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“When art is a shield and a weapon.”
The motto of the Bronze Collective Theatre Fest is a powerful one. Can art truly do both? BCT’s David Shakes believes it can, and it should.
“Art can be a shield against forces that are not necessarily for us,” he says. “And it is a weapon of communication to all.”
The Bronze Collective Theatre Festival has been fostering community and cultural expression among artists of color since 2014, when it was founded by Shakes with three other Rochester theater and arts professionals: Reuben Tapp, Curtis Rivers, and Djed Snead. Since then, many other theater artists have come together each year to share the vision of BCT Fest, which returns next week to the Multi-Use Community Cultural Center.
“All four of us saw the need to make opportunities available for other local theater artists of color,” says Shakes. “Not only actors, but also playwrights, multimedia artists, writers, filmmakers, even comedians and gospel musicians. Some may not have a venue to work and perform in, so we wanted to provide them with a space and a format for honing their craft.”
BCT solicits and evaluates scripts and proposals from artists through the fall, in preparation for its annual festival, held during one week in February. In addition to plays and other theatrical events, each BCT festival includes opportunities to discuss the shows and the ideas behind them, and even join in, with informal acting lessons.
A festival opening-night tradition celebrates the lives “of all those who have participated in the local arts community and who have passed in the last year,” Shakes notes.
He adds that each festival also includes a look back at great African-American figures in the arts. For example, the 2025 festival celebrated the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, and such figures as Langston Hughes; an earlier festival presented plays by James Baldwin.
This year, it’s a celebration of the centennial of Black History Month, and of a great African-American historian, Carter Woodson (1875-1950), who sought to establish the importance of Black contributions to world history. Black History Month was not officially adopted until 1976, but the idea of observing great figures in African-American history goes back to Woodson’s 1926 proposal of a “Negro History Week.”
The BCT festival has pursued its vision annually, even during the pandemic. “That wasn’t easy!” Shakes says with a laugh, “but we did have several virtual events.” Otherwise, the festival has been seen each year at MuCCC, and occasionally brings its offerings to other Rochester venues such as Joseph Avenue’s Avenue Blackbox Theatre.
“We transform and try to reinvent ourselves as the times change,” says Shakes. “And we like to spread the creativity around.”
Bronze Collective Theater Fest events include:
Feb. 18: “Night of Remembrance,” and a staged reading of Tara Blay Smollen’s “The Gull,” a reworking of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” set on Martha’s Vineyard, with a Black cast. (Incidentally, Shakes recently played Sorin in the recent Classics Theatre Company production of “The Seagull” at MuCCC.)
Feb. 19: “A World Without Black People,” a youth theater presentation by Robert Ricks, a Monroe Community College theater professor who frequently works at Rochester community centers. The show, adapted from a story by Philip Emeagwali, proposes a world without the work of Black inventors, from technology to daily conveniences.
Feb. 20: “There’s a Man Going Round Taking Names,” a multi-generational “protest with songs” written by Karen Culley and directed by Reuben Tapp, both regular contributors to the BCT festival. Shakes points out that Culley is one of “a number of good playwrights” that the festival has encouraged.
Feb. 21: a “double header” celebrating 100 Years of Black History Month, with “Reflections on Carter G. Woodson,” a documentary about the African-American historian; and “Public Service Announcement,” a live solo show by Lamar the Therapist.
Feb. 22: 1-1:45 p.m., acting classes for kids ages 5-12 (free); 2-3:30 p.m., teens and adults ($10).
The 2026 Bronze Collective Theatre Fest takes place Sunday, Feb. 15, through Sunday, Feb. 22, at MuCCC, 142 Atlantic Ave. Tickets: $20 general admission, $15 students/seniors, $49.98 week’s pass. For event listings and details go to muccc.org
David Raymond is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer.
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