Ensemble Theatre Announces 'Heart of the Theatre' Event, Which Will Salute Texas Playwrights During Black History Month

HOUSTON, Jan. 31, 2007 -- As The Ensemble Theatre continues to celebrate its 30th Anniversary Season in the spirit of Sankofa, meaning to go back in order to move forward and to understand why and who we are, it will offer to the Houston community a "Salute to Texas Playwrights" in conjunction with its "Heart of the Theatre" event. The Ensemble annually shows appreciation to their generous supporters who truly are the heart of our theatre. This year's event will acknowledge and celebrate African-American Texas playwrights and their contribution to the art world.

Unfortunately, many are unaware that both Houston and Texas have proudly produced, and are home to, a wealth of talented African-American artists whose creative works are too often under-appreciated. Many are unfamiliar with the incredible playwrights right in our midst. The Ensemble Theatre, in fulfillment of its mission to preserve and promote African-American artistic expression and to enlighten, entertain and enrich a diverse community, will initiate a celebration of Texas playwrights and their bodies of work through a special production of a "Salute to Texas Playwrights." This year, The Ensemble will honor five talented playwrights and present special excerpts of their works.

The 2007 inaugural "Salute to Texas Playwrights" will honor Dr. Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, Eugene Lee, Thomas Meloncon, Dr. Ted Shine and Celeste Bedford Walker.

 -- Dr. Elizabeth Brown-Guillory is a renowned playwright, performing
    artist, author and professor of English at the University of
    Houston. She has produced twelve plays in Washington D.C., 
    New York City, Los Angeles, Denver, New Orleans, Houston,  
    Cleveland and Chicago. Dr. Brown-Guillory has won a series of
    honors and awards, including residencies in Illinois, Wisconsin
    and New York. The Ensemble will include an excerpt of Dr.
    Brown-Guillory's play, "The Break of Day," a domestic drama
    concerning a family of men coming to terms with the death of the
    matriarch and the ensuing revelations as the emotionally distant,
    workaholic father struggles to reunite with his family.

 -- Eugene Lee is an internationally acclaimed stage, television and
    film actor whose craft has taken him to venues throughout the U.S.
    and the world. In 1990, Lee received the NAACP Theatre Award for
    Best Supporting Actor. Mr. Lee is also a playwright whose works
    include "Killingsworth," the book for the musical "Twist,"  "East
    Texas Hot Links," and "Fear Itself." Mr. Lee studied theatre  at
    Southwest Texas State University and currently serves as an
    adjunct professor of Playwrighting in the School of Theatre at
    the University of Southern California. Lee's play "Fear Itself"
    will be excerpted in The Ensemble's production, and is a poetic
    battle between two humans for a young man's soul. Fear,
    fearlessness, foolishness, fornication and finding love weave in
    and out of this play that provides a meditation on power--and how
    it takes more strength to be a poet than a warrior.

 -- Thomas Meloncon is a renowned playwright and Texas Southern
    University Visiting Associate Professor, grew up in Houston's
    Fifth  Ward and began his writing career in the early '70s as a
    poet; but  soon he began turning his poems into plays and producing
    them in  local theaters. Meloncon is best known as the author of
    the stage  play "The Diary of a Black Man," which toured the
    United States  and London, England for over twenty years. For his
    off-Broadway  debut in 1982, Meloncon received a bronze medallion
    and a  proclamation in his honor from the City of Houston. He also
    received two other awards: Outstanding Texan Award from the Texas
    Legislative Black Caucus and the Creative Writing Award from the
    Houston Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
    Meloncon's plays deal mostly with the problems and solutions to
    the relationship between African-American males and females.
    "Johnny B. Goode," an excerpt of which will be included in The
    Ensemble's "Salute" and is about a father and son who clash over
    their musical heritage.

 -- Ted Shine, Ph.D. is a noted playwright, author and scholar with
    over 20 plays to his credit, including "Morning, Noon, and Night"
    and "Contributions". Dr. Shine has taught drama at Dillard
    University, Howard University, and is professor emeritus at
    Prairie  View A&M University in Texas. Born in Baton Rogue, La.
    and raised in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Shine attended Howard University
    where he studied playwrighting with Owen Dodson, earned his M.A.
    in  playwrighting from the University of Iowa, and a Ph.D. from
    the  University of California at Santa Barbara. Shine's play,
    "Herbert III," is an acclaimed character study set in 1974 about
    an African-American couple who discover at 3 a.m. that their
    youngest son is not home. An early morning quarrel over the absent
    son ensues as the play explores that stage in a marriage when the
    husband and wife find it more and more difficult to communicate.

 -- Celeste Bedford Walker is an award-winning playwright whose works
    have been performed in major venues across the country including,
    the Kennedy Center, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics as well as in France
    and Iraq. She is the recipient of several honors and awards,
    including being selected as a finalist in the International Susan
    Smith Blackburn Prize, a recognition given to outstanding work
    by female playwrights in the English speaking theater; New York's
    Audelco Award; and the NAACP Image Award for positive portrayal
    of African-Americans in the media. Ms. Walker's plays embrace the
    sacred and the mundane, the serious and the comic but what they
    all have in common is a delight in the wisdom and witlessness of
    the human condition. "Once in a Wifetime", that will be included
    in The Ensemble's "Salute" production, is a hilarious retro comedy
    about polygamy in the 1970s that sensitively tackles the problem
    of infidelity and how one African-American community proposes to
    deal with the situation. The play has been awarded the NAACP Image
    Award for Best Play. 

The Ensemble Theatre will utilize its annual "Heart of the Theatre" event to premier the "Salute" productions and to host a special recognition ceremony for the honored playwrights. The theatre will then dedicate its Ensemble Performance Center space for one week to the presentation of free student matinee and ticketed general public performances of the "Salute to Texas Playwrights" productions. The Heart of the Theatre celebration will take place on Tuesday, February 13th and free student matinee performances of the "Salute to Texas Playwrights" productions will be held on Wednesday, February 14th, and Tuesday, February 20th. Ticketed performances open to the general public will be offered the evenings of Sunday and Monday, February 18-19th.

In 2007, The Ensemble Theatre will collaborate with Ms. Michelle Barnes, Executive Director, and the Community Artists' Collective to commission a visual arts display inspired by and celebrating the lives and works of the five honored playwrights. The commissioned pieces will be displayed at the Theatre.

For more information, please call (713) 520-0055.

The Ensemble

Founded by the late George Hawkins, The Ensemble Theatre is celebrating 30 years of uninterrupted performances during its 2006-2007 season. Each year, The Ensemble presents an annual repertoire of six critically acclaimed dramas, comedies and musicals that demonstrate the artistic ability of professional local, regional and national artists and support staff. The Ensemble is one of the largest African-American professional theatre companies in the U.S. that produces its plays in-house, has a comprehensive educational outreach initiative and owns its own facility. The theatre is a non-profit organization with an annual operating budget of 1.5 million. Located at 3535 Main St. in the heart of Midtown Houston, the theatre has three stages with a total seating capacity of 725. In keeping with the late founder's vision, The Ensemble also has an educational touring program and summer young performers training program. For more information or to subscribe to our season, please visit the website at www.ensemblehouston.com or call (713) 520-0055.

CONTACT: Advantage Communications 
         Linda K. Brown, Media Relations Consultant
         (713) 737-8321
         advantcomm@msn.com

         The Ensemble Theatre
         Janette Cosley, Executive Director
         (713) 520-0055
         jcosley@ensemblehouston.com