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
BlaQ Market Monologues is drawn from the book of the same name. Through this collection of monologues, we get an opportunity to witness how we as individuals and as a community – grapple with the fundamental issues of our humanity.
These plays were introduced to the world through MPAACT. Voiced here by a stellar complement of actors. You have an opportunity to discover what we have long understood – these artists should be celebrated because these characters are transcendent.This volume features a collection of voices exploring the interpersonal dynamics of romantic relationships.
…it’s complicated.
Runako Jahi is a product of the Black Arts Movement. His career was just beginning as the powerhouse Black cultural institutions of Chicago were launching. Runako saw the rise of eta, Muntu Dance Theater, Chicago Theater Company, and the Third World Press.
Within a decade, he would grow from a student of the arts to the Artistic Director of eta, the oldest and longest operating Black theater in Chicago.
Join us as we talk with an Icon about the Black Arts Movement, his journey from nude model to arts leader, and the ever-changing arts scene in Chicago
Our Red Summer Songbook series returns with a look at the evolution of an American musical.
Since our initial staging of the production, our play continues to grow and refine, replete with new songs and expanded storylines. This volume looks to new songs for Ida B. Wells and mayor Big Bill Thompson (Tempers Timber and TNT), Connor and Declan – the Weir brothers (Ballad of Blood and Bone), and Black combat veterans of the great war – Dixon and Donald Lee (True).
Join our songwriters and performers as we look to the exciting growth of the productions and the crafting of new songs for Red Summer.
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