The goal of Big Box is to support new work and local artists. CPT provides:

– The James Levin Theatre
– Basic production staff, stage management, box office support
– Marketing and advertising support

The artists provide the rest! The writers, directors, actors, and designers selected for Big Box dedicate themselves to creating new and original work, or stretching their artistic powers by working in new disciplines.

Week #4: February 7 – 9

Vigil

Written by Vickie L. Williams
Directed by Cornell Calhoun III
Featuring Mia Jones, Renee Matthews Jackson and Kenneth Parker

The tenants of a Cleveland inner-city apartment complex have their share of differences but are doing the best they can. Andy is trying to maintain his dilapidated apartment building; Adele puts all of her energy into advocating for missing children; Pat is raising her twelve-year-old son, Devin, on her own; and Devin just loves to play baseball. When Devin goes missing, the tenants must put aside their differences and pull together as a community to find him.

Artist Bio:
Vickie L. Williams is a playwright from Cleveland, Ohio. Some of her works include: Vigil (Cleveland Public Theatre’s Big Box), Angelic Voices In Ritardando (Finalist in Sky Blue International Playwright Competition and public readings in Cleveland Public Theatre’s Springboard and Manhattan’s Theatre’s Estrogenius Xtended), Even The Blind Can See (Cleveland Public Theatre’s Little Box and Karamu House’s R. Joyce Whitley ArenaFest of New Plays), and Touch Down! (Ensemble Theatre).

Vickie, a graduate from Cleveland State University, is a Playwright-in-Residence with Wake Up & Live’s Actor’s Studio, affiliated with the International Centre for Women Playwrights and was awarded an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award (2007) for a collaborative work of nonfiction, Pam I Am: A Felon’s Story.
Vickie has contributed works to several anthologies: Chicken Soup For The Soul Celebrating People Who Make a Difference: The Headlines You’ll Never Read(2008), Gumbo for the Soul: Recipe for Literacy in the African-American Community (2007), and Cleveland in Prose & Poetry (2005). She also has written and illustrated the children’s book, Grandma’s Soup: As Told By Ja’Nae (2007). She thanks Cleveland Public Theatre for providing a warm and nurturing venue to develop her works. She holds much gratitude and appreciation for her family and friends for their love, on-going support and guidance. Most of all, she thanks God for all that He does.

Learned more about Vickie L. Williams by visiting www.vuesart.com.

Cornell Hubert Calhoun III is the recipient of the 2011 Writing Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. He received the 2010 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for his play, Bloooz 4 an Early Autumn (Lupus Down for the Count) and was a nominee for the 2010 Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature. He is the former Director of Theater at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio, and is an award-winning actor, poet, playwright and director. Mr. Calhoun is a two-time semi-finalist ( 2006 & 2007 ) at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference for his works East 43rd and A Tyme 4 Blue. His plays, Bloooz 4 an Early Autumn and Any Man & Five Cents were selected at The National Black Theater Festival in 2009 and 2011. He credits much of his success to actor/director and Cleveland theatre legend, Reuben Silver, Ph.D., a long-time mentor and friend. Mr. Calhoun holds a B.A. in English and a M.A. in Education.