MARK CLAYTON SOUTHERS
by Genea L. Webb
For New Pittsburgh Courier
Mark Clayton Southers wants Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre patrons to leave uplifted after seeing his three productions this season.
“All three playwrights were a part of our 2003 inaugural season, which also included playwright Rob Penney. I really want people to come and see Madison Arts Center and see something that we own and see it as a place we can tell our own stories,” explained Southers, founder and artistic director of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
The company is coming out the gate this season with a heavy hitter: “Sanctified,” which was written and directed by Javon Johnson, who currently stars as the butler Richard Hallsen in the Tyler Perry show BET show, “The Oval.” Johnson is an MFA graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Set in a small, Black church in rural South Carolina, “Sanctified” delves into the traditional world of Gospel music as it has been sampled and twisted by the Hip-Hop and R&B genres. It also tackles the issues of megachurches and the rise of bishops which forces the traditional Black church to examine its archaic ways of worship.
“Sanctified” won six Black Theatre Alliance Awards in 2009 including the August Wilson Award for Best Writing of a Play (Musical/Adaptation), Best Production (Musical or Revue), Best Direction (Musical or Revue), and Best Musical Director.
“These outrageously charismatic characters were selfishly based on those good ole southern church folks I have experienced during my Baptist church years in my hometown of Anderson, N.C., where the old and the new are in constant battle,” Johnson told the New Pittsburgh Courier. “I have seen those with innovative fervor come and go and the old still hang around. The young folks yearn for something to shake them up. The old folks just want their old habits. These characters’ personalities are real; their psyches are as solid as unmovable bricks, their passion and love for representing God and their church cannot be unbound. However, it may need to be adjusted slightly.”
Southers is glad that his theater was chosen as the place to bring the funny and poignant “Sanctified” to the Pittsburgh audience.
“Javon is 12 years younger than me, and he is partly responsible for me becoming a playwright. As a young MFA student at the University of Pittsburgh, Javon Johnson was a mentor of mine. He told me about the beauty of my writing. He read a letter I wrote as if it were a poem and brought a beauty to my words that unearthed a talent I never knew existed. I remember that day like it was yesterday.”
The encounter set Southers on a course of exploring his writing through the art of poetry and eventually playwriting. Although this is the second time Pittsburgh Playwrights has produced one of Johnson’s plays (the first was during the theater’s inaugural season), Southers still feels like it’s a full-circle moment. “Sanctified” runs at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater Company’s Madison Arts Center through March 30. Madison Arts Center is located at 3401 Milwaukee St. in the Hill District.
Patrons will be transported back to the 1800s in the Southers-penned “Art of Wise.” It uncovers centuries of revisionist history involving two families—one owned by the other, yet sharing the same name. At the story’s apex, two young women’s potential friendship takes a dramatic turn, with their remarkable artworks becoming a means for one family to attain freedom. The drama opens wounds of the past, yet uses art to soothe through music, dance, song and masterful illustration.
“This is the fifth play in my cycle of plays set in the 1800s. I’m not sure how its going to be accepted,” Southers told the Courier. “It’s set in 1822. Tome Cousin choreographed it and this is the first time we’re incorporating dance into it. Because I have my own theater and stage, it’s emboldened me to try things outside the box. People don’t want to be retraumatized, but things were rough for Black folks in the 1800s. It’s important for people to know about the shoulders on which they stand. ‘The Art of Wise’ is rooted in family and it’s set on a plantation. It shows some of the good moments that Black people had and hopefully it will also help people heal.”
“Art of Wise” will run April 11-May 4.
The season will conclude with the August Wilson classic, “Two Trains Running,” to be directed by Southers. Set in the troublesome 1960’s Memphis, Lee fights for his fair payment when his restaurant is slated for demolition by the city for the sake of urban renewal. He is not alone in his fight for fair wages, justice and love as his employees and regular restaurant-goers surmount changes in the Hill District that residents still face today. The production will run from August 9-30.
“Art of Wise” and “Two Trains Running” will also be shown at the Madison Arts Center. Tickets can be purchased by visiting pptco.org.
“I’m hoping patrons walk away feeling connected to Madison Arts Center and what it represents, which is new life and new birth,” explained Neicy Southers, Mark Clayton Southers’ wife. She handles concessions and check-in for the theater. “We are doing something different for the community. We are in a building that is being refurbished and revitalized to bring arts into our community. It’s not just theater being offered.”
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