Named after activist-playwright Lorraine Hansberry, the Hansberry Project is a professional Black theatre company dedicated to the artistic exploration of African American life, history and culture. Our mission is to make significant and long-lasting contributions to the vitality of Seattle's performing arts community by producing work that is stimulating, relevant, emotionally satisfying, culturally specific, multi-faceted, entertaining, and artistically excellent. To that end, we are committed to producing the best plays of the Black theatre, classics and new works alike. In partnership with ACT, the Hansberry Project will produce a mainstage show, workshops, and other community-related activities during ACT's season. Our hope is that this theatre will become a center where the entire community can be enriched by the voices of professional Black artists, reflecting our autonomous concerns, investigations, dreams, and artistic expression.

Coming Up Next

the break/s: a mixtape for the stage
Presented by the Hansberry Project at ACT
By Marc Bamuthi Joseph | Directed by Michael John Garces; choreography by Stacy Printz; set and video design by David Szlasa; lighting design by James Clotfelter; original music by Ajayi Lumumba
Previews: June 17
Opens: June 18 | Closes: July 12
"Hip-hop renaissance man" Marc Bamuthi Joseph is an accomplished dancer, an award-winning poet and a passionate educator. His new play – the break/s – features Joseph's unique fusion of movement and theater; a powerhouse mixture of dance, sound, story, and visual imagery. With two turntables, a video jockey and Joseph's virtuosity, the break/s is an enthralling piece of performance magic. Drawing on interviews and documentary footage, this collaboration between performer, score and projected image explodes the boundaries of theater, dance and film and explores the conflicts between public identity and private identity in our globalized, multi-everything era.

"Sharp elegant and always urgent verse that harnesses the grit and boogie down power of hip hop as well as the singular beauty and sophistication of contemporary dance." —San Francisco Chronicle

"This powerhouse performance has sold out theatres and electrified audiences around the country."

Contact Us

The Hansberry Project at ACT
Kreielsheimer Place
700 Union Street
Seattle WA 98101-4037
Phone: (206) 292-7660 ext 1225
Fax: (206) 292-7670
E-mail: valviv@hansberryproject.org
We can also be reached at:
vcurtisnewton@acttheatre.org or vphillips@acttheatre.org