What's Inside?
Full Catalogue
Explore our selection of over 40 uniquely Black stories, vividly performed and expertly crafted.
Backstage
Get a deeper dive into the history and making of some of your favorite stories.
Interviews with Icons
Hear directly from some of the most influential talents in Black culture.
Listen Magazine
Enjoy a monthly magazine that contains sneak peeks, insightful information, and other tidbits.
First Monday Releases
In 2009 Chicago made national news with yet another scandal. This one was noteworthy because it veered radically from the typical scandal factories of political corruption, organized crime, and urban violence.
A historic Black cemetery, the final resting place of Emmitt Till and Dinah Washington, was thrust into the national spotlight, as their systematic desecration of the dead was brought to light. This scandal rocked even the most cynical of Chicagoans.
Warm on the Coolin’ Board is a revival of the production that was staged in the immediate aftermath of the scandal.
For us, this show was personal. Most every Black Chicagoan with roots in the great migration has family buried in Burr Oak cemetery. This play reminds us of the tenuous nature of our relationships to the departed, and the needs of those on both sides of the great divide.
In February of 2025, director Lauren “LL” Lundy and playwright Shepsu Aakhu sat to discuss their journey through the “spirit plays” of the playwright. Over a drink and a smoke, they spoke of their 11 years of artistic collaboration. The two have worked on the world premieres of By Association, Feral, and Warm on the Coolin’ Board, along with the podcast recordings of The Glow of Reflected Light, Fascia, and Kiwi Black, as well as the developmental workshops for Shepsu’s new play – The Companion.
Theirs is a unique partnership. Over the years Lauren has been granted access to the family members that sit at the heart of so many of Shepsu’s spirit plays. With Shepsu, Lauren has journeyed to the family burial grounds seeking to better understand the foundational relationships that continue to influence their collaborations.
It’s a frank convo around the most fragile of subjects – family, and the challenges of telling the stories of real people – thinly veiled in fictional narratives.
Feral premiered in 2016. It was a difficult year for the Black community. The national media was delivering a message that rarely reached beyond local coverage – police departments in most every jurisdiction where they encountered Black people, had an appalling rate of deathly interactions with the Black community. Our creative team gathers here to discuss the play and its impact.
Returning to Our Roots
From the time of our ancestors, our story and our history has been told orally. The Griot in our villages kept and told the oral history of our people, and passed it down to the next generations. More recently, our transplanted elders gathered the family around the victrola radio in the living room and listened to the news and stories of the world, as well as weekend episodes of the family’s favorite radio serials.
Birthed during the global pandemic which shuttered our theatre doors for a year, we took heart in the ability to return to our elders’ tradition. MPAACT invites you to stream our Podcast Play Series- radio plays presented for your enjoyment. Gather around with family and enjoy dynamically Black stories presented comfortably in your home.
Who We Are
MPAACT exists to develop, nurture, and sustain Afrikan Centered Theatre [ACT], an artistic expression grounded in the many cultures and traditions of the Afrikan continent and its Diaspora. With a vision focused on creating new work and collaborative art, MPAACT produces and educates with the goal of increasing understanding and appreciation of [ACT] and its interrelated disciplines.
MPAACT has grown from a collective of like-minded individuals who shared an artistic vision, to an organization that has produced a formidable body of work. This work includes: main stage productions, a playwright’s laboratory, standing productions, original music, a publishing company [Sakhu Publications], an arts education program, and many workshops and master classes.
It is important to us as a company that we, in everything we do, pull from the disparate cultural elements which unite artists in the Afrikan Diaspora. Drawing from the well that nourished artists such as Wole Soyinka, Charles Mingus, Adrienne Kennedy, Amiri Baraka and Bob Marley among others, we create and perform work, which examines and celebrates the many facets of Afrikan theatre.
Want to learn more? Visit our official website mpaact.org!
Contact
Greenhouse Theatre Center
2257 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
information@mpaact.org
661.373.3089
Mail: P.O. Box 10039
Chicago IL, 60610