Penumbra Theatre's 2005 Black Nativity preserves the original intent of a show that premiered in the Twin Cities 18 years ago. The inaugural production in 1987 centered the Nativity story around great promise of freedom as emancipated slaves made their way North above the Mason Dixon Line, reuniting with one another along the way.  Through the rich African American gospel tradition, that production rejoiced in the survival of community and family.

This year's production is set in the present, but returns to traditional African American values.  Spirituality and continuity are celebrated as we bring to light the important role of family to care for and heal its members.  While the production celebrates the Christmas season, the manner in which the community comes together for this labor of love demonstrates its capacity for rejuvenation and growth at any time.  The production is based upon stories told to us by our community and collected for Penumbra Theatre by Professor Tisch Jones.  They are real stories, told from a real, living, breathing community.  T. Mychael Rambo and I have enjoyed our attempt to give them dramatic treatment.  The stories are about us.  They are us.

Lou Bellamy
Artistic Director

“The process for me that is going to knit up the culture, knit up the fabric of the family, the collective family–all of us–is that we tell our own stories.  That we learn to tell them and tell them in our own words and that they embrace our values and that we keep on saying them, in spite of the madness, the chaos around us, and in spite of the pressure not to tell.”

– John Edgar Wideman 

Special thanks to the families who shared their stories with us: the Buckner family; the Ellis family; the Yates family; the Pettiford family; the Wright family; and the Burns family.