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Calling All Lovers of the Theater, educators, civic leaders and The media – We invite you to join our cast of professional actors when we present the award winning

 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry,
for the 50^th Anniversary of the writing of this ground breaking inspirational work of Art for the celebration of African American History Month in February 2008.

Our goal is to reach every child in the city of Kingston by offering a free admission to every child under 18 years old regardless of ethnicity, religion, or economic situation. The themes of the play are: the unity of a family and courage in the face of racial bigotry. We believe these themes are universal and above all, healing. We would also like to bring our production to the High schools (free of charge), the Art Society of Kingston and UPAC, and raise the money for the entire production through contributions from local businesses and community minded individuals.

     As part of the production, an actor playing the character of playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, will be on-hand to introduce the play and discuss the era in which the play was written.  A question and answer session will follow the event.

We have invited Mr. Sidney Poitier, Ms Ruby Dee, and Mr. Louis Gossett Jr, being part of the original cast to our production, and to a black tie affair to follow at a restaurant on the Roundout.

There has been an alarming increase in the rate of racially motivated crime in Ulster County, and Passing the Torch – Through the Arts, Inc. would like to counter this plague with a healing balm of non-partisan, multi-racial, motivational and inspiring theatre productions.

You can be part of this effort of building community relationships through the arts.  We have already booked our production at local schools and theaters and we are very excited with the response to our endeavors.

Our debut production of Recidivism & When the Chickens Came Home to Roost was a smashing success. We hosted an awards ceremony for individuals displaying outstanding community relations during our run at the Art Society of Kingston. It was a fabulous evening with succulent hors devours gracioussly donated by the Guido Family & the hot grooves of our music director, John Trent's Mysterious Sound Laboratory, topped off by emotionally charged performances of Recidivism & When the Chickens Came Home to Roost.
 
   Recidivism: A one-act play by Michael Monasterial. It is the story of a father and a son who meet for the first time in a holding cell of a county jail. The focus is on the young man at the beginning of a career in crime.  It addresses the issue of gang violence and gets to the heart of the initial breakdown of the family and the motivating factors in the surrounding community's decline, starting with the parents - a lost generation swallowed up by the introduction of Crack to poor neighborhoods. The crux of the play is about choices and accountability; the only final decision being the last one you make.

     Malcolm  X is iconically famous for transforming his life from pimp, thief, drug dealer and all around hustler into the firebrand spokesperson and leader that he became for America's beleaguered, brutalized and ghettoized urban blacks, especially in the north. When the Chickens Came Home to Roost shows another side of Malcolm that people are unfamiliar with. We are given the highly developed and sensitive man of exceptionally pure spirit, unwilling to compromise his flame forged manhood and his finely tuned, exquisite morality and high standard of pure truth, even when facing certain death.