James Jiggetts
James Jiggetts and Geovonday Jones are the shepherds of Barter Theatre’s Black Stories/Black Voices initiative and its annual event, Shine: Illuminating Black Stories.
Shine is an evening of powerful theatrical storytelling celebrating the Black experience in Appalachia, curated by Barter Theatre’s Black Stories Black Voices initiative.
Inspired by the local Black community and the Appalachian landscape, the event features original monologues and scenes by Black playwrights from across the nation. Performed and directed by Barter’s artists, these works provide a platform for voices that are often unheard.
This year’s program centers on the theme of Black Joy, highlighting moments of resilience, connection and celebration through original theatrical works. The evening features a series of monologues and scenes written by Black playwrights from across the nation, offering a wide-ranging and deeply personal exploration of the Black experience.
Featured playwrights include Camille Simone Thomas, Cris Eli Blak, Tracie E. Morrison, Kamiah Vickers, Kyra Davis, Tommy Bryant and Jerry L. Jones. Their work is brought to life by Barter Theatre actors, with each piece performed and directed in a professional theatrical setting.
“Shine developed from Black Stories/Black Voices, with the same goals, to amplify Black stories through Black voices both on stage with our actors and off with playwrights.
“I am so so excited about this year’s Shine, since it’ll be my first Shine event I have helped put together and co-host as well as it is our fifth annual Shine. The other amazing thing about this year’s Shine is it’ll be towards the tail end of our run of ‘Trains,’ written by Quinton Cockrell. This is amazing because it is the first full-length play to be developed through Shine. It started as a monologue at our very first Shine event, turned into a scene in the following year, had a reading of the full length play the next, and now it is having a full production of the show. So, I highly recommend coming to both. That way you can experience what the Shine event is and then also see what it has produced,” Jiggetts said.
Katy Brown, Catherine Bush, Nicholas Piper and Terrance Jackson began BSBV in 2022.
Jiggetts had been an actor in Shine, so when the opportunity came up to co-direct BSBV and help amplify Shine, he was honored and since then has been thrilled to illuminate and uplift the Black Appalachian community. In addition to Shine, BSBV hosts community nights and Barter Connects events throughout the years. They also have play readings of developing work and are looking forward to expanding events for the community.
“Barter primarily creates a safe space for our playwrights work to be seen, and it’s because of you, our community that it has developed into what it is now. After any of our readings we like to host a talkback exactly like we do for Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. This gives the playwright the opportunity to see what the audience/ community has picked up on, what questions they still have, or what they loved about it. I’m a firm believer that it takes all of us to put together a show like this, and it’s because of the community that it has gotten this far. Your involvement, your support, your feedback at the talkbacks make shows like this possible,” Jiggetts says.
Shine Is Friday, Feb. 27, at 7:30 pm on Gilliam Stage. It is free but you will need tickets. “Trains” by Quinton Cockrell runs Feb. 13-28 at Barter’s Smith Theatre.
For more information or tickets, visit bartertheatre.com or call the box office at (276) 628-3991.
