Show Run:  February 8 - March 18, 2012 

Previews:  February 8-10   Opening Night: February 11

Performances:  Wed-Sat 8 PM   Matinees:  Sat-Sun 2 PM

Thanks to everyone who has contributed thus far! 

Take a leap of faith and help support Lorraine Hansberry Theatre

Blue/Orange, our current production, is a tale of power, race and madness.  Christopher (Carl Lumbly) has been picked up on the streets of London by the police and put in a mental institution for "behaving erratically."  He claims to be the illegitimate son of the African dictator, Idi Amin.  It is the last day he can be held without a diagnosis and the two psychiatrists who control his fate must decide to either diagnose him and give him his freedom or diagnose him and keep him institutionalized.

A conflict arises when Christopher, initially diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, is believed to be more seriously ill with schizophrenia by Dr. Bruce Flaherty who wants him committed.  His mentor and the senior doctor, Dr. Robert Smith, opposes this course of action.

Our opening night performance on Saturday, February 11th enjoyed a standing ovation.  Robert Hurwitt, reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, said this about Carl Lumbly:

 

(From left to right): Dr. Bruce Flaherty (Dan Clegg), Christopher (Carl Lumbly) and Dr. Robert Smith (Julian Lopez-Morillas)

Contributing to the production of  Blue/Orange helps keep LHT alive and creates great theater for San Francisco Bay Area audiences. 

 

 

One of our patrons said this about Blue/Orange:

 

 

Family Service Agency of San Francisco (FSA-SF)

 

 

We invite you to become part of the LHT creative community by contributing to the production of Blue/Orange. Join us!

Why Support Lorraine Hansberry Theatre?

 

Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author. Her best known work, A Raisin in the Sun, inspired by her family's battle against racial segregation in Chicago, was the first play written by an African Amerian to be produced on Broadway (1959). Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT), named in her honor, was founded in San Francisco, California in 1981 to continue her legacy to the performing arts by presenting plays by America's foremost African-American and multicultural playwrights.  Live theater creates a unique bond between the audience and the artist that is essential to the art form. By joining us in producing this play, you will be contributing to the creation of a unique work of art; every performance is a signed original never to be seen again.  LHT provides employment and career-building opportunities for actors, directors, designers, and technicians; and fosters youth development and education through workshops and outreach.  LHT distinguishes itself as an eclectic creative community, sustained by both artistic rigor and creative collaboration. LHT draws from the aesthetic, multi-cultural and economic resources of the San Francisco Bay Area to enrich, strengthen and diversify the performing arts. The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre is also part of a national network of African-American theaters through an organization named Project1Voice that preserves our theatrical legacy and enriches and invigorates the American Theater. Join us in continuing this work. Learn more about LHT at www.LHTSF.org.

Help us do the work. Help us spread the word. We cannot do it without you! 

The Impact

 

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre located at 450 Post Street in San Francisco continues to reach out to a broader segment of the San Francisco Bay area theater audience.  Our production of Blue/Orange is a primary tool in that effort.  We are an African-American theater.  African-American is a multicultural term that refers to African-derived people who live in the Americas and, by extension, to the people of the African Diaspora. This is a broad and diverse  group of people and that is why at LHT we say "African-American stories are everyone's stories."  We believe this is an idea whose time has come. The San Francisco Bay area is a uniquely diverse community.  This is both a valuable resource and an enormous challenge.  At LHT we believe that Art can address the myriad questions and issues raised by this diversity by helping to resolve conflicts, deepen understanding and bring us all closer together.  Lorraine Hansberry Theatre is committed to producing plays about "who we really are," and by that, we mean who we all really are.

We need your support! 

Neat and Clean Budget Breakdown

 

Salaries: 50% Artistic, Technical, Front of House, Administrative

4 Actors • Director • 4 Designers • Royalties • Stage Manager • House Manager • Technical Director • Technician • Stage Crew• Box Office

 

Leasing Costs: 15%

Performance/Rehearsal Space•  Office

 

Materials: 7%

Set • Costume • Props•  Supplies

 

Marketing & Publicity: 25%

Publicist • Photographer • Poster/ Flyer/ Postcard Design and Printing •  Promotional Mailing Costs • Paid Listings/Advertisements • Postering Service • Website Design and Maintenance

 

Other: 3%

Script Copying • Program Printing • Audio Recording • Video Recording 

 

Other Ways You Can Help . . .

 

You can help support LHT’s production of Blue/Orange  written by Joe Penhall by coming to see the show and by spreading the word to your community, friends and colleagues by word of mouth, email and all forms of social media!

Ticket Perks

Tickets to performances are included in perks at various levels.  You can also buy tickets online or call our Box Office at (415) 474-8800.

 

Blue/Orange ARTISTIC and CAST MEMBERS

 

Steven Anthony Jones (LHT Artistic Director) has worked professionally on stage, television and film for 37 years. Most recently, he was a core company actor at American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.), where he acted, directed and taught before coming to LHT in March of 2011.

 

Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe (Director) holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Iowa  She has directing credits at Woolly Mammoth in Washington, DC, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival,  the Magic Theatre, the Southern Rep, among others.

 

Carl Lumbly (Christopher) is an actor respected for his steadfast talent, versatility and class. His prolific career includes over 50 credits in television, film and the theatre and extensive critical acclaim. He currently has a recurring role on the TNT cop drama, Southland, where he plays a new police captain.

 

Julian Lopez-Morillas (Robert) has acted and directed with nearly all of the major theatres in the Bay Area, including ACT, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, San Jose Stage, California Shakespeare Theatre, Eureka, Magic, Traveling Jewish Theatre, among others  Julian has performed in all thirty-eight of Shakespeare’s plays.

 

Dan Clegg (Bruce) has appeared in A.C.T.’s A Christmas Carol and at Cal Shakes in this season’s The Verona Project and The Taming of the Shrew. Before moving to the Bay Area, Dan lived in Montreal where he appeared in a variety of shows at Théâtre Olympia, the Rialto, and Players’ Theater.

 

Michael French (Understudy Christopher) was the Artistic Director of the infamous Glasshouse Theatre Company for five years where he wrote, directed and acted in many of his own plays.