The Caribbean Theatre Project: Condé, Gonfier, Glissant

Join us for an evening celebrating the life and work of three Caribbean writers. First, excerpts from Gilda Gonfier’s new play A Good Negro, directed by Keith Joseph Adkins, translated by Gonfier, and performed by Pascale Armand, Carl Hendrick, Louis

Yvette Ganier and Jeorge Watson. Second, to honor the work of two Caribbean masters, excerpts from Tale of Black Histories by Édouard Glissant (1928-2011) directed by Gilbert Laumord and translated by Emily Sahakian and Crossing the Mangrove by Maryse Condé (1934-2024) directed by Magali Solignat and translated by Richard Philcox. In collaboration with Compagnie Siyaj and Macha Productions (Guadeloupe), The New BLACKFEST (NYC).

The Caribbean Theatre Action (Actions Caribéennes Théâtrales, ACT) aims to build a cultural dialogue between the U.S. and the Caribbean and to raise awareness and recognition of Francophone Caribbean Theatre by translating and presenting works by Caribbean playwrights in the United States.

The Caribbean Theatre Project in 2019 presented six contemporary plays by both emerging and established Caribbean writers from Haiti, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, showcasing their work for the first time in the United States at the Segal Theater. The event was organized in collaboration with Prof. Stéphanie Bérard (Paris), Elvia Gutierrez from Compagnie Siyaj (Guadeloupe). The festival featured live readings and discussions with playwrights Daniely Francisque (Martinique), Luc Saint-Éloy (Guadeloupe), and Magali Solignat and Charlotte Boimare (Guadeloupe), along with their translators, American directors, and scholars. An anthology of the plays has been published published by the Segal Center in Spring 2020.

THE NEW BLACK FEST is theatre festival, a movement, a call to action inspired by the state of Black theatre in the 21st century, and a bold step motivated by a growing need within the Black theatre community for serious change and boundless opportunity.​ It is a gathering of artists, thinkers, activists and audiences who are dedicated to stretching, interrogating and uplifting the Black aesthetic. It is a convening of visionaries who are determined to reintroduce the way black theatre is perceived, who are ready to chart out resolutions and promote action through panel discussions, workshops, and putting both artists and community members on the hot seat.THE NEW BLACK FEST is for everyone and anyone who supports elevating and celebrating Black theater around the world, in a fresh way.​ THE NEW BLACK IS NOW.

Keith Josef Adkins is a playwright, screenwriter, and the artistic director of The New BLACKFEST. His Great Migration play, The West End, had its world premiere at Cincinnati Playhouse and was a finalist for the 2022 Steinberg-ATCA New Play Award. Keith's other plays include The People Before the Park, Safe House, Pitbulls, The Last Saint on Sugar Hill, among others. He’s the recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, Samuel French's Award for Impact and Activism in the Theater Community as well as National Black Theater's Teer Spirit Award. He is the artistic director of The New Black Fest, a 14-year-old theater organization committed to fostering insurgent voices from the African Diaspora. The New Black Fest was in residence at the Lark Play Development Center for six years and has commissioned three social justice anthologies, including Facing Our Truth, Hands Up, The Apollo Presents... A New Harlem Renaissance -- all published by Samuel French/Concord Theatrical. Keith and The New Black Fest was also commissioned by the Apollo Theater to develop work for their new Victoria Theater. Keith is also currently working on a collection of short memoir called The Men Within Me. Some of his TV writing credits include Accused, Outer Banks, The Good Fight. He's also developed TV projects with JJ Abrams, Don Cheadle/Steven Soderbergh and Regina King. Keith co-wrote the horror film Run Sweetheart Run that can be seen on Amazon Prime.

Presented with additional support from the Conseil Départemental de la Guadeloupe, Ministère de la Culture of France, and Villa Albertine: the French Institute for Culture and Education, a division of the French Embassy in the United States.