The story of America has traditionally centered around the courage of its founders, the ideals for which they fought and freedom that resulted from their struggle.
Fast forward to August of 2019 when award winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones sought to “reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States’ national narrative.”
Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) in Dallas, TX has commissioned nine local and nationally celebrated playwrights to pen one-act plays based on the New York Times bestselling book The 1619 Project authored byHannah-Jones.
Each writer penned a script inspired by a chapter from the book, creating plays which are all less than 20 minutes. The resulting works are riveting and relevant, with topics ranging from redlining to racism, Afrofuturism to antisemitism.
Nonprofit entrepreneur, actor and critically acclaimed director Gabrielle Kurlander is leading the project of nine plays which will be staged for three consecutive weekends February 9 – 26, 2023.
Kurlander’s work has been recognized with six AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, including Outstanding Director of a Musical for Sally and Tom (The American Way) by Fred Newman and Annie Roboff.
“Illuminating and sobering in equal measure, my intent is that this theatrical and creative production will be a step in the process of healing open wounds and will add to the long overdue public exploration ignited by the book which inspired the production,” said Kurlander, who will direct each of the nine plays.
Bishop Arts Theater Center is celebrating its 29th anniversary season under the leadership of Playwright-In Residence Franky Gonzalez and Executive Artistic Director Teresa Coleman Wash.
The 1619 Project One-Act Festival is sponsored in part by All Stars Project and Dallas Truth Racial Healing and Transformation.
Kurlander is a nonprofit entrepreneur, theatre director and actor. She is a founder of the All Stars Project, Inc. (ASP), and as its CEO over the last three decades she has led the organization’s transformation from a small, New York City-based, all-volunteer effort into a national nonprofit.
Using an innovative performance approach, ASP provides afterschool development opportunities for poor and underserved young people and builds bridges between diverse communities.
Gabrielle expanded the board of directors to include business leaders from Wall Street and other diverse fields. ASP also received its first significant seed capital from these leaders to establish its flagship location: a 31,000 sq. ft. performing arts and development center on 42nd Street in New York City. Since then, ASP has expanded to Newark in 1999, the San Francisco Bay Area in 2007, Chicago in 2008 and Dallas in 2013.
Gabrielle pioneered the ASP’s “involvement philanthropy” model, which personally engages C-suite leaders, Fortune 500 executives and other caring adults to create a greater direct impact in the communities where ASP reaches young people.
With an unparalleled track record of 20+ years of annual growth during her tenure, ASP teams have raised $150 million in private support from hundreds of thousands of individual supporters and more than 500 corporations and foundations nationwide.
As a leader who protested racial injustice from her earliest days as a grassroots organizer in the late 1980s, Gabrielle continues to champion racial equity and lead in diversity initiatives.
In 2021, ASP was featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy as a highly successful model for diversity and culture change within the nonprofit sector. Gabrielle established ASP’s Council of Grassroots Organizers, a forum for ASP leaders to explore urgent issues of our time—including racism, identity, poverty and justice.
In 2020, Gabrielle and ASP Vice President and Dallas City Leader, Antoine Joyce, co-created Operation Conversation, ASP’s virtual performance-based, bridge-building initiative that addresses the social and racial divides in America.
ASP received several awards under Gabrielle’s leadership, including the Southern Methodist University’s 2016 Simmons Luminary Award for ASP’s extraordinary commitment to improving lives through education. One year earlier, ASP received the International Association of Chiefs of Police/Cisco Community Policing Award for its innovative police–community relations program, Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids, in partnership with the New York City Police Department. The Volunteer Referral Center honored Gabrielle in 2014 at their 25th Anniversary Gala for her leadership in volunteerism. The musical Sally and Tom (The American Way), which she directed in 2012, won five AUDELCO Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre, including for best director.
