ConsTuriT Stuk Makes Wojdd TKewiem
By Torise Battle
rhc IMayMakers Repertory Company of Chapel Hill presented the world premiere of “Constant Star”, its
first production of the 1999-2()0() season. “Constant Star”, written and directed by Tazewell Thompson, ran
from Sept. 22 to October 19 with a special Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center night on September 29.
Ida B. Wells is a unique and genuine American heroine. Her undying courage, intellectual savvy and fierce
dedication to the crusade for civil rights have been shamefully neglected by historians. Born a slave in Holly
Springs, Miss., Wells was a feisty, complex, independent journalist who would become one of the most influen
tial activists in the civil rights, women's sutTrage, and anti-lynching movements at home and abroad.
This provocative, compelling and entertaining new play, laced with laughter and song, has a host of memo
rable characters including F'rederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Susan
B. Anthony anu .lane Addams. “Constant Star” celebrates the life and achievements of a great American
woman and is ;• "ibute to the invincibility of the human spirit.
Tazewell 1 ^ompson directed last season s acclaimed production of “Having Our Say”, as well as “The
Tempest”, “Master Class”, “As You Like It”, “Cymbeline” and “From the Mississippi Delta for PlayMakers”.
He has produced or directed 25 world and American premieres, working in cities like Syracuse, Seattle,
Cleveland, Paris. Tokyo and Madrid.
The cast includes Trazana Beverly, who won a Tony Award for her performance in “For Colored Girls Who
I lave Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf”; PlayMakers veterans Kimberly Hawthorne (“From the
R 41 : 'j\’infT Oiir
Marguerite Hannah and Kathryn Hunter Williams.
Photo by Barry Slobin
lop: (L-R) .Marguerite Hannali, Brcncia riiomas. Kimberly
Hawthorne, Irazana lieverley and Kathryn Hunter Williams in
PlayMakers’ 1999-2000 season opener Constant Star. Right:
Trazana Beverley in PlayMakers Repertory Company’s world
premiere 1999-2(K)0 season opener Constant Star
Photo by Barry Slobin
Black Ink