The LORE Lounge - OTC

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OTC MISSION:

OVERSOUL THEATRE COLLECTIVE, INC. (OTC) is a non-profit, professional Graffado (African Diaspora and Native American) arts and education organization, formed in 1994. OTC’s objectives are to develop, support and engage in efforts to preserve and continue works in the performing, literary and media arts, primarily by and about Black and Native American people; to develop and present these works to the general public; and to provide professional training, experiences and opportunities in the arts and culture. OTC’s goal is to expand and enhance the artistic, multicultural and educational experiences of the communities that we serve in Southeastern Massachusetts. We are based in the "Secret City" of New Bedford.

OTC HISTORY:

In late 1993, a small group of Black and Native American artists came together to plan a presentation of music, dance, drama and poetry for Black History Month. After recognizing a limited range of opportunities for artists of color to present their work, the groups began discussing ways of making these presentations throughout the year, as well as provide professional arts training for community people. In those days, opportunities for people of color to do theatre existed through the Black Theatre Ensemble at Cape Cod Community College, the Hyannis Center Theatre and the Harwich Junior Theatre, but other wise few opportunities in the area of Mashpee, Falmouth and Sandwich.

This small group included members of such organizations as New African Company, a professional Black theatre company located in Boston; The Circle of Caring, a multicultural, community and youth organization; Martin Luther King, Jr. Society of Cape Cod, a civil rights organization. From these early meetings and discussions, Oversoul Theatre Collective began on February 6, 1994 with a performance of music, poetry and drama at the Carleton Circle Lounge in Falmouth, MA. This original group includes: Alma Greene, stage manager, actor; Gordon Harris, treasurer, house manager; Mwalim; musician, actor & director; David Pocknett, Jr., actor, poet & singer; Troy Velasquez, drummer, musical director; Kona Khasu, bass player; and Maria Turner; dancer & choreographer.

In September of the same year, Oversoul Theatre Collective offered an after school theater program to middle and high school youth from Mashpee, Falmouth and Sandwich, meeting at the Mashpee Middle School. This project was in cooperation with. The youth program made its' first performance, “Skunny Wundy & The Stone Giants” at the Mashpee Town Hall in December of 1994. They were funded by a small grant from the Willowbend Children’s Charities as well as support from New African Company, the Circle of Caring and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Society of Cape Cod. This program became the MASHPEE YOUTH THEATRE, an after-school and summer theatre arts program that hosted 3-4 presentations of theater by the members per year, as well as mini-performances in the community at schools, churches, senior centers, community centers, community festivals and programs throughout southeastern Massachusetts. MYT continued until June of 2000. The MYT received funding from the Mass Cultural Council’s Youthreach Initiative, Massachusetts Service Alliance and the Haymarket People’s Fund.

In December of 1994, Hyannis Center Theatre and Oversoul Theatre Collective presented “The Colored Museum” by George Wolfe and Directed by Mwalim and stage managed by Alma Greene, in December of 1994 for 9 performances. For New Years Eve, they presented Poetry and jazz at the Portico in Falmouth, as a part of First Night. Since then, OTC has presented 1-2 full-productions and up to six workshop productions and staged readings of new plays, by, for and about Black and Native American people, per year. In 1997, OTC became a resident theatre company at Cape Cod Community College where they offered workshops in playwriting and acting to 4C’s students as well as members of the community. In 1998, OTC organized the Other Voice Drama Festival at the college, presenting readings of one-act plays by playwrights from around the country. In 1999, OTC presented a full production of “Free-style”, a comic collection of sketches and vignettes.

In 1995, at the Woods Hole Community Building, Oversoul Theatre Collective presented “An Afrikan’s Coffeehouse” (later renamed “The Talking Drum”). In September of the same year, OTC got a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation of the Humanities to present The Talking Drum as a bi-monthly coffeehouse series at the KC Coombs School in Mashpee. The Talking Drum featured performances of music, storytelling and poetry as well as a presentation and dialogue about the Black Arts Movement and it’s impact upon contemporary performing and literary arts throughout the USA, Canada, the Caribbean and Europe.

The Talking drum project also evolved into a writer’s workshop, meeting bi-weekly to review and help develop each other’s work in poetry, fiction and drama. The Talking Drum continued as a writer’s workshop and became a monthly presentation at the Prodigal Son Café in Hyannis, MA in 1996. In 1997, OTC began taping the show at the Prodigal Son and airing it on public access television throughout southeastern Massachusetts. In 1998, The Talking Drum moved from the Prodigal Son Café to the Cape Cod Community Television studios, where it became a live, cable broadcast of poetry and music on the third Friday of each month, with re-broadcasts running on cable stations throughout southeastern Massachusetts. The Talking Drum quickly became one of the most watched public access programs, with an estimated viewership of 400,000 people. The program continued until 2001. The project also evolved into a small press in 1998, Talking Drum Press as well as OTC Multimedia, a program that explores digital audio and video production in the form of CDs, DVDs and Internet media installations.

In 1996, members of OTC began offering a youth theatre workshops in New Bedford, MA in cooperation with Positively Youth, the Greater New Bedford Boys & Girls Club and U Mass Dartmouth’s Fredrick Douglass Unity House. These workshops evolved into the New Bedford Studio Ensemble. The group performed their own style of ‘Hip-Hop Theatre’ in New Bedford, Boston, Providence, Amherst and Fall River. Although the New Bedford members were primarily high school and college students, the program has continued up until today, operating under the name the OTC Players. The project received funding from the Massachusetts Service Alliance, United Way and New Bedford Cultural Council.

1999 was a busy year for OTC. We presented "Unconditional: A Valentine's Story" as a workshop production at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The cast included Ralph Carter of the 1970's sit-com "Good Times". This was also the year that several Native American members of OTC wanted to work on a project that would research, develop, preserve and continue the artistic, literary and oral traditions of eastern native people, particularly the Wampanoag. This project developed into The Oak Tree Institute (TOTI). Since it’s inception, TOTI has revitalized the Ahanaeenun (so-called medicine clown) tradition of the Wampanoag, provided Wampanoag storytelling for powwows, schools and community gatherings and is currently producing a documentary on contemporary Wampanoag culture and community.

Also in 1999, a group of OTC members living in New York City, who had participated in the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab, formed a project called the Urban Expressionists Lab, working toward developing and presenting experimental works in theatre and spoken-word, by and about Black, Latino and Native American people. In 2000, the program was housed at the Harlem Theatre Company, moving to The Point CDC in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx in 2001. The UEL offered workshops in acting, playwriting, directing and theatre production to community people in New York City, as well as presented workshop and full productions of plays and experimental performance pieces. In 2003, the Bronx Borough President’s Office commissioned the UEL to write and present a dramatic piece in honor of W.E.B. Dubois for Black History Month. In May 2001, The UEL presented "The New Scroll Bearers Drama Festival", which became an annual festival featuring short plays by playwrights of color from the New York area. The UEL received support from the Bronx Council on the Arts as well as the NY Citizen’s Committee.

Like many organizations, the September 11, 2001 attack on the world-trade center caused OTC to have to suspend many of it’s Massachusetts programs, but they still continued to participate in "Art-I-Gras", Mashpee's celebration of New Year's Eve as well as present storytelling and poetry in community spaces throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. We also continued to offer summer workshops, culminating in the production of short plays and performance works. In 2002, the production of a short film called “The Bridge Is Over”.

Many young people who have come through our programs in Mashpee and New Bedford have gone on to pursue educations at Yale, NYU, Boston University, U Mass, Brown, State University of New York, Berklee College of Music and Howard University to name a few. Others have gone on to pursue careers in the arts, journalism, business and education.

Now, ten years since the organizations first performance at the Carleton Circle Lounge in Falmouth, Oversoul Theatre Collective continues to support, develop and present works in the performing, visual, media and literary arts, by and about Black and Native American people as well as provide training in the arts to community people.

Professional and aspiring performing artists, in the southern New England area, interested in creating, developing, and presenting works in theatre, by and about Black, Latino, Native American, and Cape Verdean people.