KFSR to pay tribute to Black History Month with plays

'Church Fight,' 'Black Damp' deal with struggle, murder

By KIMBERLINA ROCHA

One story tells of the political struggles in the church.

The other is about a murder-mystery surrounding a coal mine in North Carolina.

KFSR, 90.7 FM, will broadcast Ruth Gaines-Shelton’s “Church Fight” and John F. Matheus‘ “Black Damp,” on Saturday at 1 p.m. in celebration of African People’s History month.

The African-American theater class of Thomas-Whit Ellis performed the two short plays from the Harlem Renaissance in May 2004 in front of a live audience at the lab school theater. Ellis said he selected these two plays based on the originality of their language and context.

“In comparison, it’s like reading ‘War and Peace’ or ‘Moby Dick’ and looking at the novels written today,” Ellis said. “There are different words used, and some are archaic. What I’m trying to do with these plays is to capture the late 1920s.”

“Black Damp” takes place in 1929, right before the Great Depression and when prohibition was in full force. Laborers in a coal mine work through impoverished conditions. In spite of their surroundings and their cultural heritage, the workers form a bond with one another.

“This play shows not only blacks and whites, but immigrants, working together,” Ellis said. “It’s about the comraderie among races and nationalities.”

When a prohibition cop is murdered, the camaraderie is broken when police assume a minority worker is to blame.

“It’s a setup, basically,” Ellis said. “The police throw the suspicion on the black workers because they’re an easy target.”

“Church Fight” comes in complete contrast to “Black Damp,” with its light comedic style. Members of a small congregation want to remove their pastor even though he hasn’t done anything wrong, Ellis said.

“They’re just bored,” Ellis said. “It’s like this whole group is looking for drama.”

The play takes a satirical stab at the ecclesiastical conflict by using characters with names like Brother Judas, Brother Inquisitor and Sister Two-Face.

Even though the play was written in 1925, he feels the topic is still applicable today.

“From my experience, I’ve seen this happen many times,” said Ellis of church congregations splitting up.

“I’ve seen churches move for reasons that are trivial to this very day.”

KFSR station manager Joe Moore worked in conjunction with Whit-Ellis’ class to put together the plays.

“I put it together and approached [Moore} to broadcast it,” Ellis said. “He jumped right on it. KFSR has been extremely helpful.”

Since the production ended last spring, Moore and Ellis have spent almost a year editing and making the plays suitable for broadcast.

“We’re trying to give the plays a feel of the old 1930s, 1940s radio dramas,” Ellis said.