Greater Greensboro Theater Consortium: The Amplify Black Voices Festival

Building on Greensboro’s rich legacy of social justice and engagement in the Civil Rights Movement, Amplify Black Voices Festival unites six local college theater departments to collaboratively produce theater performances focusing on African-American lives, and the cast and crews for each will be blended from the six programs. After each performance, the actors and director will return to the stage to reflect on the significance of Black lives and stories and racial inequity. Our target audience includes university/college communities, the greater Greensboro community, and Guilford County Public Schools. This year’s Amplify Black Voices Festival features staged readings of new works by 4 student playwrights concentrating on Black stories and experiences in America. The selected playwrights are J Wilson (Guilford College), Keshia McLeod (University of North Carolina at Greensboro), Makaela Reed (Bennett College), and Jamaas Britton (University of North Carolina at Greensboro). Playwrights are mentored by Kamilah Bush, a selected playwright from the 2022 festival. This project exemplifies what it means to be in community for a cause. The festival intends to bring to light the ability theater has to bridge differences, spark dialogue, create ensemble, and give voice to stories that may often go unheard. Through the Amplify Black Voices Festival, we demonstrate the power of theater strongly connecting communities of practice into a community of care with a commitment to social change.