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THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONjourney(noun) passage or progress fromone stage to another; a set ofexperiences that someone has overa period of time, especially whenthey change the person in some wayhome(noun) a place of origin; to a vitalsensitive core; in harmony with thesurroundingspilgrimage(noun) a journey to a holy place, whichcan lead to a personal transformation
THE PILGRIMAGEAs you immerse yourself in NBT’s 2024-2025 season, ThePilgrimage: A Journey Back Home, we invite you to reflect on theweight of these words: pilgrimage, journey, and home. Theseactive words are not merely thematic but foundational to ourexploration of what it means to navigate and create spaces ofbelonging; they are meant to illuminate, along with this season’s5 productions a kind of North Star to help us find our way back —to ourselves, our communities and to spaces (physical orotherwise) — where safety awaits and our exhale feels best.A Journey Back HomeTHE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONBreston Kenya24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON
“The Pilgrimage” illuminates how storytelling serves as a crucialvehicle for this journey. Through vibrant and evocative narratives,Black artists and creators navigate the terrain of past and presentstruggles, transforming personal and communal experiences intocompelling stories. These stories are not merely reflections butactively guides audiences through the complexities of identity,history, and hope. All season, through these distinct and diverseofferings, the concept of “home” emerges as a powerful, reverberantdestination. Each production uniquely explores how Black bodies,enduring and inventive, forge sanctuaries within their journeys .Journeys—both literal and symbolic—that uplift our quest forunderstanding and connection to our origin.This season’s theme draws great inspiration from The Negro’sMotorist / Travelers’ Green Book, an ‘undergound railroad’ resourcewritten by Victor Hugo Green from 1936-1967, used as a vital tool thatguided African American travelers through hostile and treacherouslandscapes during segregation. Far more than a travel guide, theGreen Book was a testament to resilience and communal solidarity. Itaided in charting routes to safety and offered a semblance of home, away to build community and respite in a hostile world intentionallydesigned to exclude and perpetually disrupt any sense of belonging.THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONThree Editions of The Negro’s Motorist / Travelers’ Green BookGriffith & Griffith Publishing
Gordon ParksAs National Black Theatre prepares for our own return home toHarlem, this season invigorates our mission to create a spacethat goes beyond storytelling. Our new home, crafted with you inmind, will embody our shared spiritual, emotional, and physicalconnections. We aim to nurture new visions and ways of beingthat honor those who paved the way and affirm the power ofdreaming together.Join us on this soul journey as we explore present pulse issuessuch as climate justice, immigration, colorism, HIV/AIDS and thesymphonic afro future landscape of Black skate culture, we inviteyou to use this season’s productions as a provocation to reflectand discover a deeper sense of self, where the stage becomes alandscape for our collective freedom. As you journey through ourseason, remember that your engagement — your kindness, yourcommunity, your voice — shapes our collective path. Yourpresence contributes to the ongoing dialogue about ourliberation and our future. Join us on this profound pilgrimage,united in our journeys back to the sanctuaries we call home.THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON“My vision is, and has been, to take theingenious of artists — and we are allartists — and place it in an infrastructurethat will nurture it and develop it so thatthe world can be witness to the healingforce that lives inside the people ofAfrican ancestry. But most importantly,have human beings be human.DR. BARBARA ANN TEERDr. Barbara Ann Teer
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONTAKE A JOURNEYBACK HOME WITHUS THIS SEASON.This season’s five productions are a kindof North Star to help us find our way back— to ourselves, our communities and tospaces (physical or otherwise) — wheresafety awaits and our exhale feels best.
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON“Ibrahim Taha Muhammad I need to be where I canbe free. Stretch out. Fillup my lungs and notchoke on the inhale. Ican’t be free where thetrees don’t breathe. THE DIVININGEBONY NOELLE GOLDEN
Questions to1.How much time, money, and effort are youwilling to invest in your own healing?Activate Your HealingTHE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONHarris & Ewing
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON“This is how we doit. This is how wedance. This is howwe carry our days.Angelo Rizzuto KINGS... COME HOMESMITA JAMES, VERONIQUE EFOMI & MUNGANYENDE
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON“All my life I havebeen a stranger inmy own body.Breston KenyaCHIAROSCUROAISHAH RAHMAN
2.How do you create safe passage formembers of your community? In whatspaces do you feel physically, emotionally,and spiritually cared for?THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONBain News ServiceQuestions toActivate Your Healing
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASON“I saw my soul finallyfeeling safe for thefirst time in my entirelife.Russell LeeSWEETWATERNATHAN YUNGERBERG
THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONGarcia Betsaid“hey i brought usome luv in case ugot hungry for someBOWL EPNAZARETH HASSAN
Samuel Willard Bridgham3.If your body is a home, what does yourfuture home feel like emotionally andspiritually?THE PILGRIMAGEA Journey Back HomePRESENTED BY THE ALTERNATIVE LEARNING & SOCIAL IMPACT DEPARTMENT24/25 THEATRICAL SEASONQuestions toActivate Your Healing