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.
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First Monday Releases
Shariba Rivers is simply the most vibrant, most versatile actor on the Chicago stage. A Baton Rouge, LA native, Shariba has called Chicago home for more than 20 years, building an impressive career on stage and screen.
Theater came as a third career – later in life than most. Starting off in small storefront theater, Shariba cut her teeth with new plays in small companies – quickly closing the gap between herself and the most established actors.
Awards followed, placing her in the top tier of Chicago artmakers. Her career has flourished, allowing Shariba to finally fulfill her passion as a full- time actor.
She sits down here, with long-time collaborator and friend Shepsu Aakhu, to discuss her journey, their collaborations, and her drive for excellence in everything she undertakes.
SOURCE CODE is a new series that looks at the foundational DNA of a play or play series. Utilizing the original source audio from archival interviews we take a moment to listen to the people and the stories that gave rise to full productions.
SOURCE CODE – AUNT CHRIS explores the woman referenced directly or indirectly in Shepsu Aakhu’s Beneath a Dark Sky, Fascia, Speaking in Tongues, Warm on the Coolin’ Board, and Never the Milk & Honey.
Interviewed here as background for Never the Milk & Honey, we hear from Aunt Chris herself, about her life of profound faith and compassion.
In Volume 2: Candid Convos contributing writers Aaron Todd Douglas, Joeseph Giovanetti, Shepsu Aakhu and Tina Fakhrid-Deen deploy their considerable talents in scenes that confront some of the most hot-button topics in our nation.
Race, gender, class, entitlement, predation and victimhood are all evicted from the abstract to take up residence in scenes with immediacy and personal consequences.
How refreshing it is to explore the unguarded spaces of interpersonal relationships.
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