The Playin' Grounds Project
An Ode to Black Theaters & Makers: One Story at a Time
So Adama, what is The Playin' Grounds Project? Is it another one of your plays?
Well, sorta! This project did begin as a play, Playin' Grounds, an After-School School Special-style play where 4 teens skip school for just one day and end up being taken on a journey through over 400 years of Black Theater History! The play has since developed into a full-blown project, combining not just theater but also personal narratives, historical archives, documentary storytelling, and space for new works & reimagined classics, to be showcased and experienced by people of all ages!
The Vision
The Playin' Grounds Project, hosted by Adama Joy Sall, is a docuseries that combines an episodic TV structure with Black theater/performance-based content at the center.
It serves as a Living Archive of Black Theaters & Makers across the Diaspora.
The Goal
To travel to black theaters across the country & world, documenting and sharing founding stories, artistic legacies, and the communities that sustain our practices through interviews, archival research, and creative storytelling. Each and every episode will conclude with a theatrical performance done with people from the communities we visit!
Want to be interviewed & featured on an episode?
Now, you all must promise me that this story won’t die with you. Once it touches your ears, and you feel it in your feet, you must share it. You must play your part. That’s how we stay alive.
Adama Joy Sall ~ “Miss Lady” in Playin’ Grounds (the play)
