Pitt's Kuntu Repertory Theatre Presents Steal Away March 23-April 8

PITTSBURGH-Pitt's Kuntu Repertory Theatre presents a fun-filled folktale about a group of upstanding Chicago women who resort to bizarre tactics to obtain money to send young Black women to college.

Steal Away will be performed from March 23 to April 8 in the Seventh-Floor Auditorium of Pitt's Alumni Hall, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Written by Ramona King and directed by Linda Hunt, Steal Away is part of Kuntu's "Revival on 5th Avenue" season, which has been featuring works presented by the theater company during its 30-year history. Steal Away was last performed by Kuntu in 1986.

Set in the Depression Era, the story revolves around five women, members of the Negro Women's Organization for Youth Education, and their scheme to rob a local bank after the White banker says he does not think "colored girls" need an education. The New York Times describes this play "as warm and friendly as a church supper."

The play will feature actors Vanessa German as Mrs. Stella Kyzer, Joslyn Sanders as Tracy Ada Kyzer, Marcia L. Jones as Miss Sudy Atkinson, Teri L. Smith as Mrs. Renita Ruth, Stephanie Akers as Mrs. Jade Long, and Kimberly Ginyard as Mrs. Bluiah Daniels.

Hunt, who is a longtime Kuntu performer and Pittsburgh native, has performed in Little Willie Armstrong Jones, Over 40, Good Black Don't Crack and a number of other Kuntu plays, as well as in the Pitt Repertory Theater productions of The Serpent and Quilters. Her directing credits include What Happened Today, Billy Joe? and New Hope, with the Pittsburgh New Works Festival. Hunt will conduct a free workshop titled "How to Write a One-Person Show" at 2 p.m. March 26 in the Seventh-Floor Auditorium.

Performances of Steal Away are at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. Matinees are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, April 4, and 11 a.m. Thursday, April 9. For ticket and group sales information, call 412-624-7298 or visit www.kuntu.org.

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3/15/06/tmw