In December 2011, while I was a reporter for Scene, I wrote a cover story called Dark Days for the Black Arts.
It detailed the tension between Karamu House’s legendary theater side, whose faded luster as one of American’s premiere black-focused theaters has been largely restored by artistic director Terrence Spivey, and the operational side, embodied by executive director Greg Ashe, who preferred to prioritize on the nonprofit’s education and daycare wings. Almost half the organization’s board had left — resigned or been forced out — over the resulting turmoil.
At that time, Spivey — whose work is almost universally praised and has attracted local and national attention to Karamu it hasn’t had in years — was telling friends he was planning to quit. Scene’s comments section was loaded with posts lauding what he’s done for the theater and saying what a tragedy it would be if he left.
Instead it appears that Ashe, who came aboard in 2006, will be the one leaving.
Two separate sources have told us that this is his last week at Karamu. No word yet whether he resigned or was asked to leave, but we’ll let you know when we learn more.
Spivey, meanwhile, is making plans for his tenth anniversary season at the theater. He’s just announced a full line-up of productions that balances drama, comedy, musicals and children’s plays, and includes a reprise of the musical version of The Color Purple.
You can find a complete rundown here.