Theatre Thursday: Chad Boseman’s Pittsburgh Connection
Written by Lauren Galloway, student employee
Special Collections is currently processing the papers of the Kuntu Repertory Theatre, an exciting addition to the Curtis Theatre Collection. One of my tasks this summer was to create a master list of all the plays performed by this former University of Pittsburgh theatre group.
One of the most interesting things I’ve found so far is a playbill for Hieroglyphic Graffiti, a play written and directed by Chadwick Boseman.
Yes, the Chadwick Boseman, as in the successful film actor who has portrayed Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and the Black Panther. There’s even a picture of him included.
Fresh out of Howard University with a BFA in directing, Boseman was invited by Kuntu to be part of their “mentors and protégés” season of 2002-2003. Boseman was one of the protégés of the season, paired with mentor Sybil Roberts. At the time, it seems like he was set to continue on the path of theatre, though his career would end up in film. Boseman was recognized as being a part of “the new wave of socially responsible playwrights” and credited as helping to “shape a new form of drama called hip-hop theatre.” A review of his play called it, “a sprawling drama mixing family tragedy and mythic rebirth, overflowing with big ideas and passages of impassioned rhythm.”
The play itself is described as a “modern Hip-Hop retelling of the Ancient Osirian Resurrection myth” and ran from October 17 to November 2 in 2002. Taking the ancient Egyptian figures of mythology, Boseman set them in modern day D.C., a place specifically chosen because of its strong African and Egyptian ties and parallels, both architecturally and otherwise. Something interesting to note is that Kuntu sought real graffiti artists to participate in the set design of the play.
Hieroglyphic Graffiti is the second of the three plays Boseman has written. This wasn’t the first time the play had been performed (it had been showcased at two different theatre festivals previously), but it was the first traditional run of the play, and is an interesting tie between Chadwick Boseman and Pittsburgh, particularly with Pitt.
Chadwick Boseman’s recent role is T’Challa, the Black Panther, in the latest Captain America movie. Special Collections actually has several original issues of the Black Panther comics, including the very first ones. The character of Black Panther was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966 and made his first appearance in an issue of The Fantastic Four. Acting as both King of Wakanda and as its protector in the form of the Black Panther, T’Challa gained his enhanced senses and physical abilities from the consumption of the Heart-Shaped Herb. The character has also been called the first black superhero in mainstream American comics. Chadwick Boseman is set to have his own Black Panther Marvel film in 2018, and altogether has a five picture deal with Marvel.
“Black Panther (comics)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
"Black Panther." Marvel. Marvel, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
"Chadwick Boseman." Doollee.com: The Playwrights Database. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
"Chadwick Boseman." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
"T'Challa (Earth-616)." Marvel Database. Wikia, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
Rawson, Christopher. "Stage Review: Kuntu Rewrites Isis Myth with ‘Graffiti’” Post-Gazette.com. PG Publishing Co., 25 Oct. 2002. Web. 18 July 2016.
Various materials. Kuntu Theatre Collection. Unprocessed. Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh.
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