Summer Shares: Negro Ensemble Company
Hurricane House – A Play by Wendell E. Carter
August 11 – 14, 2016
Delta Mason, 22, leaves home one steamy summer night in her North Carolina town for some ice cream and does not return. The frantic family (mother Caroleena, father Bruin, brother Leavell and identical twin Delia) searches for her, a search complicated by the appearance of a hurricane bearing her name. Hurricane Delta is so massive that the townspeople must evacuate. But the Masons believe they have a compelling reason to remain. Only the athiest Leavell seems to understand that they will all be killed. Does the rest of the family know something about God and the spirit that Leavell must re-learn? Will his lack of belief kill them all, or will it save them?
Hercules Didn’t Wade in the Water – A Play by Michael A. Jones
August 18 – 21, 2016
It is 2005, Tupelo and Youngblood cling for life on a rooftop, surrounded by murky water, festered with disease and the unknown. It is only a matter of time before their food and water will run out. For Tupelo, taking an out of state job in New Orleans could earn him enough money to invest in real estate and kick start a new chapter in his life, but a turn of events will effect the two men forever. The stress takes a toll on their beliefs, their relationship, and their chance of survival.
Meanwhile, Charmaine and Maxine are hundreds of miles away, striving to see their dreams of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness come to fruition. Char seems on her way to achieving her goals; however, Maxine has a secret that will challenge her dreams of success, her marriage, and her sanity. All of this is set against the threat of one of America’s greatest disasters. A drama with comedy.
Swing – A Play by Holly M. Eaton
August 25 – 28, 2016
Mia is desperate to sell her New Jersey home. She wants to study pastry making in California and plans to move there with her young daughter. But on the very day she’s showing the property to very interested buyers, her alcoholic grandmother decides to skip her meds, her grieving former lover shows up unannounced, the roof begins leaking, and the toilet needs fixing. Her best friend does what she can to help her hold it all together. Still, it’s left to Mia to discover what can happen when one tries too hard to run away from a past one’s still living in.
Mission of the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC)
The mission of the Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) is to provide African-American, African and Caribbean professional artists with an opportunity to learn, to work, to grow and to be nurtured in the performing arts. The overall mission of the NEC is to present live theatre performances by and about black people to a culturally diverse audience that is often under served by the theatrical community.