2009 National Black Theatre Festival MainStage Productions Announced

The 2009 National Black Theatre Festival (NBTF) is taking place Aug. 3-8 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Shows will be presented at multiple venues throughout the city. Ticket prices range from $7-$42. A NBTF Stimulus Discount Ticket Package is available.

The late Larry Leon Hamlin founded the National Black Theatre Festival in 1989. His goal was to unite black theatre companies in America and ensure the survival of the genre into the next millennium.

Celebrity performances include Ella Joyce in A Rose Among Thorns; Kim Brockington in Zora; John Amos in Halley's Comet; Kim Wayans in A Handsome Woman Retreats; Aloma Wright, Hawthorne James and Jeris Lee Poindexter in Reunion in Bartersville; Wendy Raquel Robinson, Dorien Wilson, and Denise Dowse in Extremities.

This year's Festival will offer a rich variety of theatrical performances including drama, comedies, musicals, choreoplays and multi-media presentations. More than 116 performances of new works and Black classics performed by professional Black theatre companies from across the country and Cape Town, South Africa.

The Dallas/Houston regional area is represented in this year's festival as well. The Black Academy of Arts & Letters in Dallas, Texas will be presenting the comedy Obituary, a one-man show starring stage and film star Akin Babatunde. Ensemble Theatre of Houston, Texas will explore new beginnings, family ties and traditions with its drama Sty of the Blind Pig.