North Carolina Native Penned Tribute Poem

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Aug. 2, 2024 - PRLog -- Actress and award-winning poet Angela Ray delivered a touching original poem to introduce the in-memoriam tribute at the International Black Theatre Festival opening gala. Some of Ray's credits include Atlanta, Queen Sugar, and Boo! A Madea Halloween.  The weeklong event runs from July 29^th thru August 3^rd.

Ray, a native of Fayetteville, began her professional theatre career at the festival several years ago in a play called Blues. She was encouraged to pursue poetry at the festival. "I had lunch with the late Suzzanne Douglas during the festival in 1999. I asked her advice on my acting career and when she found out I wrote poetry, she recommended I pursue that as another performance path," Ray said. Ray eventually published a collection of poetry, Blackberry Whispers, and acknowledged Douglas for her support in the book.

"Angela Ray was so moving tonight," said producer Amy Sprecher after the gala. Sprecher is a film professor and author who adapted Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom from a book to a stage play. It will be presented as a special staged reading during the festival.

A George Moses Horton award-winning poet, Ray performed "Purple Reign" at the 2022 festival, a poem she wrote in honor the late co-founders of the festival, Larry Leon Hamlin and Sylvia Sprinkle Hamlin. For more information about her poetry, please visit. http://www.angelaray.com.

About the Festival

The International Black Theatre Festival, formerly the National Black Theatre Festival, is held biennially in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where the North Carolina Black Rep takes center stage in the world of arts and entertainment as the proud producers. During the event, festival goers experience six days of professional theatre. Other components include workshops, a readers' theatre of new works, the youth celebrity project, a film festival, the Midnight Poetry Jam, the vendor's market and the International Colloquium. For more information, please visit www.ncblackrep.org.