NAATC bringing ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ to Indy stage after 40 years

“Legendary blues meets risky business trapped in a chokehold of racism” in Naptown African American Theatre Collective’s next production. Written by August Wilson, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is the next production to take the stage during NAATC’s inaugural season March 8-24. Set in 1927 Chicago, the show takes place at a recording studio as jazz and blues singer Ma Rainey, her musicians and entourage record a handful of songs. “[People] can look at this play and see this powerful talented Black woman artist, who is living in her truth unapologetically, who is demanding respect that is oftentimes not given to us, specifically to Black and/or queer in the world,” LaKesha Lorene, founder and producing director of NAATC, said. “She is making sure she’s leaving the door open for the next.” Unlike his other works, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is the only play Wilson wrote not set in Pittsburg and features strong Black and queer women in prominent spaces, fighting for their rights as their art is monetized but not for their benefit. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” covers difficult aspects of race relations and racism in the music industry, as Edan Evans, director of the play, said the characters are all...