Carlyle Brown

This provocative solo work by writer/performer Carlyle Brown investigates the origins of American racism in the entertainment industry from 1828 to the present day. “Part spoken word, part stand-up comedy, and part TED Talk,” as Brown describes it, Acting Black is conceived to stimulate and encourage honest and open conversation about race, bias, and diversity. The 60-minute performance and PowerPoint presentation is followed by a 30-minute facilitated discussion with the audience.

Please note: this program recommended for mature audiences due to content and language.

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Department of Theatre, Office of Outreach and Engagement, College of Education and Human Ecology, College of Social Work, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Government Affairs, Office of the President, Office of Student Life, and University Libraries; the King Arts Complex; the Greater Columbus Arts Council; the National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network; and the Wexner Center for the Arts. This performance is presented in conjunction with Columbus’s yearlong celebration I, Too, Sing America: The Harlem Renaissance at 100.

Carlyle Brown is Artistic Director of Carlyle Brown & Company, a theatrical group based in Minneapolis. His previous visits to Columbus included a residency at James Thurber House (Playwright–in-Residence award), during which he directed his musical drama Yellow Moon Rising for Ohio State’s Department of Theatre. Brown’s other honors include The Black Theatre Network’s Winona Lee Fletcher Award (2006) for outstanding achievement and artistic excellence, a 2008 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a 2010 Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theatre, and a 2010 United States Artists Fellowship. Brown received the 2018 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater Award at the William Inge Theater Festival, for which his play Down in Mississippi was produced. In the summer of 2018, both Brown and fellow artist Chuck Mike conceived and facilitated the inaugural Cultural Diaspora residency program for African and African American playwrights at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France.

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Carlyle Brown, photo: Carlyle Brown & Company