This uplifting Fort Worth Kwanzaa theater production helps and inspires young actors
In the Jubilee Theatre, where seats are close enough to touch performers on stage, 10 high school students are singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in harmony.
Girls come from backstage and initiate a dancing routine with leaps, arms flailing and ground maneuvers to complement the song.
Perathia Slaton, 15, smiles from ear to ear and delivers every movement with a burst of energy. A junior from I.M. Terrell Academy for STEM and VPA, she is mesmerized when an audience is able to enjoy her singing and dancing on stage, she says.
She hopes others are able to experience an opportunity to be a part of a theater production with other Black performers, make new friends and continue their passion.
“If there’s an opportunity that is like this, people should definitely go for it because I get to put this on my rèsumè,” Slaton said. “ This is a really good opportunity that I went for and I’m so glad I went for it.”
The theater production is “Bone Soup: A Kwanzaa Story.” It is a collaboration between the theater program Acting With Mrs. Davis and the Jubilee Theatre at 506 Main St. Tickets are available only for the 2 p.m. Dec. 28 showtime and can be found on Eventbrite.
The play is supported by the city of Fort Worth, North Texas Community Foundation, Arts Fort Worth and United Way Tarrant County.
ShaVonne Davis is the founder of Acting with Mrs. Davis, a theater arts education company dedicated to children, and educators that advocates for the arts in urban communities.
A graduate of Fort Worth Paschal High School and Clark-Atlanta University, Davis teaches classes that focus on conflict de-escalation for children in the Fort Worth school district and Fort Worth After School. The variety of skills learned through theater, from creative expression, empathy, team building, and social skills, can help with reducing juvenile delinquency, Davis said.
Davis works to create equity and provide access to opportunities for youth lacking resources in their Fort Worth communities, especially the 76104 ZIP code, where people have the lowest life expectancy in Texas, according to a UT Southwestern study.
Davis is also the founder of Maroon 9 Community Enrichment Organization, which creates enrichment programs, from mentoring to summer opportunities. This year it won a North Texas Community Foundation grant for organizations working to achieve a more equitable community.
This is her third time producing the play, and through her time working with youth, she has seen how children from underprivileged backgrounds need accessible and cost-efficient programs.
She was a child of a single mother who could not afford these programs. So being able to use theater to build community and culture for children going through challenges and watch their confidence grow is important for Davis.
“I don’t ever want money to be a deterrent for kids to experience a quality program like this,” Davis said. “That’s why we offer these types of things for free.”
Kwanzaa was first observed in 1966 and is the original idea of Maulana Ron Karenga, a U.S. scholar and activist. During the celebration of African-American culture, families and communities light a candle each day from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 to highlight a principle.
The seven tenets of Kwanzaa are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), imani (faith).
People bring meaning to the principles with activities that include poetry, dance and reciting the work of writers.
In “Bone Soup: A Kwanzaa Story,” the citizens of Culture Kingdom use the seven principles of Kwanzaa to uplift their community. The tenets of personal and community advancement woven into “Bone Soup” teach both participants and partakers.
Fort Worth Dunbar junior Raymond Whitney, 16, is one of 25 high school students in the production.
Whitney describes himself as a timid and anxious person who could never deal with cameras or the focus on himself. Then he was inspired by his high school theater teacher to start acting and take part in “Bone Soup.”
Not many opportunities exist outside of “Bone Soup” for young aspiring actors in Fort Worth, Whitney said. He sees acting as one of the few professions in which people enjoy themselves. Being on stage in the Jubilee Theatre provides a loving and supportive community.
“I really started getting into it because it was a way to find my personality because we just came from COVID and kids all over didn’t know how to adjust again,” Whitney said. “I was one of those people and I just love everything about theater since then.”
