Monthly Archives: August 2020

The BLM play, YOU PEOPLE, is beautifully written by Peter Anthony Fields and masterfully performed by Ivory Mazur and Sal Rendino.  As Sebastian Weller prepares for his first virtual conference as vice president of a profitable tech company, he is joined early online by Jay Sommers, a senior officer of the company who, as it turns out, has a very specific and popular perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The professional playwright and actor have donated their time to raise money for Black Lives Matter and The Thurgood Marshall College Fund.  Do yourself a favor and view this unique work.

To receive the YouTube link, send a donation to equalityproductionscincy@gmail.com using either Paypal or Venmo. The recommended donation is $10, but donate what you can.

#BlackLivesMatter (https://blacklivesmatter.com/) was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives. 

The Thurgood Marshall College Fund (https://www.tmcf.org/) provides unparalleled access to a funnel of opportunities for students to journey to college, through college and into a career. Despite the universal challenges that face today’s college bound student, TMCF transforms the lives of thousands of students each year.  TMCF boasts an 80-90% graduation rate of its Scholars – compared to a 40% graduation rate for Black/AA students overall, 37% graduation rate for students attending HBCUs, and a 62% graduation rate for all students irrespective of race/nationality or whether they attended an HBCU. 

Peter Anthony Fields has written numerous stage plays which have been read or performed in Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, and London, U.K.  His play, “About Michael”, was awarded the second place Audience Appreciation Award at the British Theatre Challenge.  “About Michael” and “Monster”, are published and licensed by Lazy Bee Scripts. Fields has a BA in Theatre Studies from Kent State University and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Courtney Kennell (Director) is so excited to be working with Peter Fields and Cincinnati Equality Productions on this piece. Her most recent works include Assistant Director at The Carnegie for “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. She also has worked as Assistant House Manager for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park since 2017. Courtney holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies from Kent State University. While in school, she directed several productions including “About Michael” and “The Interview”. She is excited to collaborate with Peter again hopes to continue in the future.  

Ivory Mazur is originally from Germany, where his love for acting, gummy bears, and Legos began. With a theatrical career spanning over 30 years, he’s performed, directed, produced, costumed, or designed and built sets all over the world. His favorite location, however, is the Greater Cincinnati area where he has worked on productions with Centerstage Players,  Village Players, The Drama Workshop, Riverstage, Sunset Players, and La Comedia, which he looks forward to returning to after Covid. Meanwhile, he’s traveling, catching up with old friends, and spending time with family in the Kansas City area.  He thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and would like to thank Courtney, Richard, and of course Peter for casting him and giving him the opportunity to have a voice during this critical time in our history.  And a shout out to Sal – “The character you played is nothing like you are in real life. I really had fun working opposite you.”

On stage, Sal Rendino earned an Artistic Director Achievement Award in L. A., as “Best Lead Actor in a Drama” for his portrayal of real-life revolutionary Abbie Hoffman in the world premiere of Nick Zagone’s “David and Goliath in America”. In film, Sal earned the 2016 Best Supporting Actor Award from the Nice (France) International Film Fest., for the feature, “Second Chance”, and was also given the 2016 Rising Star Award by the Long Island International Film Expo. TV credits include “Blindspot” (recurring), “The Americans” (recurring), “The Get Down” (recurring), “Billions” (recurring), “The Daily Show”, “Royal Pains” (recurring). Other recent film credits: “Gotti”, opposite John Travolta; “The Ticket” (2016 Tribeca Film Fest.); “Lazarus Rising”, opposite Eric Roberts. www.SalRendino.com