This week on Inside Appalachia, we visit a summer camp that’s part of the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan. Also, during the Great Depression, Osage, West Virginia was a raucous river town. It’s sleepier now, but music is keeping the magic alive. And, the author of an upcoming graphic novel about pipeline fighters has a message for people outside the region.
Theater Production Brings Story Of AIDS Epidemic’s Impact On Black Americans To Eastern Panhandle
From left, Donja R. Love, Peggy McKowen and Theresa M. Davis sit together in an office space at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown.Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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In 2019, Black Americans accounted for more than 41 percent of AIDS cases in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Donja R. Love, a playwright based in New York, says he rarely sees that reality reflected in the arts. More often, retellings of the AIDS epidemic forgo discussions of race entirely.
“I didn’t see myself reflected in the works. These works often hold space for white, cis queer affluent men. That’s not my story, and that’s not the story of so many folks who I know,” Love said. “So I wanted to do, as a dramatist, my part to say ‘I see you. I see me. I see us.’”
For Love, that meant writing his latest theater piece, “What Will Happen to All That Beauty?” — a multigenerational story about how the AIDS epidemic impacted a Black family in the 1980s.
Love’s production is showing throughout July at the Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University, an annual event that has brought together artists from across the country since 1991.
But Love doesn’t refer to the work as a play.
“I call it an offering. And I call it an offering because I think it’s so important to note that historically, throughout theater and just society, people of color, specifically Black folks, have been left out of the conversation around HIV and AIDS,” he said. “So this is a way for me to offer representation, to offer softness, grace, beauty and love to a community that for so long may not have felt that.”
House Management Intern Savana Petranoff scans an attendee’s entry ticket for a production at the Contemporary American Theater Festival.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
This theme of compassion being denied to Black people living with HIV comes up throughout Love’s piece. But the story also shows how Black LGBTQ people still created spaces for community and compassion, often through one another.
Coming from New York, Love says putting a production on in West Virginia seemed daunting. He wasn’t sure what his reception would be like as a Black LGBTQ creative visiting the Mountain State.
But he’s found that people have been welcoming, and that audiences have been receptive to his work even when they might not personally relate to its content.
“The folks who may see themselves most reflected in the work may not be the ones most reflected in the audience,” Love said.
But Love says that means the piece, for many, can offer a moment of learning.
“Hey, now I know this thing. Now I know what’s happening. What can I do with the access that I have, with the resources that I have?” he said.
Folks involved with organizing the festival say the type of learning Love talks about is something they consciously want to bring to West Virginia.
The annual Contemporary American Theater Festival is held at the Marinoff Theater, located at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“As one of the major cultural institutions in West Virginia, it is our duty and our responsibility to serve the community here,” said Peggy McKowen, the festival’s artistic director.
For her, serving the community partially means bringing high-quality productions to the state, and encouraging community members to show up with initiatives like recurring discounted rates for West Virginia residents. But it also means something a little deeper.
“Our responsibility to do that is what enables us to provide the opportunity for this kind of art, which is really asking the audience to participate, to be involved in, to really think about, to profoundly receive and feel something,” she said.
Like Love, McKowen said conversations that begin in theater can translate to real-life learning and change. Associate artistic director Theresa H. Davis says the festival’s influence extends even beyond the Eastern Panhandle.
“We have people that come from all over the country. Last year, I met a couple that said they heard about us [and] drove all the way from Florida to see the shows,” Davis said. “We are very proud to be able to produce work that brings together a community of festival friends from all over.”
Love, McKowen and Davis emphasize that getting the festival up and running is a team effort, requiring the support of production staff, actors and even audience members themselves.
In addition to Love’s piece, there’s a slate of four other plays running through the end of our month. To learn more or purchase a ticket to these performances, visit the Contemporary American Theater Festival’s website at catf.org.
This week on Inside Appalachia, we visit a summer camp that’s part of the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan. Also, during the Great Depression, Osage, West Virginia was a raucous river town. It’s sleepier now, but music is keeping the magic alive. And, the author of an upcoming graphic novel about pipeline fighters has a message for people outside the region.
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