REBUILDING A
VOICE
By Courtney McSwain
When you think of Ebony Readers/Onyx
Theatre (E.R.O.T.) do you think of Black perfor
mance? Well soon you will change your mind. “I
want people to think of good Black performance,”
said Kamillah Williams, who is in charge of
E.R.O.T. this year. Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre
is a performing arts group and an official subgroup
of the Black Student Movement. While entertain
ing the public by perfonning poetry, prose, and
self-written plays, E.R.O.T. also strives to “enlight
en and celebrate” the lives of Black people. By
being one of the smaller groups on campus,
E.R.O.T. has lost some of its recognition.
However, E.R.O.T. plans to make a come back and
rebuild a strong voice that needs to be heard on
UNC’s campus.
In 1973 two separate groups. Ebony
Readers and Onyx Theatre, came together to form
one performing body that according to Williams
was “a force to be reckoned with.” Ebony
Readers/Onyx Theatre was very popular not only
on UNC’s campus, but also in the community as a
whole. Unfortunately, activeness in the group
declined along with the recognition that E.R.O.T.
held. Now, the members of E.R.O.T. plan to bring
the group’s name back to the forefront and grow to
become a part of UNC’s community that everyone
knows and respects.
In order to bring Ebony Readers/Onyx
Theatre back to the forefront, it must first have a
strong group of performers. In order to build a
strong group, E.R.O.T. holds auditions in both the
fall and spring semesters. During auditions, per
formers must memorize a piece of poetry or prose,
perform an improvisational skit, as well as perform
a reading on the spot. “We look for characteriza
tion, poise, and articulation,” said Williams. At the
beginning of the 1998 fall semester, E.R.O.T. held
auditions and added seven new members to bring
fresh talent to the group. People who tryout do not
need to be perfect, but need to have a desire to
become the best performers they can. “We’re
always striving to get better,” Williams said.
Along with getting better, one of the goals
that Williams has for E.R.O.T. is to learn more
about the history of the group, so that they can
strongly move into the future. “No one really
knows about our history,” said Williams. “We can’t
know about our future, until we know about our
past.” Getting in touch with history is important to
E.R.O.T.’s quest to evolve. Ebony Readers/Onyx
Theatre offers a unique opportunity to experience
the literature created by Black writers who not only
influenced the history of Black people, but record
ed it through their poems and novels, which so
often reflect the times in which they were written.
Celebrating the culture of the Black race is impor
tant to the black community, and the diversity of
UNC’s campus.
By attending performances given by
Ebony Readers/Onyx theatre, people from all races
and backgrounds can enjoy the richness of Black
culture. Throughout the year, E.R.O.T. will be per
forming in small venues including their first per
formance in the Student Union Cabaret on
November 18, titled “Cat Mama’s and Cat
Daddies.” In February, E.R.O.T. presents “Love
Potions” an annual tribute to Valentine’s Day with
love poems that everyone can share with their sig
nificant others. Also E.R.O.T. plans to present a
major production for the fall or spring semester.
The members of Ebony Readers/Onyx Theatre take
their performances very seriously and hope that
they will encourage more people to support them
in the future. As Williams says, “what we do is
important to us and we want you to think it is
important too.”
i
By attending
performances
given by
Ebony
Readers/Onyx
Theatre, peo
ple of all
races and
backgrounds
can enjoy the
richness of
Black culture.
The Black Ink
15