T H E R E B I R T H O F A C R E A T I V E F U N K
Black theater existed on the University's campus a few decades before Christopher Matthews. Black students came together to perform poetry and drama of African American writers, under the guidance of a faculty member during the racial turbulence of the 1970s. In October 1992, the Black Student Theater was formally brought into being by Lowell Christopher Matthews. Under his leadership Black Student Theater became a registered student organization, the first black student theater RSO on campus. Christopher Matthews, a man with a purpose who saw the need for a different voice on this campus. He observed a campus growing in its diversity but unaware of the struggles endured by this integral population, namely African Americans. The Black Student Theater "as a way to honor and represent the artistic culture and contributions of African Americans, not as a race, but as people with a different lense."
In 1995, Jamie Wilson, president of the Black Student Theater journeyed to the Mother Land and returned with a gift. His gift to the theater was a new name to further our purpose - Khulumani, which means TO SPEAK OUT in Swahili. Since then, the Black Student Theater has become the Khulumani Theater Troupe, the purpose of which is to accurately and vividly portray the African American experience through drama. "To Speak Out" about the contributions to the community, this is the goal of KTT to express the voice of African Americans in and through theater - Black Theater.
M. Drew, M. Lloyd, Charles Stanback III, J. Odle, J. Lewis, G. Lamy, S. Nesbit, P. Gibbs, L. Peele, L. Maddrey, D. Parker, E. Kaplan, S. Rairigh, C. Norris, A. Robinson, U. Greens, C. Mack, D. Brady, M. Walker, H. Upshur, M. Perry (to name a few) and countless others have joined together annually to renew the spirit in which the Khulumani was formed and to uphold its goals, to advance the group in membership, quality, and to broaden its audiences.
Since the time of its birth the growth of the now Khulumani had been amazing. Even when there were limited funds, students have pulled together to bring the community the best productions possible. Past productions include: "Driving Miss Daisy", "The Wiz", "Who's Got His Own", "Nguzo Saba: The Kwanzaa Lesson", "Purlie" and "A Raisin in the Sun".
Under the leadership of Kristal Collins, Khulumani was reborn with a landmark production of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf", "The Nervous Breakthrough of a Berdache Boy" written and directed by Jermaine Lewis , and "Pages from the Black Book" written and directed by Aleah Braxton. KTT also re-emerged as griot - and traveled the Delaware area renacting stories and folktales from early Black American, Caribbean, and African cultures. Stories like those found in Virginia Hamilton's "People Could Fly".
The stories, poetry, and dramas Khulumani Theater Troupe perform center on life as seen through the eyes of the individual, the community and society as a whole. From the hearts of writers, poets, and other dramatists - our performances have included works written and produced by our own members. We seek to encourage the self-exploration, social criticism, and vocalization not only of our contemporaries but of ourselves.
Black Student Theater is constantly testing the bounds of theater as we know it. Khulumani Theater Troupe is not just for black students, but for any student willing to learn, and explore drama through the works and contributions people from non-traditional backgrouds have made to both literature and theater, promoting it continuance.
