PITT'S KUNTU REPERTORY THEATRE OFFERING TWO PRODUCTIONS BEGINNING IN APRIL

PITTSBURGH, Mar. 2 — The University of Pittsburgh's Kuntu Repertory Theatre will stage two productions this spring in overlapping performances of Keepers of the Dream and Papa's Blues.

Keepers of the Dream, a celebration of African American women through history, runs April 7 through 18 at the Pittsburgh City Theatre's Lester Hamburg studio space, Southside.

Created and directed by Jacqueline Moscou with contributions by Nikki Nojima Louis, this multi-media celebration chronicles the emotional, spiritual and historical journey of African American women from Africa to the present. Beginning in Africa with poetry, drums and a litany of lost names and places, then moving to stories of female slaves, to Freedom Day, to campground meetings and gospel songs, to big cities and the Blues, to the civil rights movement and its songs, the story eventually leads to the present.

Keepers of the Dream is a part of City Theatre's Hamburg Partner Program, supported by the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Papa's Blues, a family drama about the relationships between fathers and sons, runs April 14 through May 1 at the Studio Theatre in the basement of the Cathedral of Learning, Oakland. Written by Javon Johnson, an MFA student in Pitt's Theatre Arts department, Papa's Blues is an inspiring family drama about how a vulnerable nine year old boy and his struggling father develop a strong, loving relationship in a family that's almost ripped apart by tragic secrets, alcoholism and racism in a quest to achieve the "American Dream." Vernell A. Lillie directs Papa's Blues, which features Franklin Westbrooks and Nyjah Moore.

Performances of Keepers of the Dream run Wednesday through Saturday at

8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m., with a special matinee Friday, April 16 at 11 a.m. Tickets are $15.00 for general admission, $10 for seniors and students and $5 for University of Pittsburgh students. To order, call City Theatre's box office,

412-431-CITY.

Tickets for Papa's Blues are available through Stephen Foster Box Office, 624-PLAY, Ticketmaster, 412-323-1919 and Dorsey's Record Shop, 412-731-6607.

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