Michael
Atkins Yawn has a lot of big ideas to fit into a little theater.
Yawn is the artistic director of the
three-month old Imani Theatre Ensemble, the city’s first and only
all-African-American theater group. He is now leading the troupe in rehearsals
for The Homeboys, a play he wrote
(and the ensemble’s second production).
As
any leader of a community theater group, Yawn fills many roles. During a recent
rehearsal he called the security company for a malfunctioning alarm, blocked
the action (“nobody’s paying to see your back”), prompted lines, and reminded
his (mostly teenaged) cast not to jump off the wheelchair ramp.
Imani
is working out of Dazzle Theatre on Webster Street. Northeast Area Development
and the Dazzle School of Visual and Performing Arts converted the old movie
theater into a 173-occupancy performance space last November. Dazzle is still
waiting on grants to buy curtains, lights, and a sound system.
In
the meantime, the action takes place against a black wall. “Yeah, we’ll
probably have a set,” Yawn says. For him, right now, the set may not be the
point.
Yawn,
who has been in theater for 30 years, created Imani to give “opportunities for
African-Americans to tell some of our stories from the stage.” Specifically, The Homeboys, tells the story of street
gangs. It’s a well-worn issue, but Yawn took pains to avoid stereotypes. He
gave the gang leader a pair of solid, concerned parents to “show that the
family can be upstanding.” And he gave women strong roles. “You don’t see that
sometimes,” he says. “They’ve got dreams that get sidetracked.”
Anthony
Martinez, a junior at Wilson Magnet High School, plays the leader of the
Homeboys. He says, with a steady and unnervingly serious gaze, “[The play’s]
about how my death helps everyone straighten their lives out.”
Cassandra
Turner, a junior at Edison Tech who is also in the play, thinks people will
like the show. “It’s very realistic,” she says. “This stuff has happened to
people in the community.”
Rehearsal
resumes, and Yawn calls the actors back to their places. “I know it’s a lot,”
he says, “but practice makes perfection.”
Imani
Theatre Ensemble presents “The Homeboys” Fridays and Saturdays, April 16
through 24, at Dazzle Theatre, 112 Webster Avenue. Info: 503-7633.
—
Erica Curtis
Trees
in memory
A
reader called to mourn five shade trees
that city workers cut down late last week in a busy pedestrian zone.
Standing along the curb on the north
side of Park Avenue just west of Berkeley Street, the trees offered an
aesthetic break from the mini-plaza parking lot beside them. Now without them
(even before spring leafout) the site looks bare indeed.
One store manager we talked to said
she didn’t know the trees were coming down. But City Forester Ian Nadar says
his staff informed nearby residents by mail and also made a presentation to the
Park Avenue Merchants Association.
The trees, all littleleaf lindens,
were in bad shape, and three of the five were in “dangerous”
condition, says Nadar. The five will be replaced with new trees, he says.
Common street trees like lindens,
Norway maples, and honey locusts can cause “sidewalk lifting” and
other problems, says Nadar. But as he explains, city crews try to work around
the problems without resorting to the chain saw.
For example, says Nadar, workers
recently dealt with several shade trees that were heaving some asphalt near the
Flint Street Recreation Center. In that case, he says, it was possible to
remove a bit of asphalt, not the trees.
‘Cheeseburger’
politics
The
philosophy of the Republican Party boils — ahem — down to
cheeseburgers.
So Larry Staub, vice-chair of the
Monroe County GOP, told students at MCC’s Damon City Campus recently. The
campus held a forum to discuss political party platforms. Staub represented the
GOP. The Democratic torch was carried by county Democratic Chairwoman Molly
Clifford.
The fact that 137 Democrats voted
against the so-called “Cheeseburger Bill,” which protects restaurants like
McDonald’s from obesity-related lawsuits, shows that Democrats believe “you can
sue your way to better health,” Staub said.
“Taking responsibility for one’s own
actions — that’s the crux of what the Republican Party stands for,” he said.
Democrats, Clifford said, believe
that until everyone has the same opportunities in terms of education, health
care, and jobs, “government has to help.”
The government and the Democratic
Party, Clifford said, can work together to be “a force for good” in this
country.
Staub and Clifford took questions
from the audience on school nurses, Iraq, jobs, and other issues.
The invasion of Iraq was “a sensible
action,” Staub said, adding that the world is safer without Saddam Hussein in
power.
Democrats support American troops,
argued Clifford, but the invasion raises troubling questions about the failure
to find WMDs, the continuing upheaval in Iraq, why Iraq was singled out when
other countries have equally brutal dictators, and the fact that the invasion
lacked international support.
Marketing
cooperation
The
Abundance Cooperative Market is
celebrating its third birthday with activities April 2 through 4 at the store,
62 Marshall Street. (Actually, there’s a much longer lineage: Abundance developed
out of the old Genesee Co-op Foodstore on Monroe Avenue, which traced its
history back to the 1960s.) A true member-owned cooperative, the store now has
800 shareholder-owners.
The celebrations will start Friday,
7 p.m., with an opening for a show featuring photographs by several Abundance
members. On Saturday morning, WYSL radio host Michael Warren Thomas will
broadcast live from the store. And on Saturday and Sunday, there will be music
by the Darlings, a blues-folk group; pianist Kevin Fukugawa; and “folk ‘n’
roll” performers Doug Waterman and Bobby Maville. Also, Bill and Djed’s
Excellent Adventure, a storytelling group, will be on hand Saturday for blues
and poetry.
For more information, call Abundance
manager Jackie Farrell, 454-2667; or visit www.abundancecoop.com.
Future of your health
Two experts on health care reform will face off this week on the best way to improve America’s health systems.
On Monday, April 5, 7 p.m., at the Rochester Academy of Medicine, 1441East Avenue, Dr. Steffie Woolhandler of Harvard Medical School and Physicians for a National Health Program will debate Dr. William Dolan, past president of the Medical Society of the State of New York and the Monroe County Medical Society.
Woolhandler will speak for single-payer universal health care, a system similar to those in almost all other advanced industrial nations. Dolan will represent the views of the American Medical Association, which favors keeping the employer-based health insurance system and increasing coverage through tax credits.
The free event is sponsored by the American Medical Student Association (which favors single-payer), the American Medical Association Student Section, the Interfaith Health Alliance, the Greater Rochester Community of Churches, and the Downtown Community Forum. To RSVP, and for more information, contact UR med student Corey Fehnel, 244-4817; corey_fehnel@urmc.rochester.edu.
Correcting
ourselves
In
his March 3 “Gut instincts” review of Infantino’s, Adam Wilcox incorrectly
implied that there was butter (a ton of it) in the restaurant’s greens and
beans. There is, in fact, no butter in the dish. Our apologies to Infantino’s
and the lactose intolerant.
In Annual Manual 2004, the
neighborhoods article (“Claiming your turf”) incorrectly implies that Chili
Avenue stretches into the South West Area Neighborhood. And the arts and
culture article (“They call that culture,”) neglected to mention the
theater productions at JCCenterstage. The Centerstage at Jewish Community
Center is a professional community theater that offers high-quality shows
throughout the year.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2004.
