DIRECTOR STATEMENT
"Veils"
PITCH DECK
“Veils, Requiem for Trayvon” is filled to the brim with the ethos and aspirations of the 1960s and delivers the appropriate pathos of the subject matter in equal measure. The themes presented are considered in the respectful, honest, and sometimes horrifying ways that defined the period.
REVIEWS
Imagine that you are a child and you are exploring your grandmother’s closets. Or you’re an adult whose grandmother has died and it’s your responsibility to go to their home and sort through her possessions, decide what you want to keep and get rid of the rest. Imagine you find a scrapbook – a dreambook – in which your grandmother has kept track of her dreams and disappointments: her hopes for the future, her hopes for you. You realize that the things that your grandmother kept were different from what your grandfather kept. You realize that this is a record of women’s work: women’s business. And this is your inheritance.
REVIEWS
Constant sorrow is the dramatic episodic structure of Veils. It’s what holds the work in its arms. It’s what holds the work in the audience’s heart. Which should come as no surprise, because constant sorrow is what life itself is like for countless women. The surprise is that with Veils two such multitalented African American young men have undertaken this profoundly womanist theme with such deep empathy and authentic respect. This, to my knowledge, is a first in theater history.
REVIEWS
Fueled by stellar acting and scintillating vocal prowess, “Veils,” written by Steven A. Butler Jr. and directed by Courtney Baker-Oliver — the duo responsible for the company’s well-earned reputation as one of the best theatrical enterprises in the greater Washington area — serves as a testament to the women of the Civil Rights Movement.