Zooman and the Sign: A Staged Reading

Saturday, April 29 at 6:00 pm

Temple Performing Arts Center

Project1VOICE, New Freedom Theatre and Temple University Department of Theater are set to celebrate the half-century legacy of the classic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) and the company’s three co-founders with a staged reading of Zooman and the Sign written by Philadelphia-based Pulitzer Prize-winner Charles Fuller.

Zooman and the Sign by Charles Fuller is a 1981 American play concerning urban violence in America. Set in Philadelphia in 1979, the play focuses on the murder of a 12-year-old African American girl in front of many local witnesses who refuse to reveal the killer despite the family’s attempts for justice. The play was first produced Off-Broadway by the Negro Ensemble Company directed by Douglas Turner Ward, earning Fuller an Obie in playwriting.

A post-show discussion will immediately follow the performance. The panelists will include Mr. Fuller and Douglas Turner Ward—the play’s original director. Temple University professor and founding Artist Director of Crossroads Theater Company, Lee Kenneth Richardson will direct. 

Zooman and the Sign contains mature language; recommended for patrons age 14 and up.