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| Ava Wilson. Photo Credit Melyssah Colerangle |
The South Dallas Cultural Center (SDCC), Dallas, Texas, is home to
numerous burgeoning arts programs. Soul Children’s Theatre Company is one such
entity with a mission to revive Black theatre in Dallas. According to the
program’s Artistic, Education and Managing Director, Ava Wilson, Soul Children’s
is a unique organization. Wilson, who is also an actress, playwright and poet,
received her BA and MA in Africana Studies from Howard University and Temple
University respectively. In December 2011, Soul Children’s staged successful
productions celebrating both Christmas and Kwanzaa including The Brown King (written by Wilson and Soul Children’s
founder, Harold Stewart) reviewed HERE in the Dallas Weekly. Soul Children’s upcoming production is “Angela’s
Mixtape” by Eisa Davis. “Angela’s Mixtape” will be staged at the SDCC from
March 8th-11th. For more information visit the Soul
Children’s Theatre Company on FACEBOOK or email them at soulchildrenstheatre@gmail.com.
Below, Wilson discusses the company, its upcoming projects, the state of black
theatre, and her writing.
Please tell readers what the Soul Children's
Theatre Company is, how long it’s been in existence, how long you've been
involved, what your role is as part of the organization and how it is funded.
Soul
Children's Theatre Company is the only theatre in Dallas, Texas of its kind
that caters to young African Americans (as well as their families) and provides
them with quality theatre programming, theatrical training, and knowledge of
theatre in the African Diaspora. Soul Children's Theatre was founded by
my long time friend Harold Steward in 2008 at the South Dallas Cultural Center.
Soul Children's is one of the Cultural Center's many artistic partners who
use the space there to get their companies and work off of the ground. At
this moment, my title is Artistic Director; however, I am also the Managing
Director and the Educational Director.
We are
funded through the support of the City of Dallas and the South Dallas Cultural
Center through Big Thought/Thriving Minds (a local organization that employs
and funds artists from all genres) through a generous grant from Chase Bank.
However, we are not a registered non-profit at this moment, but we are in
the works of completing that task in the near future. We also get additional
funding from revenue from shows as well as tuition from theatre classes that we
facilitate.
