Common Ground Theatre

This well received Staged Reading Series was launched by Common Ground to give Local & National African American Playwrites a space to respond during the pandemic. Common Ground will now produce it “live” as a short play festival during its residency at La Jolla Playhouse the Summer of 2024.

The Colored Museum
Presented by Common Ground Theatre

Aug 18 – 27, 2023
Shank Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse

Written by George C. Wolfe
Directed by Yolanda Marie Franklin

The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe is a satire set in a fictional museum where a collection of 11 “exhibits” have been mounted for public viewing. First performed in 1985, this award-winning play remains relevant as it deconstructs several Black stereotypes. The themes explored in the sketches include slavery, stereotypes, Black identity, generational trauma, and intercommunal conflict.

The Colored Museum is presented by Common Ground Theatre, San Diego’s oldest Black Theatre. In 2022/2023 Common Ground was named Theatre-in-Residence at La Jolla Playhouse. The Theatre-in-Residence program aims to encourage the artistic development of local performing arts organizations, while contributing to the San Diego theatre scene.

“Mr. Wolfe is the kind of satirist, almost unheard of in today’s timid theater, who takes no prisoners”
The New York Times

October 14–16, 2022
Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse

Patricia (Pat) Colby is newly divorced and determined to succeed without a man. Steve Thurman, a recently widowed college professor, is content with being a single dad and living a solitary life. Haunted and numbed by their painful past, both Steve and Pat could ruin their second chance at love. Entertaining, thought provoking, and poignant, Sense of Love delivers a timeless contemporary love story not to be missed.

July 9, 2022
Shank Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse

Common Ground Theatre kicked off their residency with Still We Rise, a celebration concert of music and poetry. This poetry and jazz-infused concert features work by such historic Black poets as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes and Amanda Gorman, along with music by Rob Thorsen Jazz Trio.