Please stand by. Please stand by. Please stand by. >> Good evening, welcome. Happy world theater day. [APPLAUSE] Those are four powerful words. My name is Derek Goldman and with my colleague, and the cofounding director of the laboratory for performance in politics founded in 2012. The mission to harness the power of performance, to humanize global politics. When people ask us what we mean by that mission, I think it looks an awful law like tonight, and this room and this event. It is an extraordinary gathering . The energy in this room, the energy around artists he will meet tonight have been in a short residency here, feels like a living, thing testimony to the power of theater and the power of stories to connect us across cultures and experiences, to wrestle with the most complex -- complex, pricing issues in our world and create empathy and understanding, at a time when swirling around us is so much polarization and distrust, so many wounds up and, so many who have never been addressed or redressed. So much uncertainty, pain, rage, longing. This gathering feels like a momentous occasion of confound convergence, as amazing shape shifters from around the world come here in Washington to share different perspectives and discover all we have in common. The dream that led to tonight's gathering sparked last summer with our colleagues from the world of theater initiative. We hosted a convening at Georgetown with just over 200 people for more than 20 countries on the theme of finding home, migration, exile, and the longing as part of theater communication's group's national conference. Among many memorable highlights of the day, one of the most moving was Josette's inspiring account of her production of "A Raisin in the Sun," the first major production of the classic play in Sweden. Some months before, Cynthia and I on separate as it had been to Johannesburg to the legendary market theater and spent time with an artistic Director and learned among other things, about the historic production of Hansberry's classic play he was showing there. Our close collaborators and longtime partners here in Washington were planning to produce the play in a major revival which begins performances later this week. This event stemmed from our collective wondering, with the amazing Linda Zachrison, what it might mean to bring artists from the three productions together as a catalyst for deeper explanation, and after those past couple of days and watching the artist and direct, I can see reality has far exceeded our expectations. Our global theater initiative with T KG serves as the U.S. Center for the international theater Institute, which under the umbrella of UNESCO, is the world's largest performing arts organization advancing UNESCO's goals of mutual understanding and peace and advocating for the protection and promotion of cultural expression through centers in 90 countries spread over every continent in the world. 90 centers all over the world devoted to theater. Since 1962, three years after the premiere of "raisin," ITI has commemorated world theater day every March 27, a celebration of the value and importance of the artform and, in ITI's wods,rsd, quote, a wake-up call for governments and institutions around the world which have not yet recognized its value to the people. So it's meaningful that as we gather in force here in Washington, D.C. at a time when our new administration is working to eliminate government support for the humanities and the arts, and -- as steep and dire as the events have been, it is important to be on campus here in Georgetown where the values that animate us, our colleagues and students, feel like they are burning brighter and more urgently than ever. The pursuit of social justice, inquiry, imagination, and freedom of expression, concern for the greater good. We are seeing resistance and impact through the formation of new alignments and collaborations from people from different disciplines and sectors. I have a fair number of people to rank, which I will try to do quickly but fervently. I think the number there are two thank, this is not a laundry list. This is meaningful and indicative of exactly the hour of what is here in this room, the range of partners and incredible convergence here, and there are many who I could think but I'm not going to who are kind of part of that ripple effect. A huge thank you to Linda a Zachrison, as well as our ambassador and colleagues of the Swedish Embassy, to our partners in the global theater initiative with TCG. With whom we have partnered to form GTI, which strengthens, nurtures, and promotes global citizenship and international collaboration in the U.S. professional and educational the other field, trying to make the U.S. theater less isolationist and were inclusive, to the extraordinarily, brilliant director of the literary trust and her team. We will hear from Joi shortly. With gratitude for the generosity of Andrew, who has made so many events possible to the Georgetown partnership. Into the Dean of Georgetown school of foreign service, for having the vision to see that storytelling, the arts, narrative, and of the are essential pillars from one of the world's pleading schools of international relations, especially in these times. It's rare this kind of work is prioritized in this context. We feel honored to be part of an SFS and in terms of the whole staff and team and support for helping make this, our first major event possible. To our colleagues in the Department of performing arts here at Georgetown, which is my home, especially are amazingly generous and brilliant chair, a leading expert on Arena stage's current production. I also want to thank the dean from the college. His leadership and care for the performing arts has been vital to my time here over the past decade. To the brilliant Kwame Kwei-A rmah, a giant of the global director. We are in 2013, he produced the celebrated "Raisin" cycle, with plays inspired by "A Raisin in the Sun," including his own play. Kwame will give the world theater and address. Our friends from Mosaic Theatre of Dacey -- of D.C. And perhaps especially to each and every one of the extraordinary artists from South Africa for making this journey, for sharing themselves with us so generously and with each other, as well as the artists from the Arena stage production, and a special nod to the other D.C. artists, too, if you care about theater in D.C., you know these are two of the leading lights of our D.C. theater program. To vijay Matthew and our partners at HowlRound, who are the reason that we are live streaming this event to the world. Lastly, I would be remiss not to acknowledge that this event and everything the lab does and undertakes would be entirely impossible without the superhuman efforts of our managing Director and our only full-time staff member. [APPLAUSE] In a particularly moving interview between Lorraine Hansberry and the legendary journalist and oral historian from 1959, just after the premiere of "Raisin," Hansberry siad, quote, I quote this particular time a new mood in the country. We have gone through 10 years of misery under McCarthy and all that nonsense. To the great credit of the American people, they got rid of it. And they are making new sounds. I'm glad I was here to make one. At the time she was 29 years old and she would live only five more years. But nearly six decades later, here we are, and that sound she made hasn't dried up, but reverberates with immediacy in South Africa, Sweden, Washington, D.C., and sites around the globe. That sound conjures us to listen deeply to one another, to reflect on the past, to notice and bear witness to the present, to imagine the future and to forge new relationships that will strengthen that future. This way of coming together is a powerful antidote to the polarization, oppression, xenophobia, and distrust around us. Theater can be spectacularly good at countering polarization, to the empathy it enables in a live communal setting like this one. I'm really so thrilled we will be able to show this evening with you. I would ask you to turn your cell phones off so we are not interrupted by anything unwelcome. Among the many distinguished guests I've mentioned, we are particularly honored to be joined by the current ambassador of the Republic of South Africa to the United States of America, who will share a few words of welcome and some insight into the history and impact of Johannesburg's legendary market theater. Please join me in welcoming ambassador Mninwa Mahlangau. [APPLAUSE] Ambassador Mahlangau: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are very much honored at the South African Embassy today to be part of this year's celebration of theater in partnership with our friends from Sweden and the United States. I say friends because my country could never have achieved its freedom without the support of these two nations. And I'm sure you are all well read about the history and you understand well what I mean about that. Those have not had a chance to do so, many books and many plays do demonstrate that you will sounderstand as time goes on what am I referring to. South Africa can never forget the political and financial support that was extended by Sweden to the anti-apartheid movement as one of the first countries in the West to support our struggle. Neither can we forget the support we received from American people that led to the adoption of the comprehensive anti-apartheid act in 1986. Which provided a deadly blow to the apartheid system. You remember that amendment was called the Ranger amendment. That amendment has meant a lot to us and has made us what we are today. We are a free country, a democratic state in South Africa, and we belong to the globe like all of you today sitting in here. And that's the reason -- [APPLAUSE] And that's one of the reasons that why we collaborate, why we work with you, why we partner with you, because to us it's very important. Friends and brothers are there in need and indeed, when we really answer sleep need them. Neither can we forget the support also that we got for many of you sitting in this house in different forms. Many people around the world were not aware of what is happening in South Africa during those dark days of apartheid. It took people, like who we are commemorating, and many others to be deployed, around the world to communicate what was happening in South Africa. When many of us, we are pressed in our own country, and were slick, when we are silenced in our own country, it was the acts that played the measure in telling the story. Where in silence you couldn't tell the story. When you are threatened, and you couldn't tell the story. But the act was able to perform very expressly and clearly. To the world, not just to a few. Places such as market heater played an important role in ensuring what the voices of silence were heard through the performance. Most of the people around the world got to learn about Wallace happening in South Africa through commissioning work by the theater and in the name of theater of the struggle. ". Ladies and gentlemen, this goes to show what a critical role theater plays in our society. And I believe the same to be true around the world. We face different challenges today, around the world, and has been the case in the past. We will continue to look in the theater as one of the mediums to help us understand and unpack what is happening in our different societies. Many parts of the country are still in silence today one way or other. But the theaters can unpack that and demonstrate on the stage or platform as you will be doing tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, internationally, for international solidarity became one of the end pillars in our struggle to end apartheid. We were able to draw inspiration from others in the civilized movement and many other formations fighting for justice and equality around the world. As you know, all of you, that the political landscape and economic landscape changes from time to time. The theater will continue to play and raise those issues on the stage. I was therefore encouraged to learn about the collaboration effort to pioneer the work of Lorraine Hansberry, "A Raisin in the Sun," interpreted in three Continental cross-cultural contexts very and that's how you speak to us and that's how you speak to the world and how you speak to all of us. It speaks to our need to come together as the people of the world, to face our current challenges through collaboration effort. Simply because we are not islands, we cannot live alone. Your people of the world. For us to succeed and prosper, it is necessary to do what we are doing tonight. Cross-cultural speaking can make us a wonderful world to live in. And can bring that unity that we need and make a wonderful living for all of us and create peace in the world. I therefore want to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in bringing us together here on this important occasion. Thank you. The Swedish people are here. The United States is here. Many others. I have no words to say thank you tonight, but thank you very much. Let the evening go well. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] [NO AUDIO] >> Culture counselor for the Embassy of Sweden. We based close by here is something called House of Sweden, by the waterfront of Georgetown. I would like to invite all of you to come and see us there. We are open every weekend to the public. We have events going on all the time. Me and my colleagues work all over the U.S.. We constantly try to work through the arts. And in collaborations with the arts. This year we're focusing on migration. Sweden, in fact, welcomed more refugees than any other European country in relation to its population. We took in more than 200,000 refugees the last two years. [APPLAUSE] The equivalence figure in the U.S. would be 6 million people. This has created quite a debate, also here in the U.S., that we want to address in different ways. My background is with the arts. Before coming here almost two years ago, I have 20 years of experience from mostly with theater but also dance, circus, and film and cultural policies. Through our work, we are trying to find ways of nuancing the debates. Right now we have two exhibitions on this play on migration. One of them is called "Sweden, beyond the headlines." The other is a photo exhibition by a photographer who followed refugee children and asked them where they are sleeping. He has taken very strong photos. It's called "where the children sleeps." it is on display until June, and I think you all should see it. Also, on the relationship between Sweden and South Africa, have to mention the institution in Sweden where I spent most of my days, and since 1991, that theater had a great relation and exchange going on with the market heater in Johannesburg that has contributed so much to the development and learning can understanding in Swedish theater and Swedish society to. Thank you for that. I believe in the power of performance and I believe in the power of conversation. I really think that we can through the arts create nuances, the reality, and go beyond black and white and beyond polarization. This experience, just as Derek explained, has been a very organic one in an amazing way. It feels like in these troubling times, we are all eager in almost electric way of taking a stand, from the first crazy idea that came up when I approached TCG and the New York offices 1 1/2 year ago, suggesting we should invite Josette Bush ell-Mingo, this magnificent actress from Sweden, to come to the conference here in D.C.. They were like yes. All the way through this process until today, and I think also for the future, everyone has jumped on board without knowing really how to make this happen, but just said, we have to do it. We have to do it. And when Josette came here, as Derek described, she came speaking at the preconference here for 200 people, and she was fearless. She was fearless in the exact way that the debate needs. She addressed all the hardest issues with such an emotional maturity and competence. And, it started a spark. It kicked off new ideas and a thirst to move on, think bigger, dgig deeper, and investigate further. Thank you to all wonderful partners in the U.S. for believing in the idea of bringing the first Afro-Swedish ensemble ever to meet with theater colleagues from the African the aspera from around the world to share experiences. Thank you all for -- thank you also to the Swedish arts Council and the Swedish arts dance committee for your support in making this happen. I think that nowhere else in the world is the importance of this event and this conversation larger than right here and right now. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] Now, it's time to start celebrating world theater day. And I like you all to welcome the amazing Kwame Kwei-Armah on stage, please. Kwame: Thank you so much. Good evening, everybody. It sounds like five people out here. Good evening, everybody. Yes, we are here to celebrate world theater day. What beautiful words they are. First of all, I have to thank any and everyone who is responsible for asking me here today. What a beautiful honor. What we do is a beautiful thing, at least it is to me, and to be able to speak to it for but a few minutes is really touching and humbling. The iconic American theater practitioners once said, the gift of the artist is the gift of sight. For those of us whose primary area of expression is the theater, I might augment that by adding, the gift or even the basic requirement to the theater artist is to think. To dream forward. Dream is a curious word, isn't it? It can carry the connotation of an unrealistic aspiration, and intangible thing yet to be made manifest. Beautiful desire, experienced with eyes closed and bodies in space grade but to me as a theater artist, dreaming is what we do all day, every day, with our eyes wide open and our feet firmly placed on the ground. But we are not the only people who dream. The world is currently unsettling. What is clear to me is that this is someone posturing. This is someone's desire made most manifest. The rise of populist nationalism across the West and parts of Asia could not -- should not have been a surprise to those who have the gift of sight. It should have been a huge wake-up call to those that dream forward. That probably many questions in May. Somewhere along the line, did I commented we -- did I, did we dilute our dreams of an inclusive world? Did we subconsciously think our values were unrealistic aspirations to be experienced momentarily, only with our eyes closed? Did we simply not leave enough? -- believe enough? I began to get a little depressed. Then I remembered that I am a theater artist. And here is the beautiful thing about theater. It is best experience with our eyes fully open, best made with our fears and our questions and our wounds on full display. It can only be constructed with the mutuality of absolute interdependence. Individuality has no place here and there are no alternative facts to that. [APPLAUSE] Theater is a palace dedicated to and sanctified for the pursuit of truth, using the spirit and the mind and site as its tools. At best, it pushes the soul into permanent action. We all know that because we all fight for that opening night, don't we? Do I sound a cat evangelical? Yes, I do. And why should I not be? I want everyone on this planet to partake in this art form in whatever way they can. Ultimately when I dream forward, I see a world that fully utilizes the power of communal narrative creation to help re-human eyes are families, -- rehumanize our families, our countries, and our world. Theater ultimately rehumanizes the most powerful tool on the planet. No, that is not the Internet. It is the human heart. And ultimately we as theater artists are here to do just that, make the human heart stronger, beat faster, see further, and dream bigger. Happy world theater day. [APPLAUSE] >> Good evening. My name is Joi Gresham, and I am the literary executive to the estate of Lorraine Hansberry. Under the order -- Robert never of was Lorraine's creative collaborator, and the person whom she trusted most with her words and her thoughts, and Robert was named by Lorraine as her literary executive upon her death. In 1967, Robert married my mother, and I was her 10-year-old only child. At that time we moved to the Croton on Hudson home, which was Lorraine and bob's. I lost my father in 1991 to cancer, and in 2005, my mother followed him, also dying of cancer. It was at that time that I took the helm as literary trustee, and so my work began. Now, the work that I do as literary trustee is that I manage all the rights, I license all the print, audio, photographic, film, stage, and intellectual properties of this artist. Nothing can go to print, two-stage, -- to stage, to recording without coming through me. And I take this awesome responsibility very seriously and with tremendous humility. Lorraine is not often recognized for the breadth of her brilliance and her voice. She was a prolific essayist, speaker, and cultural critic. Let me say a few words about "A Raisin in the Sun." I was asked to give you a broad context for understanding not only this work, but all the work of Lorraine Hansberry. "A Raisin in the Sun" had its Broadway premiere in 1959. The artist was 29 years old. "A Raisin in the Sun" is still in constant production. In fact, every day it is an production somewhere in the world. We've come to understand that "A Raisin in the Sun" is not just an American play, it's a play of the world. It has been translated into over 30 languages. Has been performed on six of the seven continents, the exception being Antarctica. As you may know, "A Raisin in the Sun" is part of the core curriculum in the United States and in Europe. 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the Broadway premiere, and in 2004 and 2014, "A Raisin in the Sun" returned to Broadway. 2009 also marks the resurgence of interest in not only "A Raisin in the Sun" but all the Hansberry works. At the same time, in 2014, Lorraine's second play, " was revived at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and then again in 2016 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. It is now headed for Broadway. 2016, Lorraine plus --'s third play, "leblanc," was revived at the Royal national Theatre in London to critical acclaim. 2016 also marks the Swedish touring production of "A Raisin in the Sun" and the South African production at market theater in Johannesburg. Today world theater day marks the historic gathering of three companies from South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. Lever -- never before has this happened. All around the world, people are dreaming of home, better life, and migration. In closing, let me just place emphasis on a few statements. "A Raisin in the Sun" in particular of all Hansberry's work, has never gathered dust. Lorraine's work is more alive now than ever. We honor her legacy as artists, intellectual, writer, and activist. Lorraine is of the future. Our job is to try and catch up with her. [APPLAUSE] To learn more about her life and work, I invite you to check out our website, lhlt.org. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] >> It is such an honor to be here to celebrate world theater day with you, and Civic league do so in honoring Lorraine hence very. -- and specifically to do so in honoring Lorraine Hansberry. I want to invite the three theater companies, the three parts of our theater production to join us on the stage. Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama is set on the south side of Chicago in 1959 and depicts the dreaming of the younger family. The play begins with telling its audience that big Walter has left an insurance check. He has just died and left an insurance check for the matriarch of the family, his wife. And mama has to decide what she is going to do with this insurance money, and how she is going to fulfill the competing equally robusta dreams of her children. Will she invest in the entrepreneurial desires of her son will truly? Will she helped to support her daughter's dream of going to medical school? Or will she use the money to purchase a home for her grandson and daughter-in-law, which is part of their shared dream? The play really takes us on a journey into how the younger family is able to use this money but also how their dreams might be fulfilled working together and working in tension with one another. Tonight we will have the awesome experience of seeing how Hansberry's beautiful work translates across three continents and how the dreaming that Hansberry invited us to participate in in 1959 continues to resonate with our current moment. At this time, I invite Josette and the rest of our actors to join me on stage. [APPLAUSE] >> What happens to a dream deferred? >> Does it dry up? [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGES] >> What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun, or fester like a sore and then run? [SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE] Or does it explode? The first scene we are going to present today is from Act 1, and it is when Mama and Ruth are sitting in the kitchen, discussing what they could possibly do with the money. And, it is in Swedish. [SPEAKING SWEDISH] >> The next scene we are going to show is a moment on. Leona has the check, $10,000. Walter is frustrated. >> Was the matter with you, Walter Lee? >> Ain't nothing the matter with me. >> Yes there is. [NO AUDIO] [APPLAUSE] >> In this next scene, yes, thank you. I thought it was a different scene first. I'm going to sit down again and let this happen. [LAUGHTER] [APPLAUSE] >> In this next moment is now the money and the check, of course, have arrived. And there has been debate. The scene we are going to see now is when the money is lost,. Walter is lost part of his money, -- has lost part of his money, and the life of the family has changed. >> What kind of mood is this? Have I told you how deeply you move me? >> He gave away the money. >> Who gave away what money? >> The insurance money. My brother gave it away. >> He gave it away? >> He made an investment. A man Travis would not have trusted. >> And it's gone? >> Gone. >> Oh, I'm very sorry. And you, now? >> Me? Me, I'm nothing. Me. When I was very small, we used to take our sleds out in the wintertime, and the only hills we heard -- had where the ice covered snow steps of some houses down the street. We would make them smooth and slide down them all day. It was dangerous, you know? Far too steep. Sure enough, a kid named Rufus came down to fast, hit the sidewalk and we saw his face split open right there in front of us. I remember looking at his bloody open face, thinking that was the end of Rufus pray to the ambulance came and they took him to the hospital and they fixed his broken bones and sewed him all up. The next time I saw a Rufus, he just had one line down the middle of his face. I never got over that. >> What? >> That that was what one person could do, fix them up, sew up the problem, making all right again. That was the most marvelous ring in the world. I wanted to do that -- thing in the world. I wanted to do that. I thought that was the one concrete thing that a human being could do, fix up the sick, make them whole again. This was truly being God. >> You wanted to be God? >> No. I wanted to cure. It used to be important. I wanted to cure. It used to matter. I mean about people, and how their whole bodies hurt. >> And you have stopped caring? >> Yes, I think so. >> Why? >> Because it doesn't seem deep enough, close enough to what ails mankind. It is a child's way of sealing the world, and idealist. >> Children see all things very clearly sometimes, and idealists even better. >> I knew that is what you would think. Because you are where I left off. You with all your talk and dreams of Africa. You still think you can catch up the world, cure the great sword, colonialism, with your penicillin of independence. >> Yes. >> Independence and then what? What about the crooks and thieves and plain idiots who will come into power and steel the same as before, only this time they will be black and do it in the name of new independence. What about >> First we must get there. >> But when does it end? >> Who spoke of the end? >> An end to misery, to stupidity. >> While I was sleeping in my bed, there were things happening in the world that directly concerned me. People went out and did things and changed my life. Don't you get it? There is no real progress. There's one large circle we march in around and around, each of us with our own little picture in front of us. Each of us of our own little mirage of what we think is the future. >> That is a mistake. >> What is? >> What you just said. You see, it isn't just a circle. It is simply a long line as in geometry. You know the one that reaches into infinity. Because we cannot see the end, we also cannot see how it changes. It is very odd. But those who see changes -- those who dream, we call them idealists. And those who only see the circle, we call them realists. It is very strange and amusing too, I think. >> You're almost religious. >> Yes. Yes, I love the religion of doing what is necessary of worshipping man because she is so marvelous, you see? >> Man is foul and the human race deserves misery. >> You have become the religious one in the old sense. Already after such a small defeat, you are worshipping defeat. >> I worship the truth. And the truth is people are small, puny and selfish. >> Truth? Why is it that you dispare and always think that only you have the truth? I never thought to see you like that. You? Your brother has made a small, stupid childish mistake and you are being grateful to him. You already given up on the ailing human race on account of it. You talk about what good is struggle? What good is anything? Why where are we all going and why do we even bother? >> And you cannot answer that. >> I live the answer! In my hope, it takes an exceptional man to read a newspaper or whoever sees a book at all. I will go back to my village and much of what I will have to say will seem strange to the people of my village. But I will teach and work and things will happen slowly and quickly. And then at times it will seem as if nothing ever changes at all. But then again, the sudden dramatic events of history will leap into the future. Murder, revolution. And I at times even wonder if the quiet wasn't at all better than the hatred and death. But I -- I look about my village at the it literacy, disease, and ignorance and I will not wonder long. Perhaps -- perhaps I will be a great man. Perhaps I will hold into the substance of truth and find my way on the right cross and perhaps I will be in my bed by the silence of empire. >> A martyr. >> And perhaps I will live long to be old, respected and esteemed in my nation and perhaps I will hold office. And this is what I'm trying to say to you. Perhaps the things I know believe for my country will be wrong. And I will not understand and do terrible things to have things my way. Don't you see that there will be young men and woman, not soldiers but my own country to go into the evening shadow and slit my throat. That they will always be there and always will be. And to even have my own death be an advance and they might even replenish me. >> Asagai, I know all that. >> Good. Then stop moaning and growning and tell me what it is you plan to do. >> Do? >> I have a bit of a suggestion. >> What? >> That when it is all over, you come back home with me. >> Or asagat, at this moment you decide to be romantic. >> I do not talk about across the city. I am talking about across the ocean. Home. To Africa. [Speaking foreign language] [APPLAUSE] >> In the next scene we'll find Walter Lee and Travis in their living room. They are waiting for the insurance check to come. And Walter Lee is talking about his dreams, about the money. >> No, daddy ain't drunk. Daddy ain't never going to be drunk again. >> OK. Good night, papa. >> Son. I feel like talking to you tonight. >> About what? >> About a lot of things about you and what kind of man you're going to be when you grow up. Son, son, what do you want to be when you grow up? A what? >> Man, that nothing you want to be. [Speaking foreign language] >> Because it ain't big enough. You know what I mean. [Speaking foreign language] >> You know what, Travis, in seven years you're going to be 17 years old. And things are going to be very different with us. And one day when you are 17, I will come home from the office -- [Speaking foreign language] >> No, but after tonight, your daddy is going to -- there's going to be lots of offices. [Speaking foreign language] >> You wouldn't understand yet, son, but your daddy's going to make a transaction, a business transaction. A business transaction that's going to change our lives that's how come when you're one day when you're about 17, I'll be pretty tired, a long day of conferences and secretaries getting things wrong as they always do because an executive's life is hell, man. And I'll pull up a car in the driveway, just a plain black Chrysler with white walls -- no, no, plain black tires, more elegant. Rich people don't have to be flashy. I have to get a little sportier, maybe a Cadillac convertible. And I'll come up the stairs in the house and the gardener will be clipping away at the hedges and he'll say good evening. And I'll say hello, Jefferson. How are you doing this evening? I'll go inside and Ruth will met me at the door. We'll kiss. She'll take my arm and we'll go upstairs to your room. To your room. To see you sitting on the floor with the catalogs of all the great schools of America all around you. Oh, the great schools of the world. And I'll say, all right, son. It's your 17th birthday. What is it that you decided. Tell me where you want to go to school and you'll go. Just tell me what it is you want to be and you'll be it. Whatever you want to be, yes, sir. You just name it, son. And I'll give you the world [APPLAUSE] >> The next scene, we have Mr. Litner to the others to try not to convince them to move into the white neighborhood. This is where marma bought a house with some of the money she received. >> Good evening Mr. And Mrs. Selena younger. >> Yes, that's my mother. Excuse me. Brother, Ruth, there's a white man at the door. [Laughter] >> All right. Come in, please. Thanks. >> My mother isn't here just now. Is it business? [Speaking foreign language] . >> Have a seat. >> I'm Mrs. young's son. I look after her business matters. Walter younger. This is my wife and my sister. [Speaking foreign language] >> What can we do for you, Mr. Lindell? [Speaking foreign language] >> Why don't you set your things on the couch? [Speaking foreign language] >> That's right. Can you care for something to drink? Ruth, get Mr. Lindell a beer? [Speaking foreign language] >> Yes, and what do they do? [Speaking foreign language] >> Let the man talk. [Speaking foreign language] >> Uh-huh. >> Yes, and what are some of those? [Speaking foreign language] >> Go ahead. >> No. [Speaking foreign language] [Speaking foreign language] >> What do you mean? [Laughter] [Speaking foreign language] [Speaking foreign language] >> What I'm trying to say here, I think -- I believe that the black families will be much more happier if they live in their own communities. >> This friends is the welcoming committee. [APPLAUSE] >> OK. If we grab some chairs. We need five chairs here. You too. >> Thank you. Can you hear me? Thank you. Thank you, that was beautiful. >> So I just have a few questions of our directors about their respective productions and then hopefully we'll loop into the conversation about what we just saw. So James, could you tell us a little bit about how the play -- specifically this scene with asagat and benetha that the play was for formed on the 20th anniversary of the day as a way of uprising. >> First of all, ericka was right the scenes were then. We looked at the production of "a raisin in the sun" here in the market celebrating its 40 years. And it is our work for 2016. And this scene why we chose this scene to bring it here, it's -- because it was just a scene that is dealing with two young people dissecting their dreams, dissecting their paths, you know, going forward. And -- and for me what was quite exciting, I spoke about it last night to say -- to see a character like Asagai since 1994 and our country went through a complete metamorphosis and we saw an influx of a whole other people coming to south Africa, it was very important that we looked at Asagai -- in the play he speaks a lot of yorbai because the language is heard by south Africans because for a long time we live on our own, apart. And there was a time in south Africa where there was sort of a Zeno phobic kind of episodes that were happening. And it was very important to make sure that our audiences are able to see a character of a Nigerian that is not a stereotype of a person involved in drugs and -- which is where -- what was one of the genesis that started this animosity that's been happening in south Africa between you know, south Africans and Nigerians and so we spend a lot of time really wanting to bring out of this man, to bring out a young dreamer and I love the fact -- that at that time lor rain Hansberry brings out this guy in asagai where countries in Ghana were getting and Algeria and it speaks about how well read she was about the continent of after cament I didn't want to go through what we've seen and where Nigerian characters are very exempted. In the play, we didn't even put him in Nigerian garb. He arrived and there's this boy and girl story that's happening between he and benetha. I wanted to texture that in a way that speaks to what is happening in south Africa in contemporary times where we are seeing the continent and it's a joyful time in south Africa. So these -- the relationship between Asagai and benetha we spent time and make sure that it is a joyful presentation for our audience. >> Thank you. Thank you. So could you talk some about what specifically resonated most with Swedish audiences from your production? We talked some about Hansberry's play opening up for us ways of dreaming new world here in Georgetown last year. But also something that came up in the conversation right now is how Hansberry would respond to how she solves the politics of despair in mid century. And one might argue that we are in a similar moment of peril and specifically the U.S. I'm curious if there's a way that you saw the play responding in this moment to some of those national feelings that seem to be reer Americanning that what we're experiences both nationally and internationally. >> What's rather ironic is that I'm British born and I live in Sweden. So I have multilanguages. So don't get confused. One of the things that's very important is to understand the conditions under which afro-Swedish actors are living and working. What's very important is that I detect for the first time over half of the audience saw "a raisin in the sun" afro-Swedish . You are afro-Swedes, right? It's not a joke. It's true. It's real. And I think the play resonated because there was a great identification with family. There was a great identification with the female roles. We saw that in our colleagues with south Africa, and the theater and the mother figure that role coming through. Also in Sweden we're in a position where we as yet have no black theater company, we as yet have a strong enough if existing at all books from the Africa diaspora. There were people who haven't heard of lorraine Hansberry. It landed one a backdrop which was a renaissance of afro-Swedes. We had the growth of the right-wing. The awaken of afro Swedes to the community of salmi which is Sweden's first indigenous population and Sweden understanding its role in the slave trade, understanding that they owned castles. Awakening -- a re-emergence of thought. So "a raceen in the -- raisin in the sun," I spoke about when you're choosing paint and you have this fan of colors, you know what I mean? It was a similar thing happening for us in Sweden. This wasn't just the power of lorraine Hansberry. It was the fact that Sweden had never seen her work before. It had never been translated before. Her brothers and sisters James Baldwin, Marcus guardly and all the great writers that exist in her house had never been heard of. It was the establishment of three-die mention nal complex characters living every day life in front of audiences. It was lifting her work up with some of the male patriarchal systems. And there was Lorraine coming forth and saying catch up with me, gentlemen. Catch up with me. [Laughter] In terms of the international perspective, it was then happening on a multilayered which only the actors themselves can really explain and yes, it was about timing. It really was about timing and of course the political movement whether we're looking at what's happening with Brexit or what's happening with the new government here and the political growth within Sweden, a "raisin in the sun" landed right in time, right in time in Sweden on all sorts of levels. >> I'm picking up on the question in temporality and the note that Lorraine Hansberry is of the future. One of the things you did in your cycle is benetha. And I'm wondering if you would make an addendum to our play, what would that be? I'm thinking about the ongoing impact of "raisi" in 2017. >> I think that's quite hard to answer. I think that's quite hard to answer is because I think my esteemed colleagues have seen -- arctic lated rather beautifully what, how and enjoy -- how much of a future person Lorraine was. I'm fascinating when I was writing benita's play. I was fascinated how she had been independent for three years. That Lorraine was writing about the horrors that would be beset upon the continent, not just from the inside but frals the outside in terms of international pressure to break the dream of a pan-Africa. Let me take this moment to congratulation josette with bringing the family together so beautifully this evening. It's beautiful. [APPLAUSE] >> I think Clyburn park was an attempt to bring this -- this beautiful narrative and this quintessential American but yet universal story into the future. And so I don't know how to answer your question about what it would be. I think art is at its best when it lives in met Forbort. So I'm often actually -- she has done the future proofing Lorraine in the very texture and theme and construction of the play. Anything else or anybody else is simply piggybacking on something which I think is very solid. >> Amazing. So I wonder if I could open up a question to anyone on stage who might want to answer. We can pass the mic around about what the experience was like both in pru and in rehearsals for the play and then also tonight being in collaboration or conversation via a diasborg audience. What that experience has been like? >> Hi. I would say that the experience for me as one of the first, I think, afro-Swedes growing up as one of maybe 20 kids in the 1960's in Stockholm, growing up not even knowing about Lorraine Hansberry, this journey has been exceptional because it has also awakened a lot for me as a person but also as an actor. It has awakened an Nowadays I would like to call myself an activist great it is more important, my eyes are opened and it is really important to do the work. I didn't know that before this. I really didn't. So I think that a lot of us as Afro-Swedes will be changed forever, and watching the Swedish audience crying, laughing, recognizing, even a little bit ashamed of what they didn't do, what they couldn't do and what they did. So for me that was exceptional touring and 48 different cities in Sweden and meeting the audience and every night getting very, very strong reactions. [APPLAUSE] >> Yes? >> Can I speak? It was an emotional journey for many of us. For example, we had to talk about protection going out on tour because we don't know what can happen, because it has happened before that theater companies have been attacked and things have been on stage and stuff, and many people got a bit scared and nervous, but nothing happened and it was a beautiful tour in many ways. From a personal, growing up as an Afro suite -- Afro-Swede, it was amazing -- it was not like 10 kids in Stockholm when I grew up, but we increased. It was still in the beginning like my father said, say hello to all black people you say because we are family. It's not really like that anymore and I don't say hello to all the black people I see. I'm so happy to be -- I have never been -- normally you are the cast black person. Some colleagues said before, you don't know why. Is it because you're going to put some flavor in it? Yeah, you know what I mean. To play diverse characters and really feel like, wow, I'm an actor and I'm doing this, it was -- I'm very proud to be a part of this. Yeah, thank you. [APPLAUSE] >> The question was both in terms of being in the production also being a part of this. >> I've had such an amazing time, I had no idea what to expect. I'm just so thankful, one, it has been beautiful, and I wish we had all day, I wish we had all week, and I hope one day we can continue this work. It was incredible to hear actors from Sweden and South Africa talk about things that are happening here, and it was crazy to see that also is were surprised by some things they thought had changed here but hadn't. I was saying today, in my university experience we did all the classics, Western, white European classics, mostly male, and I did not do my first all-black cast, African-American playwright until I was 26 and out of school. So I was feeling like, can I do this? I didn't work on that in school, just being myself. It was very interesting to see how the idea about not being black enough -- one person said that today. All those similarities, it feels so healing to hear. I wish we could keep talking. [APPLAUSE] >> I think for me, the experience doing "A Raisin in the Sun" was phenomenal because it was the ability to showcase the talents that we have as black South African performers, taking on the American accent and really immersing ourselves into the reality of a narrative that extends itself beyond our continents and giving it a truth. We shared so much today about our experiences, and one of the things that I think -- I forgot to mention, and would love to mention, is how in our cast we had younger actors playing the roles, so we didn't really go age-specific as the script says, and what ended up happening was that so many of the black actors completely understood this reality of moving from a black suburb into a suburb that is white, because a lot of us had grown up during just late 1980's, late 1980's into the 1990's. Some of us, late 1970's, late 1980's, and so it was through doing this work or doing "A Raisin in the Sun" in Africa, we found a way to express that experience, to get inside it and go, we know this so well. It happened. It was a thing to move from the Township in South Africa and then go into the white suburb. Are you safe? Are you OK? Are you welcome? A lot of the time, people weren't welcome. Today's experience was phenomenal, to know that afro- swedes, afro-americans, we all have something we share. It's the black life. It has been an amazing opportunity and experience. [APPLAUSE] >> I think one of the things I often wrestle with, in particular with Lorraine Hansberry's work, is my perception and I don't even perceive it to be right, that she understood that black was a political construction, and that it really doesn't exist, and that by being culturally specific, that somehow she could tap into the universe, that it felt less important to investigate blackness that it was to investigate the structured inequalities of a country and a system that used race in a political way to sup press. [APPLAUSE] When I listen to the DS for a -- disaporic voice, I hear structural inequalities to the construction of white supremacy less about extolling the virtues of blackness. I just wanted to share that. >> Thank you. [APPLAUSE] >> So I know we are running short on time and I want to leave time for you to ask questions. I have one more question of our directors, and that is about specific choices that you made to emphasize the context in which --in particular, casting Travis as an older actor. Any decisions you made in casting or protection of the play -- production of the play. >> It is probably the easiest we came to the production, there were 2 choices. We work in the national touring theater. We toured to how many theaters? 48 theaters across the country. That also meant -- stand up and wave, quickly. There's Lotta Nielson from Sweden. They are the first. One of the things we noticed very quickly was, we couldn't tour and we couldn't tour a child. Both of the productions you saw today were in one place. Touring all over Sweden was legally not possible because we have to change the child, parent guidance and so on. In discussion with Elizabeth who is here, who did the first translation ever for us in Sweden, we were allowed to actually -- lift your hand, Elizabeth. Say hi to everybody. There you go. [APPLAUSE] We actually then, and we found our colleagues in the market Theatre did a similar choice, but then Travis became older, and that was played by an adult, which I won't reveal how old you are, but, needless to say, we were able to tour. That was one choice. One of the other things that came up with was, of course I spoke a little bit about their political times, and there were many more things, and Sweden was still talking about tin-tinny congo, and the tin-tinny books, about whether they should be in books, from the N word and ownership of that to negro, negress, still in that context. By the time we came out with the production, the United States had gone through a whole series of brutal murders of African-Americans, including Michael Brown and so on. When I called her names, they come into the room, so I called them with respect. There was a whole summer of loss for us. And in that context, when we were doing the last scene of the play, and Joi, you must correct me on this, of course, but Lorraine wrote two versions. There is one version, the one that is most well-known, the family at the end when they have actually won the battle to get the house they want and moved to where they want to move to, that extraordinary image where the plant is lifted and they leave the house and they are on their way. As I understood, Lorraine wrote a second ending, various choices from TV to length of time. The second ending was one where the family, once the lights shifted and the family went out of the house, the next scene was when they arrived in their new house. You saw them sitting under a lamp on the sofa. In Sweden we tested that ending. The other ending Lorraine wrote was also an ending I would like to call defending the dream, which is where she allowed the family, once they entered into the house, they experienced -- it is in the park, which is a white area at that time. When we staged it, the choice we made was, the family arrived, and Travis the sun comes into the house and already outside there is the sound of writing, because they already -- rioting, because they already knew there was going to be trouble. I didn't make the choice to do that scene. We presented it to our audience in Sweden. We literally tested it in front of them and said, which one should we do, in the context of Sweden? Should it be the one -- neither is good -- neither is bad. In the end we set up with the lights, the scene, everything. We explained to the audience. It was so powerful. We went back and stopped and did the second scene. In the second scene, the family come in. Travis came in and he has a baseball bat in his hand which he has as a plaything. With the sound of the riot outside and the residents of the park already beginning to attack the family in the house, that bat that Walter takes from his son becomes a tool of defense, if that makes sense. He takes it. What was crucial in Sweden was to ask a audience, which one should we do? Which ending is right for us now? And they chose the baseball bat. And they chose that specifically for where we were, and still are at that time. Difference between what happened when the bat is held as a toy of innocence and joy is transformed into a tool of defense. The choice we made was to go with the baseball bat, and the final scene we had is of the father taking the bat from his son, holding it to say, we don't want to do this, but if we have to, we will and I will do anything to protect my family. We then played the voice to float her in, and we had permission to weave in some of the original voice of Lorraine Hansberry speaking at the end. And most importantly, in terms of journey, we kept the final image moving. The actors were never frozen. They kept moving all the time, as if it would never end. That was a choice, and it was made to my critically in Sweden by the people. >> We had the same thing because we knew we wanted to tour the piece. You were looking at theaters in Cape Town. -- we were looking at theaters in Cape Town. At the theater we have these arches and alcoves. I had an idea to create neighbors of the younger family that throughout the piece, that were completely synchronized into the piece, that -- right at the end, our ending was -- the ending as you know it where she picks up the plant, she exits, and that thing you know, the whole set comes down. You see the people who are left behind. The youngers have been able to escape the squalor and degrada tion of the area they live in because for me, it just comes from -- I wanted it to resonate to what is happening in South Africa, and today we still have people who have been waiting for their dreams to come right, and they are still waiting. I just thought, that kind of symbolism in the piece that we are showing this silhouetted characters to the audience throughout the piece and right at the end as they exit, we expose all these people that are left. I worked with a choreographer, to make sure that these other lives in the play did not impact on the piece in a funny way. Going back to -- what a love that Lorraine Hansberry did in the piece is that 50 years ago, the character is projected. He keeps saying perhaps there will be this or that. In the beginning of the scene as he walks in, I have this Koran that was animated and it opens up and you see the two AK-47's. You are hearing the voice of an Imam. I wanted to look at what is happening in Nigeria now. You know, how he question what was happening in the Delta, and he died for that. There was something about Asagi that spoke to the young people from Nigeria to went out of Nigeria to study and went back home and the animosities that started happening with some of the desperate's that were running the country. I was saying, us who live today have experienced what he is 50 years ago thinking that might happen. And we had right at the beginning of the piece, the voice of the first black DJ that was in Chicago that we use to open the piece -- used to open the piece, and I worked with an artist from Chicago just to get the authenticity of these characters, and she was able to add her contribution to our work that was done, and for me, it was -- we are using "A Raisin in the Sun" in 2016 in South Africa, but there has to be a stamp that says we are aware of what is happening in the continent, and how do we bring it into the piece without messing up the piece? It was done with a lot of respect and humility to what Lorraine Hansberry wrote. One more thing I wanted to say is, when you hear that even theater like the market, this was the first time that "A Raisin in the Sun" was staged, tells you there's a whole lot of writers who were never staged in South Africa. We have done Sam Shepard, all these American writers, but we have now been staging at the market. I've done George C. Wolf's " colored museum." I've just directed Jeff Stetson's "the meeting." We're putting the works on the pilots of our pages, and we are absolutely enjoying them right in one interview, the person said, are you going to adopt the piece? I said, I kind of doubt it. It is set in America. It is a satire on slavery. That is a person who is not used to this tapestry that I feel as an artistic director of the market that we can't be nostalgic about the market. The market theater as a theater needs to moves on, and moving on talks to how we get to curate these works and create a visibility of writers that are audience are not used to seeing. >> So we have time for questions, if anyone in the audience has a question, you can join us at the microphone in the middle of the aisle here. As I tell my students, we also take words of encouragement and comments to Mac. >> My name is Dominique. I'm French. I want to thank you very much, all of you. Tak. My only word of Swedish. It is extremely exciting what you are doing, and I'd like to come back to the question of universality, of the theme in the play. And I was wondering, looking into the future, whether you would see producing this play with people from very, many more different origins, both in terms of races, nationality, ethnicity, potentially languages. Thank you. >> OK. I think that's a question for Joi. Merci, madam. In terms of the play going on elsewhere, it already has. As I understand, Ukraine was one of the places to deliver the play, is that right? Joi: as I said, the play has been translated into over 30 languages, this one play, which means it has entered into those cultures. We understand that, right? That is automatically, by taking into the language you take it into the cultural experience and that transforms it. By transforming I mean it grounds the story in its universality. Lorraine had a very strong law, for lack of a better word, that this play was founded, it was really based in its universality but at the same time, it was never to be a product of blackface. There was never to be taken out of the black experience, out of the south side of Chicago, out of the American experience. And so, that's something I have to abide by. I can't allow it to be changed in any kind of way. I know there have been requests in the past to -- for casting reasons, work around how the play is set up. I was contacted on my watch as literary executor, I was contacted for permission for the Royal theater, the national theater of Australia, to produce the play, and to -- instead of working with the black family, because of casting challenges, to make some of the characters white Australians. And was I open to this. I said, absolutely not. I said, you have a next read a very opportunity with an aboriginal population -- an extraordinary opportunity with an aboriginal population. [APPLAUSE] And I would suggest that you think about that. [LAUGHTER] And I never heard from them again. But that was as much of a challenge for me as it was for them, I believe, because I really need to think about that. -- needed to think about that. One of the adaptations I granted several years ago, I was approached by a company from Nepal who wanted to translate the play into Sanskrit. We talked over sometime. They wanted to keep the play as is. Only that Nepalese actors would perform, but they would still be the youngers from the Southside of Chicago. I spoke to them at length and felt comfortable with it and granted permission. I ask that they please send me a copy of the script when it was published. They sent me this beautiful book. I opened it and there are photographs of the book of the younger family, but in Nepalese style. It broke my heart, it was so beautiful. I think there is an opportunity for us to enter into the experience in a legit way, and at the same time to honor that all the universality that is needed Hansberry has written. It's all there. [APPLAUSE] >> First it's a pleasure to be here, to experience this. I want to thank the person that invited me. My name is Deborah. I am the cousin of Emmett till. I'm here in the city to address some key issues related to progression and things going forward, meeting tomorrow with the Attorney General to talk about the damage till -- emmett till unsolved crimes act. Let me say that the presence of Emmett till is here. And the truth that you all represented tonight is the universal nature of dilemma, and that is that we need to unite somehow and with the different languages, and the canvas of what we need to be. I thank Lorraine in her youthfulness and her deep nature of trying to address a painful time -- she was part of the Emmett Till generation. I can see themes of that pain and what she was experiencing and how it impacted the lives of many artists, and I know Emmett's -- the presence and spirit is part of it. Even though you never said it or whatever, I felt it. It's deep. And you continue to do what you are doing. This is very important. You are opening eyes. You are opening hearts. And that is exactly what we need done, so thank you. [APPLAUSE] >> Hi, my name is Benjamin Lillian. I am a junior in the college at Georgetown. Thank you first for a phenomenal performance tonight and for inspiring people to do things. This question goes to all of the directors on stage. And for the Afro Swedish touring company here. I was wondering if you could speak to the addition process and casting you drew from a well of black actors in Sweden. There are a lot of students here who are active in theater on campus and are fighting for diversity and productions. I wonder how you overcame that challenge in the cast for this production. >> And of course everyone else who was there in Sweden. When we started casting, it was open. I was not choosing people in that way. I auditioned approximately 57 Afro Swedish actors. They weren't there yet. Even as I speak, that is changed. I think what you brought up was very important. It was never going to be cast in any other way. It was only going to be an Afro Swedish ensemble. She is one of the most well-known singers we have in Sweden. That's her background. It's true. So, thanks to Lorraine, I pushed the boat out. I found an extremely talented musical composer who came and said -- sing on that day. I stopped her. She had never done anything quite like this before. Lorraine forced us to keep going and not go for the nearest. We went as far out as we could, beyond the pool of trained actors as well. Then there is availability, who is available? But that was the list I had. For me, it was never going to be any other way. I was never going to do anything else. For us in Sweden, the chance to do this, just in the principle of this was going to be one principal character, and all Afro Swedish production, although 47 sounds liberal, it was maybe 50 or 60 when we pulled it together. We had men, white guys, white women apply for roles. We said we will keep going on this. The casting of it really was to listen to it. It was hell. It was a callback as well. It wasn't just of got you. This was after a callback. And going it will be like this because this play demands it. We will keep going until we find a person. We will not sit and justify why it has to be like that. It was a very interesting relationship with the whole theater. There was not resistance, but definitely, how is this going to work. Definitely, we need to catch up. That's how we dealt with it. The Swedish context was very different. The encouragement, the types of plays coming out now in times -- in terms of casting in Sweden, after a raisin in the sun. That's an answer, and I'm working to make sure it's not the last one. >> I would like to understand what do you mean the problem is in terms of working on the diversity here. >> Within student productions, student companies, we are talking between. There are five main student companies on campus. Could all the students who are active in theater here raise their hands, maybe? Quick standup. Please. [APPLAUSE] So, just, a topic that has been on our list serves, emails, and brochures has been trying to incorporate -- because we recognize there's a problem of diversity. One, just didn't population -- just student population, but also in terms of activity in theater. That's something we're trying to address both onstage and backstage. >> Well, I don't know Georgetown very well, but I do know that when I was in school, obviously, it wasn't a problem with finding black actors. But I will say that, without going into what kind of projects, specifically, you are trying to put on, which might have a little to do with it, I know for a fact that some of the best actors that ended up on the stage weren't majors. There was a kayak graduated with -- a guy I graduated with who is on the show Atlanta right now. He was on Broadway. Book of Mormon. Names, names, names. One of my best friends, definitely wasn't a major, and if nobody had pushed him in that direction, if nobody had an open call that said show up, all of those things that came after might not have happened. If it's a matter of you don't have enough black majors -- I can't imagine that you don't have enough black students on campus that you can't fill five or six roles. It's a matter of may be spreading out where you are looking. >> The question was not just centered around ethnic diversity, it was also income, background, people whose major doesn't happen to be theater. Race is of course a factor. >> May be widening the pool. >> I teach at Montgomery College. We have three campuses. The campuses have their own personalities and student populations. One of the things I want to experiment with his what is theater. I know you do that here. To piggyback, talking about project specific work, until you are creating opportunities that come from conversations, conversations with the discipline, conversations with the club, creating something that may not have started as a play somewhere else, I encourage you to keep on doing those kinds of projects. What you are going to find his it's probably going to leave this building. It's going to be in somebody else's community. Continue to develop your conversation skills with different -- the very audiences -- I said audiences, and I think I meant that, the very people you want to be in conversation with in the process onstage, backstage, and out in the audience, keep looking for that audience and let the theater find them as opposed to trying to bring them in. >> Thank you, and thanks for a great performance, again. >> We have time for one last question. This is so beautiful. >> Hello. My name is sela. I am from Baltimore, Maryland. And I wanted to ask, since you said that people in Sweden never heard of Lorraine Hansberry, I wanted to know if any playwright in Sweden was just as powerful as Lorraine Hansberry, and who they are, and who we need to know. [APPLAUSE] >> first of all, one of the things I have learned is -- For the question. Secondly, the answer is no. [LAUGHTER] No. Thank you. >> Hello. My name is Soraya, and I am from Baltimore, Maryland. I want to ask other play relates to the theme how is being an African-American then and now? Do you feel it is different or the same? >> Where are you, Lorraine? Thank you for the question. It's the same. And it's moved on. >> The details change, but the rhythm stays similar. >> Our black rhythm stays. Our family states. Our hopes and our dreams stay. The struggle continues. Wherever we are. [APPLAUSE] Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I this is Kate it and see I am just confirming that were cleared a disconnect for the captions of OK great thank you so much