NEWS

Summer 2023 Season at the Barber Theatre, Cunningham Theatre Center, Davidson College

When: June 16 – July 23, 2023

Tickets can be purchased at this link.

Common Thread Theatre Collective, a collaboration between Davidson College and North Carolina A&T State Universities, has announced its second season, to take place in June and July 2023, in the Barber Theatre on the campus of Davidson College.

Expanding on their nationally recognized first season in 2022, Common Thread Theatre Collective will produce:

The Tony Award-nominated comedy “Clyde’s,” by Lynn Nottage, in its North Carolina premiere directed by Luther Wells, June 16-25

The East Coast premiere of christopher oscar peña’s hard-hitting drama how to make an American son, directed by Holly Nañes, July 14-23.

“Clyde’s” serves up the story of ordinary characters with big dreams. Four formerly incarcerated chefs dare to dream of creating the perfect sandwich and imagine a future they have been constantly told is out of reach, while the owner of their truck stop tries to keep them under her fiery rule. Producer Karli Henderson says, “Audiences will want a seat at the table for this funny, moving and feisty comedy!”

“how to make an American son” is a brand-new play that explores what happens when the American Dream collides with the reality of immigration and family. Honduran-born Mando built a successful cleaning business, and he has the means to pay for his son, Orlando’s, lavish high school lifestyle.  Orlando is happy to enjoy the fruits of his father’s labor but is embarrassed by his accent and his line of work. When Orlando finds himself responsible for the fate of a treasured worker and the future of his father’s business, the two must face tough truths about the business, citizenship, their family and, most importantly, how to keep their dreams alive in a society that keeps them struggling to belong.

“Common Thread is honored to be producing the East Coast premiere of this exciting and challenging new play,” says producer Karli Henderson.

Founded in 2022 by members of the theatre faculty at Davidson and NC A&T, Common Thread Theatre Collective is a new kind of summer-stock theatre. It is a professional company that seeks to create bold, intentional, provocative theatre centered on the voices and stories of communities that have been historically underrepresented in American mainstream theatre. Common Thread balances inventive entertainment with thoughtful content, knits together disparate elements of the Charlotte/Lake Norman artistic community, and prioritizes community engagement around issues of contemporary relevance.

More information can be found at www.commonthreadtheatre.org or by contacting Karli Henderson at [email protected]. Common Thread Theatre Collective’s second season is made possible by generous funding from the Bacca Visiting Scholar and Artist Program, the Clark Ross Academic Innovation Fund, Arts and Science Council of Charlotte, and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department and Natural & Cultural Resources.

ABOUT COMMON THREAD THEATRE COLLECTIVE:

Common Thread Theatre Collective is a joint venture between faculty members at Davidson College and faculty members from North Carolina A&T University.  While these are two very different institutions, the common thread that binds the faculty and students together is a love of theatre.  We want to tell stories that center marginalized communities in new, fresh ways.  Creating this professional theatre on Davidson’s campus in partnership with NC A&T faculty allows us to work with students, faculty and staff as well as our local, professional theatre artists to create work that is intentional and impactful for our communities. Find out more at the website here.

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY:

A doctoral university with high research activity, as described in the Carnegie Classifications, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) is one of two land-grant institutions in the state. Established in 1891 as a college under the provisions of the federal Morrill Land-Grant Acts, N.C. A&T was designated a university in 1967. America’s largest Historical Black College and University—with a historically high enrollment of 13,322 spread across nine colleges and one joint school—N.C. A&T has expanded and adapted to become a school fit for the 21st century and beyond. Our university’s long and growing list of honors and rankings encompasses major strengths in STEM disciplines, a vibrant liberal, visual, and performing arts core, and excellence in a range of applied research.

ABOUT DAVIDSON COLLEGE:

Davidson College is a premier liberal arts college for 1,920 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.

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