The Gathering: A Place For Narrative Change
Unearthing the stories within Black Culture
May 25 - June 2, 2024
The Gathering
It is time for us to gather, to fellowship, to generate communal action and dream into the possibilities of the future.
From May 25 to June 2, you are invited to participate in the power of The Gathering: A Place For Narrative Change. This will be a week of family-friendly programming curated by National Black Theatre (NBT) to provide a central space for folks to be in dialogue with each other and to unearth the compounded/dynamic narratives that rest in the Black diaspora existence in America. Seeking to uplift the need for narrative change surrounding Black culture, NBT has curated a roster of dynamic programming that includes performances, social practice demonstrations, classes, and discussions throughout the week. All programming will take place on the Kennedy Center campus to help inform, inspire, and engage our community in civic and creative discourse.
This all leads up to the signature event happening June 1, 2024: The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout, which is being produced in concert with the world famous Apollo Theater. The purpose of The Gathering in all of its iterations is to center Afro healing, remembrance, resilience, and joy.
Festival Highlights
Schedule
About National Black Theatre
National Black Theatre (NBT) is a Tony® and Emmy Award®–nominated institution founded in 1968 by the late visionary artist Dr. Barbara Ann Teer. The nation’s first revenue-generating Black arts complex, NBT is the longest-running Black theatre in New York City, one of the oldest theaters founded and consistently operated by a woman of color in the nation, and has been included in the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. NBT’s core mission is to produce transformational theater that helps to shift the inaccuracies around African Americans’ cultural identity by telling authentic stories of Black lives. As an alternative learning environment, NBT uses theatre arts as a means to educate, enrich, entertain, empower, and inform the national conscience around current social issues impacting our communities.
Under the leadership of CEO Sade Lythcott and Executive Artistic Director Jonathan McCrory, NBT helps reshape a more inclusive American theater field by providing an artistically rigorous and culturally sensitive space for artists of color to experiment, develop and present new work. NBT has worked with trailblazing artists from Nona Hendryx to Jeremy O. Harris, and most recently, has helped launch the careers of Dominique Morisseau, Radha Blank, Mfoniso Udofia, Saheem Ali, Lee Edward Colston II, and Ebony Noelle Golden.
NBT’s cultural production remains unparalleled as they incubated Obie Award–winning companies like The Movement Theatre Company and Harlem9’s 48 Hours. NBT welcomes more than 90,000 visitors annually, has produced 300+ original works, has won countless awards such as two Obie awards, 58 Audelco Awards, a CEBA Award of Merit, and has been nominated for multiple Drama Desk awards. Located in the heart of Harlem, NBT is embarking on a historic major capital redevelopment project that will transform the current property into a 21st-century destination for Black culture through theater.
NBT is supported by grants from Booth Ferris Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, City Council of New York, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and private donations.
Follow NBT on Facebook (@NationalBlackTheatre) and Twitter/Instagram (@NatBlackTheatre).
For detailed information about the National Black Theatre, please visit their website.
NATIONAL BLACK THEATRE AND THE APOLLO PRESENT
The Gathering: A Collective Sonic Ring Shout
Sat. Jun. 1, 2024 7:30p.m.
Join Nona Hendryx, Abby Dobson, Toshi Reagon, Joel Thompson, Carlos Simon, Courtney Bryan, Troy Anthony and more as they take you on a sonic journey to “The Gathering.” Join us to awaken JOY as a source of LIBERATION, and to find LOVE as our form of resistance.
Parking
Parking is currently available on a first-come, first-served basis at the parking entrances. Accessible parking spaces are available on all levels and are located on the west side of the motor lobbies nearest the river. All major credit cards accepted: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
Parking is available to reserve in advance for $22.
Sponsors
Mellon Foundation
The Bernstein Family Foundation
Program support for The Gathering provided by:
Partnering Organizations:
Possibility Partners:
Ring Shout Partners:
Liberation Partners:
Terms and Conditions
All events and artists subject to change without prior notice.
All ticket prices are subject to change based on demand. Purchase early to lock in prices and the best seats!
This performance is co-produced by National Black Theatre and The Apollo in association with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and is an external rental presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center Campus Rental Office and the Social Impact Office.