All posts by Jamila

About Jamila

Administrative Assistance. The M Ensemble Company, Inc.

DAHOMEY WARRIORS

‘DAHOMEY WARRIORS’ HAS COMPELLING STORY, HIGHLY THEATRICAL MOMENTS – AND A COMMUNICATION ISSUE

Review By Christine Dolen | February 16, 2022 | WWW.ARTBURST.COM

The characters played by Toddra Brunson and Aixa Kendrick are ready for battle in M Ensemble’s production of “The Dahomey Warriors.” (Photo/Christa Ingraham)

The works of Layon Gray have been an inspiring fit for Miami’s M Ensemble ever since the 50-year-old company inaugurated its new home at Liberty City’s Sandrell Rivers Theater with the playwright’s “Kings of Harlem” in 2017.

That production of the piece about members of the Harlem Renaissance Black pro basketball team circa 1939 won several key Carbonell Awards, and it led to the company staging Gray’s “Meet Me at the Oak” (a family-inspired play about racism set in the mid-1950s) in 2019 and “Cowboy” (about a Black 19th-century U.S. marshal) in 2021.

Gray has now returned to M Ensemble with a Black History Month production of his play “The Dahomey Warriors.” First staged in 2017 under the title “Black Sparta” in New York, the play was also done at 2017’s National Black Theatre Festival and at a Pittsburgh theater in 2018.

Rechristened “The Dahomey Warriors,” the play is, like so much of Gray’s work, steeped in history. It was inspired by a regiment of fierce women soldiers who fought in the West African kingdom of Dahomey (now the Republic of Benin) from the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. . . .

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2021 Broadway World Miami Awards Announced

by BWW Awards Jan. 12, 2022  

Victors have been reported for the 2021 BroadwayWorld Miami Awards. The 2021 Regional Awards honor creations which had their first execution between October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021.

Best Direction Of A Play
Layon Gray – COWBOY – Sandrell Rivers Theatre

Best Performer In A Play
Layon Gray – COWBOY – Sandrell Rivers Theatre

Best Supporting Performer In A Play
Reginald Wilson – COWBOY – Sandrell Rivers Theatre

Best Play
COWBOY
– Sandrell Rivers Theatre

Best Production Of The Year
COWBOY
– Sandrell Rivers Theatre

M Ensemble Company on Art loft

PBS | Art Loft : Theatre and Performance | 906 Episode

M Ensemble stats at 3:30

The Fantasy Theatre Factory and M Ensemble share a state-of-the-art facility in Miami, meeting performance goers where they live. FTF specializes in theatre for young audiences and has recently created performances for adults. M Ensemble is the oldest theatre company in Miami and the oldest African American theatre company in the state of Florida. Their legacy brings the works of established and new playwrights to life