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
There can be only one Melissa DuPrey! Trying to categorize her – is an exercise in futility. Melissa is a self- described “performer.” Even her own definition falls short of the mark. Classically trained in theater, Melissa has invented and reinvented herself numerous times. She is known for her acting, stand -up, producing, and activism – but more than any single definition, Melissa is a boundless force for growth. Her work challenges the status quo, societal limitations, while it also excavates her own personal traumas. Melissa DuPrey spends some time with us exploring the mix of drives and influences that make her relentless in the pursuit of personal growth
Born to a Cuban father and a Mexican mother, Patricia Ortega has been a bridge between cultures since the moment of her birth. Coming of age in Chicago, in the once racially and culturally diverse Lincoln Park neighborhood, Patrica balanced musical, social, and political influences as she charted a course for herself and other performers in music, theater, and dance.
A formidable live vocalist and recording artist, Patricia also evolved into a producer and educator of considerable accomplishment. Join us as she walks us through her evolution into a (uniquely Chicago) multi-hyphenate.
Solo Jams came along just in time to help launch another generation of performers. MPAACT was not unique in its efforts to provide a zero-cost launchpad for local artists – there had been many such initiatives in Chicago’s storied history. Still, what happened on our stages (for nearly a decade) helped elevate and transform some of the most dynamic arts makers in the city.
Javon Smith, Patricia Ortega, Melissa DuPrey and Lauren “LL” Lundy, all of whom broke into the “producing game” with Solo Jams, share what opportunities and obstacles came with the timely opening of MPAACT’s stages through the uncurated festivals, late-night and dark night programming collectively known as “Jams.”
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