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
We created a musical and we did so in phases. Red Summer began as a pre-pandemic “what if” between Shepsu Aakhu and Andrew White.
For a period spanning five years (and one pandemic), that original “what if” became an “if-then,” with wave after wave of workshops, readings, and sing-throughs, helping us build and refine our vison for the production. That effort culminated in a week-long fully mounted production – Red Summer.
From there, our “if-then” became a “now-what?” We could “live” in the world that we built, filled with music, combat, and vibrant characters. Now we were ready to tear it all down – to make it better.
Red Summer Remixed is the retooled musical complete with new songs, new scenes, and deeper connections.
Now what?
Try this!
Ten Square hit theaters in 2009. America had just elected a Black president and most theater goers were not in the mood for a dystopian look at race and reparations. The show was stellar, but the viewing public was sharply divided on the merits of the conversation. For a great many Black people this was a long overdue conversation about how Black people think about politics, and what might be of our future, if our thoughts ever had the opportunity to manifest. In a world where a Black man was cast in the improbable role as the American President – our minds were open to a world of possibilities. For white audiences, Ten Square was confusing. Shouldn’t the Obama presidency be a time of great joy and optimism? In this Backstage, the creatives behind the play explore those questions.
Ten Square hit theaters in 2009. America had just elected a Black president and most theater goers were not in the mood for a dystopian look at race and reparations. The show was stellar, but the viewing public was sharply divided on the merits of the conversation. For a great many Black people this was a long overdue conversation about how Black people think about politics, and what might be of our future, if our thoughts ever had the opportunity to manifest. In a world where a Black man was cast in the improbable role as the American President – our minds were open to a world of possibilities. For white audiences, Ten Square was confusing. Shouldn’t the Obama presidency be a time of great joy and optimism? In this Backstage, the creatives behind the play explore those questions.
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