ELDERS IGNITING: Many More Stories to Tell

We are now Janice Liddell, Jamil el-Shair and Carlton Molette, three Atlanta playwrights, and we have a project "for the ages." Literally!

Yes, we are playwrights; we are Black playwrights; we are Black baby-boomer playwrights! We see this combination as one having the potential to ignite a revolution in the theatrical world, and this project, titled Elders Igniting: Many More Stories to Tell, will serve as an integral spark to this revolution in Atlanta. We are senior playwrights who realize that our grit, wisdom and experience in life, combined with our talents and experiences as playwrights, can produce WOW theatre for Atlanta theatre goers of all ages.

According to the Center for Conscious Eldering: "As the baby boom generation begins to cross the threshold into their 60s and can anticipate many more years—even decades—of healthy and relatively prosperous life, modern society is seeing the first rumblings of a demographic and cultural earthquake. The prescription for aging that has for the past half-century so strongly influenced modern society’s view’ of the roles and potentials of seniors is being shaken to its core, challenged by various versions of a new, multi-faceted, empowering paradigm that addresses our new understanding of human potential throughout the entire lifespan."

With these truths in mind and with your help, we will produce a dynamic collection of one-act plays focusing on life experiences of African American seniors.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

This project is a production of three one-act plays, which will be performed at the inestimable ArtsXchange (The Southeast Community Cultural Center of East Point) during a weekend in May, Older Americans Month. Specifically, the series will occur over a Friday and Saturday evening and a Sunday matinee. The plays will be the creations of three Atlanta-area playwrights, and each will be approximately ½ hour in duration. The plays span the experiences of a Black eldering population. While these plays will focus on the lives of Black seniors, they will engage a plethora of themes ranging from cross-generational interactions to “technocentric” experiences to romantic engagements, as well as a host of other themes and considerations. There will, of course, be comedic, dramatic, tragic and other emotional elements.

We just need your help to make this the exciting and igniting production we know it can be.

Meet our Senior playwrights:

Janice L. Liddell, PhD: Project Coordinator

Dr. Janice Liddell retired as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Coordinator of Faculty Development at Atlanta Metropolitan College after serving at and retiring from Clark Atlanta University where she served in several capacities. For over 35 years, Dr. Liddell served as English Professor; Director of Faculty Development and Chairperson, Department of English. As a writer, she is the author of a children’s book and co-editor of a collection of literary criticism. As well, she is author of several published articles and poems in various collections and anthologies. As a playwright, she has written six full-length plays of which several have been produced nationally and internationally; Who Will Sing for Lena? is one of these. This play has earned numerous awards, both for the play and for various actors who have played the role. Dr. Liddell is a wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and resides in Atlanta, GA.

Jamil el-Shair

Jamil el-Shair is currently the Director of Pastoral Care, Memorial Health University Medical Center. Patients and their loved ones are encouraged to recall their life narrative, discover, tell, and build new stories using drama and theatre. This is a natural part of his work as a playwright, performer, and director. El-Shair is one of Atlanta’s early Black playwrights having penned, A View through the Blinds (1981), Blood Knot: Blood Ties (1982), Praying for Lynn (1982) among other plays. At plus 65 years of age young, he enjoys encouraging and sustaining play in his life and the life of those he is blessed to encounter. This is most evident when he watches his children and grandchildren unfold their stories.

Carlton Molette, PhD

Carlton Molette, Ph.D., has been Dramatists Guild member since 1971, a recipient of Black Theatre Network’s Lifetime Membership Award, a National Black Theatre Festival’s Living Legend Award, and an Atlanta Black Theatre Festival’s Legend Award. He has authored scholarly articles, books, and more than twenty plays, most in collaboration with Barbara Molette, Ph.D. ROSALEE PRITCHETT, premiered in Atlanta in 1970 and The Negro Ensemble Company produced it in 1971, and in 2019 for their 50th anniversary season. DR. B.S. BLACK: A FARCICAL MUSICAL premiered in 1972 with Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. Black and LaTanya Richardson as his wife before she became his real-life wife.