"What To Expect"

BlackPlayBook seeks to re-vision "black play"as cultural production that counters gender, race and class- based oppression. As such, BlackPlayBook performs within a womanist/black feminist tradition on a "play-ground" of black performance, scholarship and activism. BlackPlayBook references a special issue of Theatre Journal v57, n4 (December 2005) that asks, "What is Black Play?"

Friday, July 3, 2015

FVSU to offer Theatre Minor

June 12, 2015 – Fort Valley State University Joseph Adkins Players give their time, talent and heart to ensuring that their theater performances are on-mark for opening night. In the fall, those thespians will have an opportunity to receive classroom credit in exchange for their efforts thanks to a new theater minor program that was recently approved during a faculty senate meeting.
According to Dr. Maisha Akbar, an associate professor of fine arts, the minor program was launched to create a direct link between Fort Valley State University and Georgia’s $5.1 billion film and television production industry. Currently, the state ranks number two after California for film production.
“The Theatre/Performance Studies minor will prepare the students with the skills that will result in a broadening of student job opportunities, including those that are supported by Governor Nathan Deal’s allocation of a portion of the 2015 state budget,” Akbar said. “Additionally, the proposed minor will effectively update the departmental/college/university curriculum to reflect current trends that integrate art.”
Akbar expects to have 15 to 40 students within her minor program during the first year, whose primary majors will be largely composed of drama students, as well as mass communications students who want to supplement their programs with Theatre/Performance Studies curriculum.
Students will need to earn 18 hours in order to receive a minor in theater studies. Students can choose Oral Interpretation (THEA 1203) Survey of Theatre History (THEA 2424), Theatre Practicum (THEA 4473).
Akbar says the new program helps increase students options and opportunities in regard to art-based educational training.
“These activities are not only attractive to students but provides much needed outlets for their talents and interests,” she said. “Theatre/Performance Studies is important in other fields of study as it offers students essential tools for understanding art and culture. These tools include creative thinking and critical analysis, the study of cultural/performance practices, as well as foundational skills upon which students can pursue careers in media research, scholarship and teaching and/or professions in the media and new media industries.”
For more information on the program, contact Akbar at (478) 825-6989 or email akbarm@fvsu.edu.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Fine Arts J.A.P. celebrates performance, scholars and launch of theater minor

February 20, 2015 - Next fall, Fort Valley State University actors, actresses and theater enthusiasts will have the opportunity to earn credit for their participation in performances on campus. The university is launching a theater minor in Fall 2015. To celebrate the development of the program, the Joseph Adkins Players will be holding a special, invitation-only performance at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5. A reception will follow after the performance.

Dr. Maisha Akbar, FVSU associate professor of fine arts, is helping to create the new offering for students. Akbar says that she is completing a proposal to establish the program on campus.

"Theater skills are applied communications skills," Akbar said. "They are marketable. They not only have the performance aspect, but the technical aspect as well. Students in the drama club have attended lighting, writing and film workshops. We've had very dynamic activities, so this new theater minor is our way of giving back."

Akbar says that the new minor builds upon the work that the drama club has done on campus. According to Akbar, the drama club has held a production every semester, and the March 5 event will spotlight their past and future productions.

"The event includes two productions that we've done before -- A Safe (by Georgia Douglass Johnson) and Selfies.  We will also preview the production that we're doing in the fall, which is Steel Magnolias," Akbar said.

Once the minor program is established on campus, students will need to earn 15 credit hours in theater to earn a minor.


"Establishing a theater minor furthers the work our dedicated and talented faculty are doing in raising the profile of the Arts at FVSU and in the community," said Dr. Uppinder Mehan, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.