Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Wake Forest receives grant to produce plays focused on social issues

From left: Wake Forest Associate Provost for the Arts and Interdisciplinary Initiatives Christina Soriano, Artistic Director of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company Jackie Alexander, and Dean of the Wake Forest School of Divinity Jonathan Lee Walton. Photo courtesy WFU.

Wake Forest University has received a grant to commission and produce two original plays to be presented during the 2024 National Black Theatre Festival. 

The $250,000 grant comes from the Henry Luce Foundation. It will benefit a project called “Finding Holy Ground: Performing Visions of Race and Justice in America.” The effort is a collaboration between the Wake Forest School of Divinity, the North Carolina Black Repertory Company, and Wake The Arts.

According to a news release, the goal is to choose works that encourage community conversations on race, justice, and religion. Playwrights are being asked to address thematic topics such as homophobia, racism, white supremacy, and social inequities.

Jackie Alexander is the artistic director of the North Carolina Black Repertory Company. Alexander says that while his introduction to theater came through the church, he's troubled by conflicting messages often disseminated through the institution. His hope is that this project can confront those contradictions and inspire constructive dialogue.

The plays will be presented at the 2024 National Black Theatre Festival. 

The announcement comes as the community mourns the loss of the festival's executive producer Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, who died earlier this month.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate