Penumbra Theatre Company facts for kids
The Penumbra Theatre Company is an African-American theater group in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was started by Lou Bellamy in 1976. This theater is known for its amazing plays and for helping famous writers like August Wilson get their start. In 2020, the company announced it would change into The Penumbra Center for Racial Healing.
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How Penumbra Theatre Started
Long ago, in the 1800s and early 1900s, many African Americans faced challenges like being forced out of their homes or living in separate areas. Settlement homes helped them with everyday needs and also offered fun art programs. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota was one such place. Like similar centers in Chicago and New York, it wanted to offer more art programs. These programs helped people find their voice through art, music, writing, and theater.
These centers were not just for fun. They were also a big part of the Black Arts Movement. This was a time when African Americans used art to speak out about unfair treatment and to build a strong sense of who they were. The Hallie Q. Brown Community Center even planned to build a full theater inside its Martin Luther King Jr. building to support these art programs.
In 1976, a government program called the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) gave the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center $150,000. This money was for developing its cultural arts programs. The CETA funding allowed Lou Bellamy, a theater student, to become the center's cultural arts director. He then founded the Penumbra Theatre Company. In 1991, Penumbra became its own separate organization, no longer part of the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center.
First Plays and Early Years
The first play performed by the Penumbra Theatre Company was Eden by Steve Carter in the 1977–78 season. This play explored the different backgrounds within the African-American community. It connected Penumbra directly to the Black Arts Movement.
Another important play was The Taking of Miss Jane, written by Ed Bullins. He was a key writer and thinker in the Black Arts movement. The third play, Heartland, Louisiana, was an original work by Horace Bond, who was a mentor to Lou Bellamy. Bond focused on plays about African-American life, especially in the South. These plays were very popular with African-American audiences who had moved North or had family from the South.
For its fourth play, Penumbra performed The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown. Penumbra chose to put on plays that looked at the history of minstrelsy. This helped them explore the history of African-American theater even more.
Penumbra first said it was a theater for people of all races. While its members, staff, and audience have always been diverse, its leaders and plays mostly focused on African-American culture. As its first few seasons went on, it became known as a leading African-American theater company.
What is Black Theater?
At Penumbra, Lou Bellamy and the other founders explored what "black theater" could be. Bellamy said he wanted to show and speak to the community where the theater was located. Over time, this meant creating black theater for black audiences, but it was open to everyone.
Penumbra's plays include classic works by Langston Hughes, new plays by August Wilson, and stories adapted from Zora Neale Hurston. They also have an annual Christmas show called Black Nativity. All these plays are filled with the spirit of black culture and language.
A theater critic named Peter Vaughan said Penumbra became successful because of a few things:
- Strong artistic quality.
- A good long-term plan.
- Hiring experienced leaders.
- More support from companies and foundations.
Bellamy believes that black theater—which he defines as stories about the black experience, rooted in the black community, and told by black people—needs a deep understanding of black history and culture. This includes understanding the impact of slavery. He says that without this background, a director might miss important clues in the play's text.
Important People at Penumbra
Original Performers
Estelene Bell, Phil Blackwell, Danny Clark, Gordon Cronce, Laura Drake, Mazi Johnson, Ruth Lasila, Tia Mann, Jay Patterson, Claude Purdy, Faye M. Price, Abdul Salaam El Razzac, G. Travis Williams, James A. Williams, Marion McClinton and August Wilson.
Original Staff
Ken Evins, W. J. E. “Strider” Hammer, Scott Peters, Scott Price, Anne Deem, Craig Theisen, Richard Thompson, Ron Schultz, and Mary Winchell.
Famous Company Members
August Wilson. Penumbra helped launch the career of August Wilson, a famous writer who won the Pulitzer Prize. His friend Claude Purdy encouraged him to move to St. Paul in 1978. Wilson then started writing about his own experiences. His first play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills (1977), and later Jitney! (1982), were first performed at the Penumbra Theater. His plays are still often shown on the Penumbra stage.
August Wilson once wrote about Penumbra:
“We become what we imagine ourselves to be. We can only imagine what we know is possible. The start of Penumbra Theatre made more things possible. Its success makes the community expect more from itself. I became a playwright because I saw a group of black men and women willing to use their lives and talent to show our presence in the world as black Americans.” — August Wilson, 1996
Lou Bellamy started the Penumbra theater in 1976. He was the artistic director until 2017, when his daughter, Sarah Bellamy, took over. He also taught at the University of Minnesota for over 30 years. Lou Bellamy is widely praised for Penumbra's artistic success. He hired and helped develop many of the theater's most celebrated artists, including writer August Wilson and director Claude Purdy. In 2001, Lou Bellamy won an Obie Award for directing August Wilson's play Two Trains Running.
Theater Programs
The Penumbra theater has 135 seats and is a place to explore the African-American experience. Each year, over 40,000 people watch Penumbra's plays. The theater also holds educational workshops for more than 5,000 students. Penumbra hires more actors, dancers, directors, and staff of color than all other theaters in Minnesota combined. Located in the Martin Luther King Center building in St. Paul, Penumbra is one of the largest African-American theaters in the United States. It has helped many talented people and created special places for black voices, both from the past and present.
Cornerstone New Play Contest
In 1984, Penumbra theater started the Cornerstone New Play Contest. This contest gave new black playwrights a real chance to show their work. Penumbra wanted to keep performing black classics, but also wanted to add new plays. Cornerstone was an instant success. Jitney by August Wilson was the first play produced from the contest that year. Ten years later, over 300 plays were submitted. Penumbra was then able to offer a cash prize thanks to a grant from the Jerome Foundation.
Community Outreach
Besides plays, the Penumbra Theater also hosts public events, discussions, workshops, and other activities. These events aim to raise awareness about social issues. Programs include workshops on race, a summer institute for teenagers, and performances and internships for students.
