One could also say the roots of the Reggae Theater Ensemble began with my weekly reading of "The Weekend Love Forecast"-a comedic spoof performed while I was a canvasser for Greenpeace.
Or maybe it was my role as Billy Williams,a fiery labor organizer in the (South Minneapolis)Whittier Community Play "Flying Crooked" directed by Jon Orem and Ben Kreilkamp is where it all began. At the time of that play, I had recently come to know I was RastafarI and had just begun to dreadlock ,and clear in the memory is the discussion held with Tony Paul of KFAI Radio and host of its reggae and world music program shortly after its run.Tony was also a musician who performed in various theater productions around town. His take? Few roles for a black dreadlock available..
One wouldn't be wrong in declaring that any one of those experiences or all three is where it came from,but there is also clear root tracing back to the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis.
The West Bank of that era was a magnet of sorts.For some time now,"hippies" had found their way onto the West Bank,but it wasn't exclusive to hippies."punks",activists and artists of all stripes found there way onto the West Bank also.
Chances were that if one was an "outsider" of any sort passing through Minneapolis for any reason,you were drawn to the West Bank.
My life on the West Bank began with my work at the New Riverside Cafe,a worker owned,worker managed vegetarian restaurant also known as "the Biomagnetic Center of the Universe" Not too long after I began work there,I rented a cheap room across the street from the Riv at a place called the Holtzterman. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have a roach problem in my loft space. I became completely immersed in the countercultural experience that was the West Bank.It was also a neighborhood that culturally accepted RastafarI. Rasta "reasoning" sessions,and righteous reggae music were regular West Bank occurances.
I joined the Many Voices Workshop at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis in part on the recommendation of a couple actors I worked with in "Flying Crooked",but I joined not with the intentions of writing a play or anything creative for that matter. I had previously written pieces that found their way into high school and college publications,and once in a Denver based magazine,but those articles were all of the journalistic variety. On top of that,I had been dealing with a seven year writing block from that style of writing. I was merely hoping that perhaps if I was in a room of writers..ANY kind of writer that I might be able to crack the block. The Many Voices Workshop was one designed for African American Playwrights and an assignment was given to each member to write a piece that would first get a reading at the workshop followed by a staged reading at the renowned Walker Art Center .The theme for the readings was to be a Tribute to Malcolm X.
Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh,a reggae themed theater piece featuring an imaginary meeting between the two cultural giants was birthed in the Holtzterman with parts of it being written after a night of reasoning,reggae music or maybe after an evening of marijuana smoking on the Holtzterman deck or time spent at Palmer's Bar across the street from the Holtzerman.
The night before the Playwrights Center reading,I asked Mitch Olson to read my script. Mitch was a co worker at the New Riverside Cafe.I had never worked directly with him,but would often see him at various West Bank gatherings,particularly when marijuana smoking was involved,and who now was,for various reasons crashing at my loft on a regular basis.
He had an appreciation for art,and at one time was in charge of the art work displayed at the Riv. I also knew him to be one knowing what Rasta style and message was about. If I was going to embarass myself by bringing this script to the Playwrights Center,I trusted Mitch to tell me and the script would have ended up in the Holtzerman garbage. Mitch said this piece needed to be heard.
Many approached me after its Playwrights Center reading expressing how they were moved by the piece,yet at about a week before its Walker reading,it's abruptly cancelled.Later word got back that the event was cancelled because none of the tributes to Malcolm X "fit standard theatrical fare"
Next thing you know,Mitch and I are signing a contract to stage the play along with presentations by all the Many Voices writers at the Cedar Cultural Center located on the West Bank as part of a tribute to Malcolm X to be held on his birthday. To say I was pissed at the cancellation is putting things in the mildest of terms. At the same time we have no clue as to how we were to pay the Cedar should few show up.
The cancellation of the Walker reading seemed to have disappointed many on the West Bank and the groundswell of support given us after our decision to stage it ourselves seemed like nothing short of a miracle from Jah. Tony Paul agreed to stay with the project and he was soon joined by Dwight Thompson,another KFAI radio personality.The revised script called for a reggae band. Van Nixon from the popular local reggae band The Maroons then signed on,bringing other members of the band along with.
Folks in and around the West Bank became even more curious about the project when first, actor Terry Bellamy,noted for his work at Penumbra Theater and elsewhere as well as one of the Many Voices mentors,continued to meet with me at the Riv and began to serve as an unofficial dramaturg for the piece,That was followed by a contribution from local dj,radio personality and regular Riv customer Kevin Cole. It is Kevin who arranged a meeting between myself and Andrew Tosh,Peter's son who was in town for a show.. Tosh,upon reading the script says the play honors the spirit of his Dad.
.
It was becoming clear to me that something special was being created..special and potentially dangerous.
In the Walker draft,in the spirit of One Love and Inity(Unity) the topic of marijuana is brought up,but was never a source of conflict. Now,under the encouragement of Terry Bellamy to bring more of a theatrical conflict into the piece,the differing viewpoints on marijuana as presented by the two main characters is now a part,yet the reggae style presented in the original script is maintained as being central to the piece.
Terry also encouraged me to create a "bridge" between those more accustomed to a traditional theater setting and those who would naturally gravitate to the VIBE this reggae theater work was aiming to create.
The "bridge" became a non speaking character in the play called "The Man on the Couch" That character became Mitch Olson.That character would begin this play with a slow walk from the audience to the stage,and in doing so,in his own way engage the audience in his walk.In many respects,I was taking a page from what I saw Ben Krielkamp achieved so brilliantly in "Flying Crooked."
Only Mitch and I knew that the marijuana joints to be used in Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh would be 100 percent pure marijuana. After all,this was going to be a most accurate portrayal of Peter Tosh,and it was known that Tosh routinely smoked marijuana in public.
There was as much time planning escape routes from the Cedar should the cops show up,as was putting the details of the play together itself.
Thanks to the promotion of the evening,conducted on various KFAI programs,various flyers designed to target different audiences that might me interested in the event,and a word of mouth buzz that eminated from the Riv,but had clearly spread throughout the West Bank,our escape routes were blocked as instead of the 50 or so people Mitch and I expected,the Cedar Cultural Center was filled to near capacity. I looked around and told Mitch before we went onstage "Looks like we're going to jail tonight."
Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh closed out the first half of the Malcolm X tribute. By the time it ended,folks were dancing in the aisles in front of the stage amidst the clouds of ganja smoke provided by Peter Tosh and the Man on the Couch and in the words of Peter Tosh,"Nah goa jail for Ganja"
In other words we lived to tell the story not behind a jail cell. Little did we know at the time,that in a few months,we would be repeating this story in Denver.
The Original Cast:
Malcolm X -Dwight Thompson
Peter Tosh-David Daniels
The Reporter-Tony Paul
Man on the Couch-Mitch Olson
The Band-Van Nixon,Markiss,Brian Alexis
The West Bank of that era was a magnet of sorts.For some time now,"hippies" had found their way onto the West Bank,but it wasn't exclusive to hippies."punks",activists and artists of all stripes found there way onto the West Bank also.
Chances were that if one was an "outsider" of any sort passing through Minneapolis for any reason,you were drawn to the West Bank.
My life on the West Bank began with my work at the New Riverside Cafe,a worker owned,worker managed vegetarian restaurant also known as "the Biomagnetic Center of the Universe" Not too long after I began work there,I rented a cheap room across the street from the Riv at a place called the Holtzterman. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have a roach problem in my loft space. I became completely immersed in the countercultural experience that was the West Bank.It was also a neighborhood that culturally accepted RastafarI. Rasta "reasoning" sessions,and righteous reggae music were regular West Bank occurances.
I joined the Many Voices Workshop at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis in part on the recommendation of a couple actors I worked with in "Flying Crooked",but I joined not with the intentions of writing a play or anything creative for that matter. I had previously written pieces that found their way into high school and college publications,and once in a Denver based magazine,but those articles were all of the journalistic variety. On top of that,I had been dealing with a seven year writing block from that style of writing. I was merely hoping that perhaps if I was in a room of writers..ANY kind of writer that I might be able to crack the block. The Many Voices Workshop was one designed for African American Playwrights and an assignment was given to each member to write a piece that would first get a reading at the workshop followed by a staged reading at the renowned Walker Art Center .The theme for the readings was to be a Tribute to Malcolm X.
Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh,a reggae themed theater piece featuring an imaginary meeting between the two cultural giants was birthed in the Holtzterman with parts of it being written after a night of reasoning,reggae music or maybe after an evening of marijuana smoking on the Holtzterman deck or time spent at Palmer's Bar across the street from the Holtzerman.
The night before the Playwrights Center reading,I asked Mitch Olson to read my script. Mitch was a co worker at the New Riverside Cafe.I had never worked directly with him,but would often see him at various West Bank gatherings,particularly when marijuana smoking was involved,and who now was,for various reasons crashing at my loft on a regular basis.
He had an appreciation for art,and at one time was in charge of the art work displayed at the Riv. I also knew him to be one knowing what Rasta style and message was about. If I was going to embarass myself by bringing this script to the Playwrights Center,I trusted Mitch to tell me and the script would have ended up in the Holtzerman garbage. Mitch said this piece needed to be heard.
Many approached me after its Playwrights Center reading expressing how they were moved by the piece,yet at about a week before its Walker reading,it's abruptly cancelled.Later word got back that the event was cancelled because none of the tributes to Malcolm X "fit standard theatrical fare"
Next thing you know,Mitch and I are signing a contract to stage the play along with presentations by all the Many Voices writers at the Cedar Cultural Center located on the West Bank as part of a tribute to Malcolm X to be held on his birthday. To say I was pissed at the cancellation is putting things in the mildest of terms. At the same time we have no clue as to how we were to pay the Cedar should few show up.
The cancellation of the Walker reading seemed to have disappointed many on the West Bank and the groundswell of support given us after our decision to stage it ourselves seemed like nothing short of a miracle from Jah. Tony Paul agreed to stay with the project and he was soon joined by Dwight Thompson,another KFAI radio personality.The revised script called for a reggae band. Van Nixon from the popular local reggae band The Maroons then signed on,bringing other members of the band along with.
Folks in and around the West Bank became even more curious about the project when first, actor Terry Bellamy,noted for his work at Penumbra Theater and elsewhere as well as one of the Many Voices mentors,continued to meet with me at the Riv and began to serve as an unofficial dramaturg for the piece,That was followed by a contribution from local dj,radio personality and regular Riv customer Kevin Cole. It is Kevin who arranged a meeting between myself and Andrew Tosh,Peter's son who was in town for a show.. Tosh,upon reading the script says the play honors the spirit of his Dad.
.
It was becoming clear to me that something special was being created..special and potentially dangerous.
In the Walker draft,in the spirit of One Love and Inity(Unity) the topic of marijuana is brought up,but was never a source of conflict. Now,under the encouragement of Terry Bellamy to bring more of a theatrical conflict into the piece,the differing viewpoints on marijuana as presented by the two main characters is now a part,yet the reggae style presented in the original script is maintained as being central to the piece.
Terry also encouraged me to create a "bridge" between those more accustomed to a traditional theater setting and those who would naturally gravitate to the VIBE this reggae theater work was aiming to create.
The "bridge" became a non speaking character in the play called "The Man on the Couch" That character became Mitch Olson.That character would begin this play with a slow walk from the audience to the stage,and in doing so,in his own way engage the audience in his walk.In many respects,I was taking a page from what I saw Ben Krielkamp achieved so brilliantly in "Flying Crooked."
Only Mitch and I knew that the marijuana joints to be used in Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh would be 100 percent pure marijuana. After all,this was going to be a most accurate portrayal of Peter Tosh,and it was known that Tosh routinely smoked marijuana in public.
There was as much time planning escape routes from the Cedar should the cops show up,as was putting the details of the play together itself.
Thanks to the promotion of the evening,conducted on various KFAI programs,various flyers designed to target different audiences that might me interested in the event,and a word of mouth buzz that eminated from the Riv,but had clearly spread throughout the West Bank,our escape routes were blocked as instead of the 50 or so people Mitch and I expected,the Cedar Cultural Center was filled to near capacity. I looked around and told Mitch before we went onstage "Looks like we're going to jail tonight."
Malcolm X Meet Peter Tosh closed out the first half of the Malcolm X tribute. By the time it ended,folks were dancing in the aisles in front of the stage amidst the clouds of ganja smoke provided by Peter Tosh and the Man on the Couch and in the words of Peter Tosh,"Nah goa jail for Ganja"
In other words we lived to tell the story not behind a jail cell. Little did we know at the time,that in a few months,we would be repeating this story in Denver.
The Original Cast:
Malcolm X -Dwight Thompson
Peter Tosh-David Daniels
The Reporter-Tony Paul
Man on the Couch-Mitch Olson
The Band-Van Nixon,Markiss,Brian Alexis
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