Gloria Terrell was my 11th grade English teacher. Ms. Terrell was one of my favorite teachers. I thought about her as I experienced Othello at the Black Rep recently.

Ms. Terrell was more than an English teacher. In her other life, she also performed in a small African-American theater company. I went to a few of their productions. The first time I saw my teacher cry as part of her role, I can remember my mouth dropping and thinking, “Wow, she’s a real actress”!

When our class was scheduled to study the works of William Shakespeare, it must have made perfect sense to this black thespian that she had to bring the stage to her inner-city students. Macbeth was brought to life through student drama. I was one of the three witches (hold the comments!) and can still vividly recall my “toil and trouble” lines.

I went on to college, where I majored in English and faced a whole semester of Master Shakespeare. Thanks to Ms. Terrell for the prep and for the beginning of a special love affair with the theater.

Fast forward to the St. Louis Black Rep. The Black Rep has given us their all for 30 seasons. The superb acting, innovative sets, amazing music, creative lighting and other theatrical elements that make for great performances are equal to any Broadway show. I know, I’ve checked out a few of them.

To truly revel in your theater experience, you must let yourself be totally drawn in. I love being taken through all the emotional high and lows with the characters and the storylines. I can get totally immersed, like in singing my favorite songs in Tell Me Something Good or being pulled onto a slave ship with a melancholic song in Crossin’ Over. The young actor/singer Kelvin Roston Jr. sang the hinges off that song!

I look forward to each season where I can check out veteran faves like Linda Kennedy, J. Samuel Davis, A.C. Smith, Lawrence Drummond, Denise Thimes, Erik Kilpatrick, Lisa Harris, Dennis and Fannie Lebby, and others. Sometimes, founder Ron Himes gives up his director’s chair for a stage role. All of these folks are professional, but they aren’t snooty. If you hang in the lobby, you can meet the cast members after any given show.

Following the Othello performance, I couldn’t help myself. I waited to plunge an imaginary dagger in the side of the Darryl Alan Reed. He accepted it with good humor, knowing it meant that he had successfully projected the loathsome nature of his character, Iago.

The Black Rep is where I have seen all of the profound works of August Wilson. I’m excited that Wilson’s last play, Radio Golf, is part of the 31st season’s repertoire. August Wilson is one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century. Notice I didn’t say “African-American” playwright; I said “playwright.” Period. Unfortunately, Wilson died before he was able to put the finishing touches on Radio Golf as he often did with his works. His protégé and friend Kenny Leon shepherded its phenomenal transition to the stage.

With Radio Golf, the Black Rep will have featured the entire cycle of the Pulitzer Prize winner’s epic work penned for each decade of life in The Hill, the working class community in Pittsburgh where the playwright grew up. The series is hailed as unprecedented in American theater for its concept, scope and mastery. Radio Golf is the last installment representing the 1990s.

The Gem of the Ocean is the first in Wilson’s Pittsburgh saga. The Black Rep is our Gem of St. Louis. Like Aunt Ester in Gem, who was reported to be 287 years old, I hope the Black Rep enjoys a similar longevity.

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member Jamala Rogers is the leader of the Organization for Black Struggle in St. Louis and the Black Radical Congress National Organizer. Click here to contact Ms. Rogers.

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