Centre Stage revisits 'Blood at the Root'

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Centre Stage will revisit Dominique Morisseau's "Blood at the Root," directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, and choreographed by A. Kikora Franklin, March 22 to April 2, at the Pavilion Theatre on the University Park campus.

The play is based on the Jena Six, where six Black students were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus. Playwright Dominique Morisseau ("Sunset Baby," "Detroit ’67," Skeleton Crew"), examines the miscarriage of justice, racial double standards, and the crises in relations between men and women of all classes and, as a result, the shattering state of Black family life.

Written for Penn State graduate acting students and directed by Broadnax, "Blood at the Root" premiered at Penn State in 2014, and played at the National Black Theatre, other Penn State campuses, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as Africa, Scotland and Australia.

Broadnax recently directed Broadway's "Thoughts of a Colored Man," as well as Katori Hall's 2021 Pulitzer Prize premiere, "The Hot Wing King." He is a professor of theater at Penn State and co-head of M.F.A. Directing.

Evening performances at 7:30 p.m. are $25; preview performance at 7:30 p.m. is $20; and tickets for students are $12.50. For additional show information, visit the Penn State Centre Stage website. Save 10% when you buy tickets to four or more shows.

School of Theatre students performing in Penn State Centre Stage and other co-curricular performances are all fully vaccinated and, as part of a safety plan approved by the University, are permitted to remove their masks while on stage.