History in the making stands on the shoulders of history that has already been made.
— Author Unknown
The Conejo Players Theatre (CPT) located in Thousand Oaks, California, is proud to offer two outstanding productions to celebrate Black History Month and share their ongoing commitment to bring more offerings for the BIPOC Community in the greater Conejo area and Los Angeles & Ventura counties.
Nat’s Last Struggle
Performances will be livestreamed from the Conejo Players Theatre Feb. 19 – 21, 2021
In celebration of Black History Month, The Conejo Players Theatre will live-stream Nat’s Last Struggle, a powerful one-act, one-man show written by Norfolk playwright P. A. Wray. Nat Turner led a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, during August 1831. This play is a dramatic adaptation of “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” published by Thomas R. Grey.
We are fortunate to have John L Adams playing Nat Turner. John is an American Film and Television Actor and Pepperdine Law School Graduate. John has performed stand up in acclaimed comedy venues with a recurring role as Vosco on the hit sitcom Girlfriends. Other appearances include crime drama NYPD Blue, Arrested Development, and NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Nat’s Last Struggle is Directed by Timothy Jones and Produced by April Dobbs (CBJ Productions), in a first time ever collaboration with the Conejo Players Theatre.
Join us today, Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. Pacific Time on the Conejo Players Facebook page for a live talk with show author P.A. Wray.
Over the years Wray’s plays have been featured in local new play festivals as productions and staged readings. We are honored to host this talkback and hope you will tune-in.
The Mountaintop
Additionally, the Conejo Players Theatre will livestream The Mountaintop, a two-person drama about the last day of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The entire play is set in the Lorraine hotel room in Memphis Tennessee on the evening before his assassination.
The Mountaintop is Directed by Sahai Lara, and co-produced by Denice Stradling and Jennifer Roe, and will star Derrick Parker as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and sharing the role of Camae are Olushola Fagbamila and Rashia Whitlock.
Derrick Parker has worked as an actor for more than three decades. During that time, he has had lead roles such as Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Othello, Hamlet, The Cherry Orchard, Driving Miss Daisy, The Boys Next Door, Topdog/Underdog and The Winter’s Tale. Moving toward on-screen work, Derrick wrote/directed/produced a feature length film about exoneration, From Faith to Freedom.
Olushola Fagbamila is a triple-threat Nigerian-American actress and designer. Shola has been seen as the lead in The Goddesses Guide at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in Bud, Not Buddy, and as the lead in films, Keeping Faith, The Roulette’s and Mino.
Rashia has distinguished herself as a skilled actress with a number of supporting roles in prominent films. She has three films coming out soon: Introducing Jodea (post-production), Scarecrows Vs. Zombies (post-production), and Gone (This Time for Good) (post-production). Some of Rashia’s past film roles include Bolden (2019), Django Unchained (2012), and Pitch Perfect 2 (2015). Rashia has also appeared in lead and supporting roles in theater productions such as The Trip To Bountiful, The Young Man From Atlanta, Fences and Conejo Players’ 2019production of To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Mountaintop will be livestreamed March 12 and 13 at 8 pm and March 13 and 14 at 2 pm. For more information, and to reserve “Pay what you can” tickets, please visit the Conejo Players website atwww.conejoplayers.org.
The Conejo Players Theatre mission is to share in providing the community with a year-round schedule of affordable live theatre produced to serve the cultural, educational, and entertainment needs of the community.
To welcome and provide an avocational opportunity for all volunteers interested in the theatre arts to participate in the many activities of community theatre.