the three actor-singers who portray the stars and re-create their repertoire to marvelous effect. Good times all around on Beacon Street this summer."

THE BEST OF CHICAGO 2004

"Doo-Wop Till You Drop: It’s Saturday night and the audience is on fire at the Black Ensemble Theater. A sell out crowd is clapping and singing along with an ebullient Little

Richard look-alike while the house band rocks and rolls through “Good Golly Miss Molly”. The 28- year-old Uptown theatre is doing what it dos best: channeling the souls of beloved African American musicians into an entertaining musical revue. On this night, a salute to the legends Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and Little Richard ends, fittingly with three characters leading the crowd in a song called ‘GOD Bless Rock & Roll!’ "

The story chronicles the story of a 14-year old Emmett Till, a Chicago teenager vacationing with relatives who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a local White woman. In the dead of night in 1955, two White men dragged young Emmett from his great Uncle’s home, tortured him and then shot him in the face. The brutal murder and the grieving mother’s courageous decision to have an open casket at her son’s funeral shocked the nation. Though the killers were arrested and charged with murder, they were hastily acquitted by an all-White, all - male jury. Weeks after the trial, the murderers sold their horrific story, including a detailed account of their crime to LOOK Magazine.

The Face Of Emmett Till marks the first time the mother of Emmett Till and co-author of the play, Mamie Till-Mobley, authorized a creative, non-fiction re-telling of her son’s brutal murder. The murder of Emmett Till has often been called the spark that started the Civil Rights Movement.

“In ‘The State Of Mississippi vs. Emmett Till’ the harrowing dramatization of the case having its premiere at Pegasus Players is almost too painful to bear. Much of the play’s shattering immediacy can be traced to the fact that it bears th direct imprint of Mamie Till-Mobley, the boy’s mother, now 78, who wrote the script with actor/author David Barr. This is Till-Mobley’s story, as well as her son’s, and the play mostly unfolds through her eyes. But this is Till-Mobley’s truth, of course, and it may not b the ultimate truth. But in the piercing portrayals by the 11 actors and in Douglas Alan-Mann’s direction, this story, presented on a black, uncluttered stage, has the aura of absolute certainty.”

“Like Emmett’s indelible image, the play can be very hard to watch. It is a tragedy that offers little respite from its dark theme, yet the mostly poignant writing combined with an amazing cast, makes for a truly successful piece of what director Spencer Scott rightly calls ‘edutainment’. All in all, the piece adds dimension and further significance to the Till tragedy and does this in a wise, sincere way. This play could very well become its own kind of classic, a mandatory lesson about a telling moment in U.S. history."

“ ’The State Of Mississippi vs Emmett Till’ is emotionally charged and powerfully gripping. Written by Mamie Till-Mobley and David Barr, this play is live entertainment that should not be missed. Not only is the play a quality production, but it is also a living legacy and a big part of African American history."

“’The State Of Mississippi vs Emmett Till’ paints a grotesque picture of rural Mississippi as a sinkhole of racial hatred and paranoia. The play makes painful watching. The subject matter of the play and its passion and sincerity almost disarm criticism. ‘The State Of Mississippi vs Emmett Till’ is a narrative that deserves a hearing as cautionary tale about what part of America was like in the uncomfortably recent past."

“This play reenacted this event with such emotion and passion that I was left feeling as though I had just gone back in time and experienced it first hand. The young actor that played Emmett, Bryan Parker, displayed the qualities that Mamie Till-Mobley so fondly remembers about her son. Bringing Emmett back to life in this play reminds us all of how far we have come and yet how much more work needs to be done in racial relationships. Co-writer David Barr has helped to make sure that Emmett’s legacy is maintained.”

“Throughout its auspicious history of encouraging new plays by African American authors, the venerable Chicago Theatre Company has never shied away from risks. But BILLY is as daring a script as this South Side theater has ever attempted.

BILLY holds comfort for no one. But it does make you think about how, when young people lash out, it is usually a consequence of failed adult responsibility. And this wise work also makes the point that treating troubled children as adult criminals only compounds the social wrong.

Billy is a rough night of theater---for all the right reasons."

“BILLY, sensational, heartbreaking tragedy, is drawing SRO houses at the Chicago Theatre Company.

Prolific playwright David Barr has fashioned this extraordinary drama from the best selling novel of Albert French that h write concerning that harrowing experience of a 10 year old Black boy who lives in a hamlet during the 30s in Mississippi and who, in self defense, kills a teenaged White girl and is sentenced to the electric chair.

Barr, through his perceptive vision, takes the terrifying story and permits it to flame in the hellish racial bigotry of ruthless men.

{The Director} Alan-Mann takes the elements as Barr reveals the agony of Billy’s mother, the fright of the two young boys, the furious nature of a racist community and weaves them into a consummate tragedy that brings anguish to the soul."

“(David) Barr’s play, infused with music and dance, and with dramatic scenes of galvanic power that show the complexity of this woman, is in many ways revelatory. It s also daring in its refusal to be either revisionist (Anderson comes off as a rather archaic figure, almost willfully out of sync with the Civil Rights Movement) or blandly laudatory. Among the play’s most intriguing aspects is its reconsideration of Blacks of a certain period of a certain period who chose a complicated form of avoidance as opposed to direct confrontation, but who never faltered in their devotion to the United States.

Ev’ry Time I Feel The Spirit is an impressive achievement."

“Barr’s sweeping portrait of Anderson as a complex artists and troubled woman is both appealing and compelling, made convincing by a solid presentation in words and music by Pegasus.

Script and production combine to make this revealing portrait of a well-known artist who, in this play, becomes a fresh and complex person."

“Docudrama is a perilous art form, is art form it is. The brief, dramatized biography does lend itself to subtlety, ambiguity, or complexity, yet most figures from the past who are worth knowing ones whose lives were marked by all these aspects. In the case of a dramatization of performing artist, there is the additional concern with finding actors who can reasonably portray often beloved figures, who can somehow recreate them before us, without either mocking their memory or lapsing into mere nightclub impression.

David Barr has shown himself to be sensitive to these concerns in his earlier dramatization of the murder of Emmett Till. He’s also shown himself to be a playwright who sees shades of gray in America’s encounters between Blacks and Whites. His DEATH OF THE BLACK JESUS and his adaptation of Walter Mosley’s A RED DEATH show an independent imagination at work, one that doesn’t look for the stamp of political correctness and questions the very idea that racial solidarity that trumps the elemental obligations of living as a just human being.

Barr is well served by the production at Pegasus Players, directed by Ilesa Lisa Duncan. Through a series of interlocking flashbacks and flash forwards, he comes as close as might be expected to entering into the head and heart of this intensely private woman.”

“Let me admit, right up front: I watched David Barr’s play, “Ev’ry Time I Feel Spirit” opening night and was completely mesmerized by the performance of Greta Oglesby as she portrayed Marian Anderson. So engrossing is this dramatization of a life. So riveting a performance, I had remind myself that it was being created by someone I know personally. David Barr, probably Chicago most gifted playwright, is a skillful researcher. In this work he explores the demons Anderson faced, not merely as young girl, but after she received her fame."

• 2000 NATIONAL PLAY AWARD WINNER, UNICORN THEATRE (Kansas City, Missouri)

• 2004 DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY

THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT focuses on a group of Southside Chicago, neighborhood residents who gather to relate, and perform, their deeply personal stories to each other. The characters provide an emotional and moving social commentary about many of America’s impoverished neighborhoods.

THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT was developed strictly with ‘community’ in mind, and was adapted from the actual journals of ordinary thought, which are stories that are written and published by the south side Neighborhood Writing Alliance.

As this organization so eloquently states:

THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT published reflections people make about their personal histories and everyday experiences. It is founded on the propositions that every person is a philosopher, and that expressing one’s thoughts fosters creativity and change. That taking control of life requires people to think about the world and communicate those thoughts to others is crucial to the constructive discourse about these particular subjects. The goal of the NWA is to be a vehicle or reflection, communication, and change.

“At its very best, community-based theater involves the creation of work sufficiently ordinary to be relevant to the intended audience and yet sufficiently extraordinary that it elevates simple human expression to meaningful art. That’s precisely what the Chicago Theatre has achieved by staging THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT: a stirring example of a neighborhood theater fulfilling it mission with integrity and heart.

Like the rest of this really memorable show, these words and performances are arresting precisely because they are unexpected. And the words behind the acting are anything but ordinary.

THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT is a winningly adapted and remarkably performed collage of African-American voices that plays like poetry in motion."

Chris Jones, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“Poetry and plainsong meet in a rapturous embrace in THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT, the exquisitely acted, emotionally charged show now in it world premiere at the Chicago Theatre Company. Through a compilation of scores of voices, this work spins its magic with a single silky thread. And it continually reminds its listeners that the sublime and the revelatory are, more often than not, rooted in the everyday.

Woven together, these workshop jottings form a rich and varied tapestry of African-American life. Or, as writer Pat Guy puts it: “Shade of black, tinted with blue, splashed with red."

“Adapters David Barr and Mignon McPherson have beautifully and sensitively orchestrated the evening; when hopelessness starts to overtake it, someone come along to remind everyone of the pricelessness of each day.

The uniformly exceptional cast plays multiple characters, scarcely identified by name. While each performance is a distinctive, colorful fragment, the ensemble crates the most last impression. Likewise there’s no single, linear plot. When all the pieces come together, however, one realizes that a powerful, soulful story has been told."

“ Plays like THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT cut through the critic’s armor. Journal is not one of those plays that can be analyzed so easily. One woman remarked to her Black fiend at intermission that as a blond, blue-eyes Caucasian, she felt guilty. I felt guilty. Acceptance of this situation makes us all conspirators in the crime. And their theme: ‘The beat goes on.’"

"The current production at the Phoenix Theatre, THE JOURNAL OF ORDINARY THOUGHT, is the recipient of the Frank Basile Festival of Emerging American Theatre Award and this production is indeed, worthy of the award.

The writing is a compilation of poems and prose of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance in Chicago and the writing is brilliant.

If you leave the theatre without feeling moved or challenged, you had better see your neurologist. You may be brain dead."

“Inserted in the middle of this paper is David Barr’s BLACK CAESAR, sort of updated Citizen Kane. While this play hasn’t been produced, other Barr works have been produced, other Barr works have. In fact, he has two plays running right now: The State Of Mississippi vs. Emmett Till at Pegasus Players and The Journal of Ordinary Thought at Chicago Theatre Company.

We got some wonderful submissions for this first ever leap into play publishing, but BLACK CAESAR was the unanimous choice of PerformInk’s staff. It’s very theatrical. The main character has an identifiable change; as do many of the secondary characters. And miracle of miracles, you actually car about them. Moreover, it manages to be a play both about the struggles of all men.

But it’s exciting. And when the final draft is produced, this is one play I can’t wait to see. If your theatre wants to produce it, the contact information is on the cover page of the insert. Even if you don’t have a theatre, read it. Hopefully, you will be excited as we are.”

“Race, politics, journalism and the many twisted aspects of race-based journalism. Have I gotten your attention? These are a few of the incendiary subjects that fuel David Barr’s ‘Black Caesar,’ the provocative, brashly ambitious, and headline-hooked play that received its world premiere Monday night at Pegasus Players.

Barr is a writer who makes no small plans. That is both his strength and weakness. Yet at the same time, he has an admirable, boldness and ‘Black Caesar’ has the potential to raise the collective hackles on the backs of everyone from the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to a slew of city and Cook County officials (who shall remain nameless here) while also forcing you think about the legacy of everyone from John H. Johnson (pioneering publisher of Ebony and Jet) to the owners of the Chicago Defender. ”

“While based upon the Orson Welles classic film ‘Citizen Kane’, Pegasus Players’ ‘Black Caesar’ is a decidedly contemporary look at race, the power of media and the humanistic fallibility of our leaders. It is a powerful, thought provoking experience made all the more real by our concern for the piece’s narrator, Daryl Heggans, a talented alcoholic journalist questioning his own existence.

David Barr’s beautifully complex script details the struggles that African-American writers have when deciding if they are Black first and journalists second or the other way around. He deals with issues of self-hate, corruption and political intrigue with equal aplomb. Fortunately, Barr has the analytical talent to give an eye for an eye to all sides of difficult discussions. That his characters come as living, breathing humans, not rhetoric spewing clones, is another graceful feather in his already full cap.

While Welles ended his creative streak as a television spokesman, one leaves ‘Black Caesar’ hoping that Barr has many more politically potent dramas such as this one in him. One also hopes that theater companies care enough about the world around them to produce loving productions such as this one.”

• BLACK CAESAR was the first place winner of the 1998 THEODORE WARD NATIONAL PLAYWRITING CONTEST
• BLACK CAESAR was the first play selected for the Performink New PlaySeries in 1999

It is 1953 in the height of the MacCarthy-ism, the Red Scare, blacklisting atmosphere of Los Angeles. The town is a moral, quicksand trap poised to swallow the housing businesses owned by a small time Black ‘fix it man’ when a racist IRS agent nails him for tax evasion. But a swarmy FBI agent submits a Faustian offer to bail him out if he agrees to infiltrate a local Black church and spy on a Jewish congregation member who is rumored to be a Communist spy. Here is where the REAL murder mystery begins.

A RED DEATH, by Walter Mosley, focuses on Mosley’s seminal, legendary Black detective character Easy Rawlins. Easy was first introduced to the American public in the book turned major Hollywood movie… Devil In A Blue Dress, starring two-time Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington.

“Adapter David Barr has whittled Mosley’s novel down to a comfortable 2 ½ hours, and under Delia Jolly Gray’s direction the story and the lives of its many characters unfold intriguingly.

At a time when we are told by many that Blacks an Jews have nothing in common or are even natural enemies, the African American CTC courageously reminds us that it was not always so and need not be in the future.”

“Carl Franklin’s film version of ‘Devil In The Blue Dress’ showed that the detective novels of Walter Mosley could be romantic, moody and a natural source for film noir.

The Chicago Theatre Company’s new adaptation of another novel, A RED DEATH proves something more surprising: Mosley’s yarns about his reluctant sleuth ‘Easy’ Rawlins can be uproariously funny. The characters who people Mosley’s early 1950s Los Angeles setting for something of a cross between Charles Dickens and Richard Wright.

David Barr’s adaptation is nearly three hours long, allowing more leisurely exploration than allowed most movies. Though the result is occasionally too leisurely, the payoffs are many."

“A RED DEATH , the splendid mystery thriller now playing at Chicago Theatre Company, has everything going for it. With a cool private eye, a murder mystery, government agents up to no good, and terrific ensemble performances, this production soars.

To adapter Barr and director Delia Jolly Gray’s credit, A RED DEATH, plays well on stage. That’s no small feat since adapting a novel for the stage is tricky. Adaptations often don’t work well in theater because it’s hard to transfer fictional ‘he said, she said’ narrative into the immediacy of on stage action. Gray however, does a good job dramatizing the story pacing the scenes in fast moving cinematic fashion; which is highlighted with a film noir atmosphere.

Not only does A RED DEATH offer a well-plotted story with a private eye who has heart and mind in the right place, but this gripping detective story mystery does so with lots of humor. This show is one of the best bets for the fall theater season."

“Chicago Theatre Company’s (CTC) A RED DEATH is certainly on of the sharpest and most satisfying productions playing. David Barr’s superb adaptation distills the compelling parts in Walter Mosley’s 1950s stylized mystery into fast moving, colorful drama. There is a gigantic host of exciting, personable characters spewing out a machine gun, flow of action paced under admirable, excellent direction Delia Jolly Gray.

Playwright Barr (who penned ‘The Death Of The Black Jesus) captures and maintains Mosley’s skill at drawing familiar human characters from the everyday picturesque world of Black life.

A RED DEATH is an awareness production by the Chicago Theatre Company. The task here of ritualizing the audience into exciting theatre, obtains a mark of perfection."

“Walter Mosley’s book, A RED DEATH, comes to life on the stage of the Chicago Theatre Company. This Easy Rawlins mystery is another in the series that put ‘Devil In A Blue Dress’ starring Denzel Washington, on the screen. CTC does it again by pairing a fist class group of actors with a top-notch script. David Barr adapted and Delia Jolly Gray directed.

A RED DEATH runs for two hours and twenty minutes, with one intermission; that is probably the biggest challenge of the play. Any other challenges are overshadowed by the fact that this is a superb script, with an equally superior cast.”

• 1998 MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA – BEST MYSTERY PLAY

“Utilizing video, pop culture, political nostalgia for 60s protest, modern rap’s, black rage and the current obsession with tabloid TV playwright Barr sets his two-act play on, cleverly enough, the set of an audience-participation TV show. The host of ‘Downs Town’ is Steven Schaffer Downs, a former network news anchor…Downs is this play’s trump card…a malevolent grinning, preening and utterly soulless TV personality. He’s fascinating to watch as he sets an exploitive plain in action. Hoping to catapult himself back into the big time, Downs accidentally stumbles into great publicity and high ratings when he books three former members of a radical, Panther-like 60s reactionary group known as the Black Jesus on his show and a fight ensues between the trio and loud, chubby white nationalist…Barr strength’s as a playwright include his finely delineated characters and vivid, sometimes explosive dialogue. It’s a sensational, thought-provoking piece of theatre. Don’t miss it."

“THE DEATH OF THE BLACK JESUS’ now receiving its Chicago area premiere by the Chicago Theatre Company is the impressive first effort of David Barr, a busy Chicagoan actor who is making a name for himself as a dramatist. Touching on everything from the destructive effects of misogynistic rap lyrics and TV’s ability to exploit and shape racial attitudes to the inner decay that leads to the destruction of a revolutionary movement, Barr’s play is a multi – faceted critique.

It poses pointed questions to engage the audience is scrupulous self-examination. And that is the best the kind of theater."

"THE DEATH OF THE BLACK JESUS’ may sound like a revisionist tale of a biblical Messiah, but it’s not. Rather, it tells the story of people who virtually crucified themselves for a cause, and how they resurrected themselves from the ashes of the cause’s demise.

THE DEATH OF THE BLACK JESUS provides interesting, engaging, thoughtful commentary on a complex issue. It’s intelligent, well-performed theater, and I highly recommend it."

“In Barr’s deftly crafted script, the episodic structure of a television show provides a means for addressing issues both past and present. Chalk this one up as another winner for the multiple – award - winning Chicago Theatre Company."

“Playwriting David Barr has written a compelling drama. THE DEATH OF THE BLACK JESUS is a thought provoking evening of theater. It probes the mind to accept puzzling revelations of what lies beneath the motivations of leadership."

‘Memphis Soul’: A dish best served HOT!

“I dare you to see this show and sit still. ‘Sit down, stay in your seat.’ That’s what I said to myself during ‘Memphis Soul (The Story of Stax Records)’. If I hadn’t reminded myself of that I would have been out of my seat, shakin’ it to the songs of this roaring, enthusiastic performance.

There are other reasons why it’s impossible not to be moved during this production, as the dancing set-changers bump and grind between scenes and a stellar musical ensemble do their part to cajole the audience to feel the groove. After all, it’s all about the music. Jimmy Tillman, musical director, and Thomas Washington, musical arranger, have assembled an A-list band as the driving force with deep bass beats, strong horns, and compelling rhythms. The bands supreme performance with (Dwayne) Lonzo’s Isaac Hayes on the sly tune ‘Shaft’ eases one right back to 1971. The musicians are professional, talented, and proficient at creating every tone, bump, and beat. Over the next few performances the balance of volume between the band and the singers will only improve. Add energetic dancers leaping and spinning and you have found yourself a show that will lift your spirits.

Written by David Barr III, this play emphasizes respect for oneself and others, the power of having a sense of community and high energy fun. The story lines are engaging, thoughtful, and funny. The cast is talented on many levels, the music dynamic and moving. This is a show worth seeing.

There actually was an opportunity to get down on the floor and do the ‘Funky Chicken’…but I told myself, ‘Sit down, stay in you seat.’ The ‘Funky Chicken’ is best left to the professionals—and willing participants of the audience.”

DEEP IN THE HEART OF DIXIE

“For 30 years, the Black Ensemble Theater (BET) has staged new musicals that tell stories and showcases the work of artists ranging from Billie Holiday to Dionne Warwick. Most of the time, BET founder and Executive Director Jackie Taylor, writes the shows, but this latest comes from playwright David Barr. The result is one of BET’s finest—a production as hot and glossy as tar bubbling beneath a south-of-the-Mason-Dixon-Line sun. If the energy and the heat of ‘Memphis Soul’ doesn’t move you, best to take a quick personal inventory. You’re either comatose, dead or having an unnaturally bad day.”

Black Ensemble Theater scores with feel-good musical ‘Soul’

“Your neck will jut forward to the beat.

Your foot will tap on the floor.

And you will find it hard not to smile and reminisce about the great songs STAX Records put out between 1960 and 1975, shared in ‘Memphis Soul: The Story of Stax Records.’ Stax records was once called ‘The little company that could.’ The Black Ensemble Theater deserves that same title, because this show is enjoyable from the first note to the grand finale.”

David Barr’s Memphis Soul (The Music of Stax Records) on stage at the Black Ensemble

“Playwright David Barr III has emerged as one of America’s gifted playwrights. His gift reaches out to may areas and situations and his musical Memphis Soul (The Music Of Stax Records) is featured at the Black Ensemble Theater. Because of the tremendous interest in Barr’s musical and the demand for tickets, another performance has been added for Thursday evenings.”

Memphis Soul (The Story of Stax Records)

“Forget about Sunday school, if you want a truly soul stirring experience, make a pilgrimage to the fabulous Black Ensemble Theater for the latest musical roof raiser, ‘Memphis Soul (The Story of Stax Records)’. Under the direction of the incredible Jackie Taylor, BET continues to be the best entertainment value in town. And regardless of your race and ethnic background, you will feel like a member of the BET family, and those are good relations indeed.”

Hot-Buttered ‘Memphis Soul’ was never tastier than play about Stax

“It is worth the price of admission to the Black Ensemble Theater’s, new surefire megahit, ‘Memphis Soul (The Story of Stax Records)’, just to see Rick Stone play Rufus Thomas, the rhythm-and-blues and soul master who recorded on the Memphis, Tenn-based Stax label throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s.

There is Stone, the same actor so memorable for his previous portrayal of Howlin’ Wolf, dressed to the nines in a funky pink suit with cropped pants and white patent leather boots, as his smoky growl of a voice urges the audience to ‘Do The Funky Chicken’. By the time everyone’s arms have stopped flapping and a slew of other stars of the Stax label have strutted their stuff, he is on his way back—this time in a tangerine-colored outfit for ‘Walking the Dog’. It doesn’t get much better than that.

In honor of the real 50th anniversary of Stax, Concord Music has just re-launched the label with a deluxe 50-song two-CD box set, ‘STAX 50’. But you can get it live at the Black Ensemble."

‘Memphis Soul: The Story of Stax Records’

“On the eve of its 50th anniversary and re-entry into the music industry, Stax is the subject of an exuberant musical production, ‘Memphis Soul: The Story of Stax Records’ by the Black Ensemble.

Taking place at a fictitious 1980 Stax Records 20th Anniversary concert, this earthly, sweat-inducing entertainment is a magnificent, revitalizing force of nature.

A side story about a struggling neighborhood bar, the hangout of the Stax singers during its prime, is sweet and honestly delivered. But the musical facts and antidotes that playwright David Barr III unearths and reveals in the musician’s green room scenes almost renders it unnecessary. It is through these golden glimmers of conversation that we realize what these real-life artists discovered long ago. That music is the one pure thing that truly matters. And what music it is!

More than a simple reworking of a concert or musical theater, ‘Memphis Soul: The Story of Stax Records’ is a call to life and a fascinating music history lesson. In fact, during the first act, on performer opines that, young or old, love doesn’t make good sense. Thankfully, glorious theater like this Black Ensemble production makes perfect sense—all the time.”

“ In the 1948 biopic Words and Music lyricist Lorenz Hart, played by Mickey Rooney, kills himself over his lifelong torment. He was too short. Sixty years later, of course, we know he was a tortured alcoholic and self-loathing gay man. Black Ensemble often produces music bio shows in this vein, eschewing key and telling details of celebrity lives for piecemeal filler that bridges sensational musical numbers. In BET’s latest, the legendary soul tracks from the Stax label (1960-1975) are performed with a startling authenticity (the film Dreamgirls might have earned the respect of rock critics had it done the same) that’s as down-and-dirty as the sweeping numbers in Words and Music are grand.

The finger-in-a-light-socket musical numbers—which miraculously tap the sound and spirit of the originals without replicating them—are the best you’ll see this year. Most musical biographies defeat their own inevitable lessons about triumphs of artistic integrity with inferior imitations. Memphis Soul is a thrilling exception."

‘Memphis Soul’ finds a home in Chicago “ A warm, Memphis-style sun shone Sunday on the Black Ensemble Theater. And in the guise of Rufus Thomas, the lanky Rick Stone was ‘Walking the Dog’ and when not perambulating a persnickety pooch, leading a chorus doing the ‘Funky Chicken’. And Isaac Hayes was in the building. Or at least, Dwayne Lonzo’s decent facsimile thereof. ‘Sing, Black Moses’, said a voice from the back. For a moment, this nascent spring seemed like a promised land.

Black Ensemble knows how to throw a party. But even by the exuberant standards of this joyous theater, ‘Memphis Soul -- The Story of Stax Records’ is an uncommonly good time. The pace is fast and (mostly) the singing is stellar. (Jackie) Taylor has no local peer when it comes to finding unknowns—her newcomer this time is hugely charismatic talent Aiesha Mcintosh. And with Magellan Watts and Lawrence R. Thompson tearing up the stage as Sam & Dave, the party rolls. Something might be wrong with your baby, but all’s right in Uptown on a sizzlin’ spring Sunday.”