Students rehearse for the upcoming Theater Arts mainstage production of “The Amen Corner,” performed by UC Santa Cruz’s African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT). Photo by Jessica Tran.

James Baldwin’s classic play “The Amen Corner” is an investigation of poverty, religion and their effects on African American communities. It presents the story of Margaret Alexander, a church pastor in 1950s Harlem.

The African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) is kicking off their twenty-first season with “The Amen Corner” this weekend at UC Santa Cruz’s Mainstage. The play deals with topics of racial prejudice, sexism and many other issues still prevalent in today’s culture, said assistant director and theater arts major Alana Duvernay.

“We watch the struggles that happen in the African American household, as well as the roles that the church plays in African American life,” Duvernay said. “The play deals with things like family and love and culture, and we watch as [the family] develops a complex relationship with these issues.”

The AATAT is a student-run organization that came together in 1991, under the guidance of Don Williams, the director of the Cultural Arts and Diversity Resource Center. According to its website, AATAT “was formed as a vehicle to create unity, higher visibility and understanding of the African American culture.” The organization is open to all students interested in this mission and it does not require any prerequisite knowledge or experience with acting or dramaturgy.

Williams, who is also the artistic director and producer of “The Amen Corner,” said the UCSC campus and community would benefit from seeing a realistic perspective of African American life. Through presenting this play, he hopes audiences will feel inspired to learn more about the spirit of gospel communities.

“Even if it’s not the faith that you believe in, it’s really about the connection, devotion and positivity that surrounds [gospel] communities,” Duvernay said. “[Don] Williams felt that it was perfect for … when we really just need to uplift each other and love each other and really make each other feel a part of the community.”

Williams helps bring a gospel-oriented play to campus every five years or so, attributing his interest in these plays to his experience working with students who have varying religious backgrounds.

Jessica Jones, AATAT president and member of three years, plays the character Sister Moore in “The Amen Corner.” Through creating and participating in a safe space where people feel comfortable, Jones wants everyone in the AATAT community to be themselves.

“I chose to become involved in this show because I wanted to reconvene with my AATAT family for another year and I wanted to continue to foster that sense of community that we’ve been sharing for 21 years now,” Jones said.

AATAT’s unique program has even been the driving force behind some students’ choice to attend UCSC.

“I’ve had a number of students who have chosen this school because it has an African American theater arts show, which is the only one of its kind in the whole UC system,” Williams said.

Members of AATAT also reach out to the broader Santa Cruz community by visiting high schools and afterschool programs to promote community outreach about their organization and to educate people about their many endeavors.

“I hope that students in the future take advantage of these opportunities and really get involved with productions like this,” Duvernay said. “Not only for their education as theater arts students, or students at this university, but also for the education that comes with being a part of this community. It has been a very beneficial process for all of us.”

The Amen Corner will be at UCSC’s Mainstage Feb. 22–24, the Stevenson Event Center March 1–2 and Seaside’s Oldemeyer Center March 9. UCSC students will receive one free ticket with a valid student ID.

Rainbow Theater opens its nineteenth season at the Stevenson Event Center with student performances in Program B, with the play “Real Women Have Curves.” Photo by Jessica Tran.

Throughout all their years of performance, Rainbow Theater has shared stories of resilience, love and struggle.

On Nov. 2, the student theater arts troupe premiered Program B, which included the play “Real Women Have Curves,” spoken word performances by Poet’s Corner and the debut of Rainbotz — Rainbow Theater’s very own dance troupe.

According to the Cultural Arts and Diversity Center (CAD) website, Rainbow Theater is the oldest theater arts troupe in the University of California system, and the only one with a multicultural focus. Program B is one of three programs that Rainbow Theater will be performing throughout November, and is sponsored by CAD, Stevenson College and its provosts, Alice Yang and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway.

The event began with “Real Women Have Curves,” a play depicting the struggles of a group of Latina seamstresses in Los Angeles. Through their performance, the play’s actresses brought life to the issues and struggles around body image, low wages and deportation. Members of the audience filled the seats of the Stevenson Event Center, laughing, clapping and snapping in encouragement for the all-female cast.

CAD Director Don Williams said the standing ovation the actresses received from the audience was an achievement for Rainbow Theater and for the cast of “Real Women Have Curves.”

“It took a lot for [the cast] to tell that story and to really take it to you where you felt like you were really inside this factory where they worked,” Williams said. “It was touching to see how they worked together as a team.”

Williams said he was proud of the students’ productions and of how they upheld Rainbow Theater’s mantra of uplifting others higher than themselves, making the start of a season, in his opinion, a success so far.

“Each [show] brought a true, defining message and each of them had their own way of telling their own story. From ‘Real Women Have Curves,’ to the dance, to the poetry,” Williams said.

After a short intermission and a couple of fast-paced merengue cumbia songs, Rainbotz, The Rainbow Theater Dance Troupe, started their 2012 season with an upbeat performance that left the audience clapping and cheering even louder. The last event of the night was Poet’s Corner, where students performed songs, skits and spoken-word poems that addressed a broad range of subjects from love to discrimination.

Rainbow Theater started off their 2012 season with Program A on Nov. 1, performing “The Colored Museum” and “Down and Out.” On CAD’s website, “The Colored Museum” is described as a satirical look at the stereotypes, tropes and portrayals of African-Americans throughout history. “Down and Out” deals with a dysfunctional Asian-American family and their struggle to overcome a mother who ran away, a father who passed and a sister who went missing.

Director of “Down and Out,” Ken Chang said the performance captures the drama and love that connects individuals and encourages them to work through struggles common to many families.

“The story, even though it is an Asian American play, is relatable to any walk of life, whether you’re Asian American or not,” he said.

As always in Rainbow Theater productions, audience members are invited to be temporary members of the show when they take their seats. When Friday night’s emcee called out, “Rainbow! Rainbow!” the audience shouted back, “Rainbow! Rainbow!”

President of Rainbow Theater Karina Mendez said that Rainbow creates a community within their members and also encourages them to express themselves.

“We try to give [everybody] a voice while they’re on a campus where it’s hard to find yourself. We build a community. We build a strong ship where we all come together, and this is a safe place for you to share your stories.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

The Second Stage Theater is completely dark except for the lights illuminating center stage, where members of the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) gather in an intimate circle before their rehearsal. They aren’t holding hands, but they might as well be. Here, the students open up and share what’s currently happening in their lives, from handling midterms to loving Skittles.

This isn’t just another production or class — it’s a family, one that is celebrating its 20th anniversary as the only African American theater troupe in the entire UC system. In spite of financial struggles through the organization’s history, AATAT has triumphed to reach this milestone, one they will commemorate with the opening of their latest play, “Ruined.”

A student-based organization, AATAT is a group of predominantly African American students who perform an annual production depicting aspects of African American life. According to their website, AATAT’s mission statement is “to create unity, higher visibility and an understanding of the African American culture at UCSC.” Through “Ruined,” AATAT hopes to bring awareness to present-day social injustices.

The group sings and dances around the stage with excitement in preparation for their latest play before Don Williams, founder and director of AATAT, arrives. Williams, director of Cultural Arts and Diversity (CAD), has been working at UC Santa Cruz for the past 22 years and is the backbone behind programs like Rainbow Theater and AATAT. Williams and AATAT are almost one and the same — you can’t mention one without the other.

“I believe that if we’re going to be a teaching institution, it is our global duty to make sure we touch upon the major culture groups that are really here at the university,” said Williams, who regularly spends 12 hours a day on campus during the week working on various projects.

AATAT gives students the opportunity to act, direct, stage-manage, film and write plays. AATAT is open to all students, regardless of ethnicity or level of experience. This program gives students the foundation to connect, learn, grow and change with the support of their peers.

Williams said the motto for AATAT and Rainbow Theater is, “if you want to be truly blessed, learn to uplift others higher than yourself.” An emphasis on sharing students’ gifts and building upon strengths — whatever they may be — to help others is key to AATAT.

“It’s not even about the grade, it’s not even about the class, it’s about the service,” Williams said.

AATAT also acts as a major outreach and retention program for the university, giving students of color — especially African American students — a chance to be in theater and full-length productions with other underrepresented students. Out of the 16,451 students at UCSC, only an estimated 450 are African American, which amounts to 3 percent of the population. Of the current members of AATAT, 30 of the 40 are African American.

“There was a time when the UC was losing a lot of African American students who would come here because of the isolation that went on,” Williams said. “AATAT provided that nature of common experiences.”

AATAT was established in 1991 by a group of African American upperclassmen who persistently approached Williams about producing a theatrical show. Williams, who first began at UCSC as a theater technician, said he took time out of his own schedule to create AATAT. At first, students did not receive credit for the productions.

Since the program’s inception, AATAT has given over $85,000 in scholarships to participants of the program. Five members are chosen annually by AATAT to receive $1,000 for their role in AATAT as well as for academic excellence, another way the program supports its community.

Jessica Jones, playing brothel owner Mama Nadia, attempts to soothe war victim Salima, played by Precious Wingo in “Ruined.” Photo by Prescott Watson.

Third-year theater arts and feminist studies double major Alana Duvernay is the assistant director of “Ruined.” Duvernay, who has been a member of AATAT for all of her three years at UCSC, sits in the front row at every rehearsal to assist the director and actors with their lines and overall character development.

“I chose UC Santa Cruz because of AATAT and Rainbow Theater,” Duvernay said. “First, because there are not multicultural theater groups in the UC system, [and] second because it is my goal, and AATAT’s goal, to uplift other people.”

During rehearsals, it is obvious a clear line of communication is necessary to attain a level of respect and trust among AATAT members. This is especially true when touching upon sensitive subjects like rape in “Ruined.” The actors must abandon their everyday personalities and transform into characters they may not be comfortable or familiar with.

Thousands of students have participated in AATAT over the past 20 years. AATAT’s success has sparked the creation of other multicultural programs like Rainbow Theater, also run by Williams. But despite their constantly sold out shows, AATAT continues to struggle yearly with financial shortfalls.

Over the years, AATAT has experienced many setbacks, predominantly a lack of staff and funding for the inherently costly productions they put on each year. However, with Williams’ focus on the future, you won’t ever hear him talk about the negatives.

“This art form of theater is a vehicle we cannot allow to [die out] or something,” Williams said. “It has a way of connecting with you like nothing else. You can go to the movie theater and you’re at the discretion of the editors. But [when] you come to live theater, you are the editor.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Theater arts graduate Maria Olivo, an AATAT alum and former president of Rainbow Theater, is currently getting her master’s degree in theater education in the hope of creating a similar multicultural theater arts program in California’s Inland Empire. This was almost made impossible during Olivo’s four years at UCSC, when Williams’ job and programs were at risk of termination due to budget cuts.

“We knew that without him Rainbow and AATAT wouldn’t exist,” Olivo said, sitting in the theater and taking notes for her dissertation. “He’s really the heart and soul of these programs, and the students are the breath that keep it all going and functioning together.”

Duvernay, who encourages and supports the entire cast of AATAT, said Williams continually struggles to maintain his position and receive the support and funding needed for his programs.

“Don is constantly fighting for us, constantly charging things on his own credit card, running from meeting to meeting, conference to conference, seeing if he can do something for us,” Duvernay said.

But AATAT now sees more possibility for prosperity in their future, thanks to Measure 49. Undergraduate students voted last year to voluntarily increase student fees by $5.25 per quarter. This money goes toward the CAD, which supports AATAT and Rainbow Theater.

Third-year electrical engineering major Amanuel Zeryihun is acting for the first time in “Ruined.” On Tuesday night, Williams awarded Zeryihun with one of the $1,000 scholarships. The cast and crew cheered him on, but Zeryihun was speechless.

While sitting behind the stage with his fellow actors, Zeryihun said it is important for people to recognize all the hard work put into this organization.

“People need to know this didn’t just come out of nowhere,” Zeryihun said. “It didn’t just last 20 years. It required the struggling of everyone who got on board, especially Don Williams, who is the visionary for this.”

Zeryihun is inspired by witnessing the changes AATAT and Williams create in the community on campus.

“It’s really important our university invest in people like him because he teaches from a very genuine approach, and it’s not something you find here a lot of the time,” he said.

Jessica Jones, a third-year student who plays Mama Nadia, the main character in “Ruined,” looks forward to the 20th anniversary celebrations. Many AATAT alumni will return to watch the show.

“For people to actually see how long this legacy has lasted is very powerful,” Jones said. “We’re here now, but we want to know what happened 20 years ago.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

On stage and off, the players of AATAT spend time together working on lines, getting into character, and sharing valuable information to feel more comfortable about the play. Jones and Zeryihun bring their characters into their everyday life, like asking one another to pass the milk in a Congolese accent at their house.

Adam Buxbaum, a fifth-year theater arts graduate student, said there’s a lot of experimental theater occuring on campus, but AATAT’s theater work goes a different route.

“AATAT is consistently the only production every year that actually brings real poignant and pertinent issues to the community,” Buxbaum said. “AATAT works to agitate and educate, to make people leave the auditorium angry and feeling like they can make a difference.”

AATAT members hope it will continue to grow and gain support as a theater troupe so African American productions will continue to exist on campus even when Williams is gone.

“My hope is that AATAT will always be here,” Williams said, “[and] that this campus will always be a beacon to making sure diversity really does happen and is not just spoken.”