"Whispers Want To Holler" cast
eta Creative Arts Foundation

 Olive Cross is in pain.  Her only son, Jordan, is dead; the victim of
 a murder.  The antique store they built is not doing so well and is
 directly in the sights of a developer whom we discover is hiding
 behind the facade of "bringing up the neighborhood" complete with all
 the corner malls and coffee shops that entails.

 Olive has nothing left to lose and chooses to sell. To move on so to
 speak, in an effort to get on with her life.  Only, the neighborhood
 (represented with a gritty determination by her next door neighbor,
 Edris) doesn't want her to move for fear of gentrification.

 But, Olive has bigger problems.  Spirits.  Ghosts, to be exact.
 As luck would have it, "Olive and Son's Antiques" is a meeting ground
 where the ghosts of the previous owners of each artifact come
 together to keep their memories intact.  Bombarded from both earthly
 and astral planes. Olive is given a lesson in the importance of
 legacy, loyalty and loss.

 Whispers Want To Holler is a quality offering of the eta CREATIVE
ARTS FOUNDATION.  A well-written and superbly performed play.  If
 that wasn't enough, the 200-seat theater (no tickets, get there early
 and sit wherever you like) is so cozy it puts you right at the
 stage's edge (just remember to keep your feet off) and brings you
 face to face with the performance and the performers.

Marta Effinger and Runako Jahi have collaborated successfully to
bring to the Chicago theater crowd an exceptional play complete with
an outstanding cast. A second-act pacing problem did little to deter
me from enjoying a stellar performance.

This play closed on Sunday, February 23, but with an ongoing
inventory of newly completed works, if Whispers Wank To Holler is
anything representative of the quality of performance I can expect, I
look forward to many evenings at eta.

HOMEBOUND opens Thursday, March 6 - Sunday, April 20.

eta CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION is located at 7558 S. South Chicago
Avenue in Chicago.  General admission is $25.00, with discounts for
students and seniors.

For more information, call eta at 773-752-3955.

Inspired, in part, by the events surrounding the African American burial
ground in New York City, "Whispers Want to Holler" is a story about
gentrification and ownership. It is set in modern-day Louisiana where
Olive Cross is faced with the dilemma of urban renewal and her own
personal demons. Originally commissioned in 2000 by the Kuntu
Repertory Theatre in Pittsburgh where it premiered in 2001, it was
work-shopped and rewritten in 2002 under the auspices of eta's
Playwrights Discovery / Development Initiative (PDI).

Written by Marta Efflnger, it is directed by Runako Jahl.

The cast features Carolyn Nelson (Olive Cross), Matrice Edge (Edris Dennis)
Sati Word (Street) Renata Sago/ Barbara Jean (alternating /Little Sallie Walker),
Daryl Charisse (Black Woman), Terrance Watts (soldier), Ethan Henry (jazz musician)
and Brandon Jackson/Michael  Cordero (alternating / Pupil).

A NATIONAL TREASURE SMACK DAB IN THE
MIDDLE OF BLACK CHICAGO

eta Creative Arts Foundation was incorporated in April 1971, as a
nonprofit, tax exempt organization. Now recognized as one of Chicago's
leading African American cultural performing arts institutions, eta has
garnered a national and international reputation for the quality of its
artistic product, its management, volunteer leadership and community
involvement.

collage: After years of "vagabonding", eta took the first step in establishing
permanent cultural arts institution when it purchased and renovated the
facility at its current locations -7558 So South Chicago Avenue. The
building has a 200-seat theater, a library, community room and
art gallery, workshop and office space.

Over the years of its history, eta has produced over 150 mainstage
productions of new works by Black writers: 98% are world premieres
and over 50 productions of plays are for children. Annually, more than
350 students, children, teens and adults are enrolled in the professional
training program and over 200 performers and technicians are contracted
to work in the productions. The institution maintains a visual arts gallery;
conducts arts in education programs in elementary schools, year round;
conducts a Readers Theater, and a seven-week summer culturals arts
day camp.

eta Creative Arts Foundation has been given over 120 prestigious
awards by a variety of groups, locally and nationally, in recognition of
its outstanding contribution to the arts. It has been particularly touted
for its work with writers through the Playwrights Discovery/Development
Initiative which brings the storyteller into the collaborative process of
theater to develop a body of Black literature for our stages within a
paradigm of what Black theater can and should be.

Since eta is the first African American cultural and performing arts
institution in the nation to establish an endowment - a fund for the
future and has acquired additional land adjacent to its current facility
for expansion and development, its future into the 21st century and
beyond seems assured.building

eta Creative Arts Foundation has a 31 member Board of Directors,
which is actively involved in providing human and financial resources
to support the organization. It has over 500 volunteers primarily
engaged in fund raising and support services. The institution is manned
by six full time staff and ten contracted workers.

PRESIDENT Abena Joan P. Brown
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Runako Jahi
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Darryl Goodman
BUSINESS MANAGER Teresa A. White
BUILDING MANAGER/PHOTOGRAPHER Kenneth Simmons
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Tina W Shields
ASST. TO PRESIDENT Kemati J Porter
STAFF ASST. FOR GALA Theresa Adams
PUBLIC RELATIONS Kensey & Kensey

eta CREATIVE ARTS FOUNDATION
7558 S South Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60619-2644
773 - 752 - 3955