by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

Marlon Burnley calls himself a “theater maker,” resisting the limiting labels “actor, director, writer.” March 30, Sewanee will have the opportunity to witness award winning “theater maker” Burnley embrace all three roles in his one-man show “Black in the Box.” Through music, dance, and mask work, “Black in the Box” confronts the history of Black America seen through the eyes of those who lived it. Burnley created the four masks used in the performance from a 3-D print of his own face, building on that with clay to fashion the characters his imagination envisioned. For Burnley on a personal level, “Black in the Box” epitomizes the creative process of “running toward, not away” from what he long avoided, “dark and traumatic” Black history.

Burnley first visited the University two years ago as a director and to lead a Social Justice Theater workshop with students. “Marlon’s work was excellent,” said Theater and Dance Department Chair Jim Crawford. “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to bring him back to campus ever since.”

Asked how much being Black informed his creative process, Burnley acknowledged, “It’s everything. I wouldn’t have been able to say that when I started work on ‘Black in the Box.’” For him, theater making became a way to “get a better understanding of and to communicate the Black experience. I can show you better than I can talk about experiences and moments in history.”

The idea for “Black in the Box” grew out of a graduate school assignment to portray a work of literature or music using masks. Burnley created a character from the song “Mr. Bojangles.” “I got really interested in masked performance and how we can say a lot with our bodies,” Burnley said. Significantly, he has a background in both theater and dance and holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Georgia. Three other character performances embodying movement, music, and masks followed upon “Mr. Bojangles,” with the four masked performances coming together in “Black in the Box.” The play epitomizes Burnley’s inner drive “to approach a difficult subject in a beautiful and artistic way.

Burnley recently directed a production of “Macbeth” in what was once known as Seneca Village, an 1800s free Black community where Central Park now resides displaced by gentrification. Burnley reframed the story of “MacBeth” using costuming and set design borrowing on the Seneca Village theme. Rather than a story about evil, under Burnley’s direction “MacBeth” became a story about self-preservation. “In ‘MacBeth’ we often get caught up in the murder,” Burnley said, “but it’s really a story about the psyche and humanity.”

While in Sewanee Burnley will lead a Devised Theater student workshop using Shakespeare’s sonnets as the springboard to improvisation. “The sonnets are reflective,” Burnley said. “They look back on something. Whatever that inspires, we’ll turn into a performance.” In the Social Justice Theater workshop Burnley led two years ago, the students used current news stories as a jump off point to create theater.

Following the 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. performances of “Black in the Box” at the Tennessee Williams Center, Burnley will lead a conversation with the audience about Black history and how it’s been reflected in American performance traditions. Currently a professor at Kennesaw State University, Burnley offers this advice to young Black artists: “Continue the conversation even if it’s tough and no one is listening. When I started working on ‘Black in the Box’ in 2016, I never imagined I’d be driving up the mountain to Sewanee to perform the play. It’s taken on a life of its own.” Burnley’s one-man show received the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Male Performance at the International Orlando Fringe Festival and the Outstanding Male Performance at the Indianapolis Fringe Festival. “Black in the Box” is a must-see panoramic journey through generations of Black oppression, fear, resilience, and joy brought to life through Burnley’s transcendent performance.

Reserve your free tickets on eventbrite <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/b...;.