”People don’t tend to just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, with no one receiving it. I mean, sometimes they do, but you know, they’re obnoxious. They don’t get invited back to the party.”

• – Pearl Cleage

As the Guthrie Theater prepares to launch The Nacirema Society, Lissa welcomes playwright Pearl Cleage back to Black Market Reads.

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Episode 94 – Pearl Cleage, The Nacirema Society

In this episode, Lissa Jones welcomes playright Pearl Cleage back to Black Market Reads as they talk about her play The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First 100 Years, playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis April 19-May 29, 2025.

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SYNOPSIS

Grande dames Grace Dunbar and Catherine Green prepare for the Nacirema Society’s 1964 centennial cotillion — the event of the season in Montgomery, Alabama. The elegant African American debutantes include Grace’s granddaughter Gracie, escorted by Catherine’s grandson Bobby, and the two grandmothers hope the young couple will soon be engaged. But Gracie and Bobby have other ideas. As the young ladies prepare for their debuts, a blackmail scheme brews behind the scenes and subterfuges unfold, all under the nose of a skeptical reporter covering the ball. Featuring clever storytelling and scandalous plots, this lighthearted comedy winds its way to an ending as charming as its characters.

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The Nacirema Club in Detroit

The Nacirema Club in Minneapolis . Scroll down to see an interview with Dr. Samuel Myers Jr., an economist, educator and activist.  In this segment, he shares a few reasons why he enjoys the African American community.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

After attending a tech rehearsal for The Nacirema Society at the Guthrie Theater Lissa takes a moment to chat with Assistant Director Vanessa Brooke Agnes and Philanthropy Officer Martine McLellan.

Pearl references a conversation with Ossie Davis and the origins of his play Purlie Victorious. Learn more on PBS THIRTEEN Theater Activism: Davis Family Explains

This episode includes a reading of We Wear The Mask, a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Poet Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, discusses the poetry and symbolism.

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 Our production team for this episode includes co-producers Lissa Jones and Edie French, technical director Paul Auguston, the voice Yo Derek, and our artist of inspiration Ta-coumba T. Aiken. We thank Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for supporting this series focusing on the intersection of health, race, and culture. This is Black Market Reads.