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John Harris
 Presentation
Abstract
The American Military and American Theater tend to share vocabulary and
imagery in their separate spheres of influence. As national institutions,
both have contributed to race relations practice either as a laboratory
for social change or advocates for civil rights. Within the walls of the
Fort Bragg Playhouse, theater and military cultures merge in a manner
underscoring the dynamic effects of racial narrative on community life.
This lecture investigates the production of Marc Connellys The Green
Pastures by African American artists, soldiers and civilians at the Fort
Bragg Playhouse. The performance demonstrates the alchemy of black performance
practices and the capability of a military community to forge racial identities
within American Drama.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. John Rogers Harris is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Dramatic
Art, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Locally, he has
performed in the Raleigh Little Theater productions of The King and I,
The Boys Next Door and A Few Good Men. Other performances include The
Moving of Lila Barton and GNAT! (The Temple Theater, Sanford) and A Soldier's
Play (The Contemporary American Theater Company, Columbus, OH). John's
directing credits include Driving Miss Daisy (Theatre Workshop of Owensboro),
Pathway to Freedom (Snow Camp Historical Society), Master Harold . . .
and the boys (RLT) and The Ohio State Murders (OSU Theatre). In 1993,
he produced the world premier, JOSIAH! about abolitionist leader, Josiah
Henson. A Desert Storm veteran, Dr. Harris is currently researching theater
culture within the American military. He earned his baccalaureate (BA
86) and masters degree in Performance Studies (MA 92) from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his doctorate in theater history,
literature and criticism from Ohio State University in 2003.
For more information
about the series, please contact the Program Coordinator at iaar@unc.edu
or 962-6810.
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