Drama Professor’s Play Chosen for Denver Festival

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Rehearsal for "Tell Martha not to Moan" and playwright Clinnesha Sibley

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A play written by Clinnesha D. Sibley, assistant professor of drama in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, has won the Athena Project’s 2012 Plays in Progress Series held in June and July. Sibley’s Tell Martha Not to Moan was chosen from six new works written by female playwrights featured in the series. Beginning in March of 2013, the play will have a three-week run featuring nine shows at the Aurora Fox Theater in Denver, Colorado.

The play commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12^th Street riot. Set in an African American’s Detroit home during the 2008 presidential election, Tell Martha Not to Moan gives the audience a glimpse into a changing world through a series of memories.

“The play is about love and hope integrated with history,” said Sibley. “The story is fictional but the history was researched heavily.”

According to its website, the Athena Project is “a professional group of artists dedicated to supporting and expanding women’s artistic contributions to the Denver stage and the wider community.” The Project has collaborated with many local girls organizations to encourage them to use their voices.

“I admire what these women are doing,” said Sibley. “This can be a very selfish industry, but with the Athena Project there is no ego or pride, just the encouragement of women and their art.”

Sibley is a published poet and award-winning playwright from McComb, Miss. Tell Martha Not to Moan was a project that took four years.

To learn more about the Athena Project visit http://www.athenaprojectfestival.org. For tickets to Tell Martha Not to Moan go to http://www.aurorafoxartscenter.org.