The Colored Museum

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR JUNE 3 AND JUNE 4 TICKETHOLDERS:

With the health and safety of our artists, production team members and audiences at the forefront of our minds, The Umbrella Stage Company is canceling this Friday and Saturday (June 3rd and 4th) evening's performances of The Colored Museum. At this time we expect to return to performances on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm.

The Box Office will be in touch with ticket holders with options to reschedule your tickets, request a refund, or convert your purchase to a future event or contribution.

Other activities at The Umbrella such as classes and gallery exhibitions will proceed as scheduled.

We're grateful for your support and look forward to welcoming you back to the theater.

THE COLORED MUSEUM

May 20 - June 5, 2022 
 
By George C. Wolfe

Directed by Pascale Florestal 

Sponsored by Jennifer & Wilson Schünemann

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE!

The Colored Museum has electrified, delighted and discomforted audiences of all colors, redefining our ideas of what it means to be Black in contemporary America. Thought-provoking, provocative and extremely entertaining, its eleven “exhibits” undermine Black stereotypes old and new and return to the facts of what being Black means.

The production is directed in a fresh, relevant new way for The Umbrella Stage Company by versatile director, dramaturge, educator, writer and collaborator Pascale Florestal, recently spotlighted in WBUR's "2021 Artery 25: Artists Of Color Transforming The Cultural Landscape".

Alternately stinging and hysterically funny, the show was created by award-winning playwright George C. Wolfe, praised by The New York Times as "the kind of satirist, almost unheard of in today's timid theater, who takes no prisoners," and who "says the unthinkable, says it with uncompromising wit."

While seriously tackling the racial legacy of America's history, the play does so with defiant humor. Sketches parody everything from classic Black theater and fashion models to sell-out businessmen and wigs, and are laced with wisecracks about popular culture and lively music by Kysia Bostic. It also challenges traditional notions of the museum or cultural institution itself, "humanizing the Black experience that we so often see purely as entertainment," says Florestal.

In addition to theater talkbacks, the show experience will intersect with other programs at The Umbrella, including "The Colored Museum: Past/Present/Future" exhibition, a mixed media group show featuring work by 10 emerging and established contemporary Black artists curated by Cedric Vise1 Douglas; a pre-matinee African-American History Walking Tour of Concord every Sunday; partner activities with The Robbins House; and other community events.

Want to see the show for free? Volunteer as an usher! Sign up here: The Colored Museum Volunteer Ushers. Questions? Contact Cathie Regan at CRegan@theumbrellaarts.org

Due to forceful language and mature situations, this show is recommended for high school audiences and older. 
Please note: This production employs the use of prop weapons, including prop guns, and loud sound effects including gun shots.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

"The Colored Museum and exhibit The Colored Museum: Past, Present, and Future [are] Ironic, heart wrenching, sublime, funny, provocative, and a Call to Action, a whole basket of humanity on a hot summer night. Go to Concord, its worth the trip!"

"One of 14 transformational theater productions to attend this spring"

RELATED SPECIAL EVENTS

ARTISTS OPENING RECEPTION

WALKING TOUR SUNDAYS

THE ROBBINS HOUSE TALKBACK

COLLABORATORS TALKBACK

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: Regardless of vaccine status, ALL patrons must wear a properly fitted CDC-approved face mask inside the theater. The Umbrella will operate at limited capacity with upgraded MERV-13 HVAC filters. We reserve the right to reseat patrons as needed in accordance with our COVID protocols. All tickets will be held at the box office to ensure the safest, most accurate experience for all patrons. These policies are in effect as of April 1, 2022 and are subject to change. The Umbrella's full COVID safety guidelines can be found here.

READINGS

• Media Release: Provocative Questions Meet Satirical Wit in The Colored Museum
• Director and Dramaturg Notes on The Colored Museum
• View the Playbill
• Feature Article: In Concord, ‘The Colored Museum’ puts racial stereotypes on exhibit
  Terry Byrne, The Boston Globe
• Feature Article: ‘The Colored Museum’ examines America’s racial legacy, violence still relevant today
  Barry Scanlon, Lowell Sun and Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise
• Feature Article: Series of Programs Offers Rich Explorations of Black Past, Present, and Future
  Discover Concord Magazine
• Feature Article: 14 Transformational Theater Productions to Attend This Spring
  Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR Artery
• Feature Article: Remixing Museum Spaces
  By Jennifer Mancuso, Art New England