By Sharon Eberson
New Horizon Theatre opens Black History Month with American Menu, the story of five women working in the kitchen of a segregated diner in a Texas town, circa May 1968.
Each of the women in the play by Don Wilson Glenn engages in painful self examination, brought about by the senseless death of a young boy.
Tajionna Clinton and Karla C. Payne (front, left to right) and Angelique Strothers and Cheryl Bates-White (rear, from left) in New Horizon’s production of American Menu. (Images by Richena Brockinson, Lioness Photography)
Their views are shaped by personal and world events. A month earlier, in April of ‘68, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and President Johnson would have signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, providing equal housing opportunity regardless of race, religion or national origin.
The Houston Chronicle, in its review of the 2010 premiere at The Ensemble Theatre, said, “Between the personal dramas and social background, American Menu is a plateful.”
Directed by Dr. Lundeana M. Thomas, American Menu is at the Carnegie Library of Homewood Auditorium, 7101 Hamilton Ave, February 3 through 19, 7:30 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets and details: https://www.newhorizontheater.org/
From left, Cheryl Bates and Karla C. Payne in American Menu.
Categories: Show Previews
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