Cementing the legacy: NAATC’s 2024-25 season is here

The Naptown African American Theatre Collective (NAATC) is cementing its legacy this season. The Black equity theater company introduced its 2024-25 season, which features “Judy’s Life’s Work” by Loy A. Webb and “Stew” by Zora Howard, keeping in line with their mission of introducing Hoosiers to new works highlighting Black stories. “Judy’s Life’s Work,” which had its Indiana premiere on Oct. 18, follows two siblings, Xavier and Charli, who are trying to get their footing back after losing their mother, LaKesha Lorene, founder of NAATC, said. The show features themes of reentry, with Xavier being formerly incarcerated, as well as romantic love, familial love, education and legacy. “They’re trying to figure out, ‘Without this person, who will we be? What will our legacy be?’” Lorene said. “With NAATC and a lot of the really bold moves and decisions to step out on faith we’ve done, we’re also doing that in many ways. We are deciding this season who we will be, what we will stand for, what we will fight for, what we will advocate for as a Black-owned, run and led organization.” However, cementing one’s legacy involves people, Lorene said. Theater is communal; it brings people together. That is...