Kuntu Repertory Theatre was a primarily student-based,

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

repertory theatre in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Dr. Vernell A. Lillie founded it in 1974 at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

as a way of showcasing the playwright

Rob Penny Robert Lee "Rob" Penny (August 6, 1941 – March 16, 2003) was an American playwright, poet, social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, ...

. The next year Penny's friend,

August Wilson August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...

, brought his play ''Homecoming'' to Kuntu; it was his first play to be produced by a resident company. The theater group remained part of the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Africana Studies through the 2010-2011 season when Lillie retired as a professor at Pitt. Wilson, Penny, and poet Maisha Baton also started the Kuntu Writers Workshop to bring African-American writers together in discussion and to assist them in publication and production. The Kuntu Repertory Theatre has won multiple awards, including several Onyx and People's Choice awards from the African American Council of Theatre The company has also participated in the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Kuntu's primary venues when based at the University of Pittsburgh were the Stephen Foster Memorial, and later, through the 2010-11 season, the seventh-floor auditorium of the university's Alumni Hall. In 2011 Kuntu moved to a new home at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Homewood branch. Due to funding difficulties, the Kuntu Repertory Theatre announced it was closing after the 2012-2013 season.

Alumni

Esther Rolle Esther Elizabeth Rolle (November 8, 1920 – November 17, 1998) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom '' Maude,'' for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series ''Go ...

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

* Mark Southers *

* Sala Udin *

Montae Russell Montae Russell is an American actor of stage, television and film, best known for his many performances on episodic television, which include his role as Dwight Zadro from the NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American E ...

References

External links

Kuntu Repertory Theatre Page in PITTARTS Directory
via

Internet Archive Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

* Kuntu Repertory Theatre, 1975-2013 (1.0 box)
Ford E. and Harriet R. Curtis Theatre Collection of Pittsburgh Theatre Programs, 1840- , CTC.1966.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh

Kuntu Repertory Theatre
via

{{authority control African-American theatre companies African Americans in Pennsylvania Theatre companies in Pittsburgh Arts organizations established in 1974

Alumni

See also

References

External links