This is a Classic: The Expand the Canon Theatre Podcast

If you’re looking for an ensemble-lead choreopoem that explores the Black experience in the entertainment industry… consider Spell #7 by celebrated playwright Ntozake Shange. Set in the late 70s in St. Louis, Missouri, the play welcomes us into a world not too far from our own, forcing us to reckon with the realities of the “isms” in creative spaces. The play takes us through the lives of 9 characters who are fighting to discover themselves as artists in a society that sees them as one dimensional after-thoughts. Using a mixture of lush poetry and stylized choreography (and guided by a literal magician), the ensemble explores the effects of blackface and violence against Black women in the entertainment industry and beyond.

Hosted by Shannon Corenthin and Skye Pagon

Monologue by Terra Chaney