‘Speakeasy’ wins Matthews Playhouse production prize

COURTESY MATTHEWS PLAYHOUSE

Rory D. Sheriff (right) and the cast of “Speakeasy” will perform at Matthews Playhouse  Sept. 22-24 as winner of the BIPOC Playwrights Festival.

Rory D. Sheriff’s new play is taking the stage at Matthews Playhouse in the fall.

Sheriff’s stage play “Speakeasy” was picked by Matthews Playhouse and the African American Playwrights Group as the winner of last month’s BIPOC Playwrights Festival. Sheriff is founder of BNS Productions in Charlotte. “Speakeasy” received the highest score from a panel of judges and will be produced as a full-length play at Matthews Playhouse Sept. 22-24.

Four playwrights adapted their original plays into a 20-minute "preview" version and presented them to a live audience and panel of judges on May 27 at Comedy Arts Theater of Charlotte. In addition to Sheriff, the other semi-finalists were Donald Hall (“Black Chip, White Chip,”) Alethea McCollin (“Pastor Willie”), and TaMara Goode (“Reflections”).

“I have so much respect for my fellow playwrights,” Sheriff said in a statement. “As artists, showing your work to an audience is extremely vulnerable,” he goes on to say. “If we're not strong mentally, we will shut down because we want to make the audience laugh and we want to make them cry – so we keep coming back and we keep sharpening each other’s saw.”

Tickets are on sale and range between $10-$19. Student, senior and military discounts are available.

“Speakeasy,” set in 1978 Reading, Pa., follows the story of Virgina, a young woman who decides to take control of her life by unlearning everything she was taught about how a woman should be. Her outlook is simple: “I am Black, I am proud, I am strong. I am woman. Respect that!”

That means getting out of her marriage and facing the possibility of losing her childhood home because of unpaid taxes, which sparks the idea of opening a speakeasy to raise money for the house. Along the way, she meets someone who loves her for who she really is.

The festival is an initiative to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in local theater by highlighting original works by people of color. The showcase follows AAPG’s founder Vickie Evans’ Playwrights on Parade Festival model.

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