SARASOTA, Fla. — Storytelling whether through song, dance, or drama has been a way of sharing and passing down the experiences of African Americans in this country.
In honor of Black History Month, the spotlight is set on the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama taking center stage at the West Coast Black Theater in Sarasota.
"A Soldier's Play" has the perspective of the African-American patriot and features complex issues and conflicts brought on by racism, identity crisis, and a murder mystery. The play, written by the late US Army Veteran Charles Fuller in 1981, is set in a World War II-era military base in Fort Neal Louisiana in the segregated Deep South. It introduces Sergeant Waters, who leads an all-Black unit of soldiers.
"He's proud of his race. He feels like he should be honored and respected, and he goes about to gain that honor and respect for his race," said Patric Robinson, the actor who portrays Sergeant Waters.
Robinson, a native of Jacksonville, has performed in various shows in New York City, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Georgia. Some of those roles include Walter Lee in "Raisin In The Sun," Pseudolus in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," Bynum in "Joe Turner's Come And Gone," Gitlow in "Purlie," Hoke in "Driving Miss Daisy," and Wining Boy in "The Piano Lesso." He also features in WBTT's production of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
Robinson says over the years various social and internal conflicts caused by racism pepper the experiences of many servicemen even to this day.
"Most of the times, things that we endure and experience and go through, and live, most times those stories are swept under the carpet as if they did not exist," said Robinson.
For those behind the scenes, creating and investing in avenues for diverse stories to be told is an important part of the process. Infrastructure, like the West Coast Black Theatre and similar small community theaters, allows the dreams of talents, old and young, to flourish not just in their locality but extend across the state and nation.
"Being in technical theater requires a certain amount of education, and to get that education, you have to access to be a designer at a professional level," said Roland Black of Wyoming.
Black has been a scenic designer for more than 25 years, a career he took on after his studies at the University of Wyoming.
He has been working with WBTT for a year as the shop foreman, or resident designer, and would be responsible for creating the scenic elements and the sets of this season's productions. The set for "A Soldier's Play" would be his first design for the WBTT stage.
"It's a very collaborative effort of a lot of discussions with the Director on his vision, and how he wants to approach the material. The great thing about soldiers," said Black.
"It is such a strong piece. It really doesn't need a lot of fluff around it. You could actually do it in a in a dark room with boxes in the power of the piece speaks for itself," he said.
"You have to have the education which is again is a question of access. A large focus of what we do at West Coast Black Theatre Troupe is mentoring young people of color in the performing arts, and giving them opportunities to work in, not on the fields of performance, but the backstage portions. The technical aspects of things are someplace where we are really trying to get greater participation of especially young people to know that they could go into careers in the performing arts in the technical side," Black said.
"It's just great to be entertained at the same time, but they're always lessons to be learned," said Dona Scott of Sarasota.
Scott, who is the co-founder of "The Dona and Sam Scott Foundation," is one of the major donors to the theater and also serves as a board member.
"You lead by example whether it is giving your time your money, your expertise, or mentoring. There're just so many ways that you can be a resource," Scott said.
"The theater resonates with us in its mission to be a professional black theater in this country and we are definitely there. We are an amazing theater with wonderful show actors and it's just a wonderful theater to be able to support," she said.
A lot of the support for theater comes from those in the community who regularly fill up the seats and contribute to the thriving.
"We love the way WBTT tells our stories and this one was multi-layered and deep," said Lonetta Gaines of Sarasota.
"If we want our voices to be heard, we have to be present. We can never make a change if we are not present," said Urmilla McMurren, also of Sarasota.
"It's another opportunity for us to see how much alike we are versus how different we are," said Delores McKenzie, an actor who is a native of Sarasota.
"We see it throughout our community, throughout systems, throughout institutions. It's a fabric of America and we should acknowledge that," said Candace Richardson also of Sarasota.
"A Soldier's Play" runs through Feb. 18.