Cast and Creative Team

India Nicole Burton: Director, Writer and Conceiver

Assistant Director: Mariah Burks

Stage Manager: Jaytionna Wells

Understudy: Zyrece Montgomery

Choreographer: Lexy Lattimore

Sound Designer: Andrea Nemeth

Music Director: Mary-Francis R Miller

Writing Contributions from: John Dayo-Aliya, Latecia Wilson, Samantha V Richards

Angela Davis: Calypso Simone

Assata Shakur: Chaunice Hendking

Elaine Brown: Alexis Man

Woman 1: Shatara Jordan

Woman 2: Asia Sharpe-Berry

Woman 3: Maurisha Ari

Woman 4: Andrea Belser McCormick

Panther Women: An Army for the Liberation uses the lives of three prominent African American women in The Black Panther Party and The Civil Rights movement as a catalyst to tell a broader story about the African American Women’s experience. Through music, dance and poetry, the play highlights and celebrates the lives of Elaine Brown, Angela Davis and Assata Shakur, three women who have helped shape the American lenses on civil rights with integrity and tenacity. They are unsung heroes, as they took part in leadership roles and stood on the battlefield for equality, just as the Panther Men did! However, they are often left out of the conversation when The Back Panther Party is mentioned.  This piece serves as not only a play but a representation of African American women's lives: our hardships, our triumphs and our humanity. Doing this piece gives us ownership of our own stories and control of the narrative of our lives, which are too often depicted on stage and film by stereotypes and clichés.  

Panther Women: An Army for the Liberation is a devised piece with contributions from the Ensemble

Produced by Cleveland Public Theatre in association with Prop Thtr