Our Vision
Celebrating Classic Plays By Black Playwrights
CLASSIX was created by theatre director Awoye Timpo to explode the classical canon through an exploration of Black performance history and dramatic works by Black writers. We define these classic works as plays by authors of African descent from around the world that speak profoundly to the times in which they were written and resonate deeply with our own. CLASSIX engages artists, historians, students, professors, producers and audiences to launch these plays into the public imagination and spark productions worldwide.
CLASSIX began in 2017 as a series of staged readings in collaboration with the Martin E. Segal Center. In 2019, CLASSIX worked with Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) to produce an ongoing series of readings. The first play in this series, Alice Childress’s Wedding Band, was produced in February 2020.
CLASSIX engages the larger narrative of these plays through conversations with historians and theatre makers on its podcast series, social media platforms, and in live events; educational outreach; new writings and analysis; and an archive of information on its website.
Our Programs
CLASSIX engages the larger narrative of these plays through conversations with historians and theatre makers on its podcast series, social media platforms, and in live events; educational outreach; new writings and analysis; and an archive of information on its website.
Readings and Productions
CLASSIX aims to work with theaters nationwide and around the world to support curation of the Black classical canon inside theater seasons. This is also a collaboration with individual artists looking to create new productions and adaptations of these plays.
Narrative
The narrative component of CLASSIX is all about how we tell stories about these plays. The guiding principle is how can we create resources about these authors and these productions that engage their biography, give context to the eras in which the plays were created and find continued ways to celebrate the incredible artistry of the theater makers. Through essays, podcasts, seminars and social media there are infinite stories to be told.
Education
The education pillar is about the myriad ways to engage the Black theater canon in academia. This is through transforming the curriculum to include a wider array of plays in teaching, scene study and production. Additionally, the education pillar aims to look at how these plays can be taught across disciplines as ways to look at history, politics, African-American studies, economics, and more.
Publication
CLASSIX is beginning the work to publish new editions of both the plays that are hardest to access. Some of this work will be to create a reader of a selected playwright’s plays, some will be to create larger profiles of artists whose stories need to be chronicled. The Legends Series will interview living legends to capture their lifetime of work in the theater and publish these stories in new collections. Lastly, this pillar will include new scholarly writing and essays about Black theater history as it relates to the Black theater future.
“Before you’re a writer, you’re a citizen, a human being, and therefore the weapons of the citizen are at your disposal to use or not use.”