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Bottle Tree Theatre’s The Recipe Book presents Ceremonies in Dark Old Men
Bottle Tree Theatre presents
The Recipe Book: A Reading Series
The July Recipe:
Ceremonies in Dark Old Men
Written by Lonne Elder III
Directed by Kamal Bolden
Click here for tickets!
Lonne Elder III’s 1969 Pulitzer Prize finalist, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, offers a powerful and insightful look at the aspirations and struggles of a Harlem family in the 1950s. Centered on a widowed father navigating his children’s varied attempts to find success and stability, the drama uses witty, honest dialogue to paint a moving portrait of an urban community. This compelling story captures the complexities of American life at a pivotal moment in history.
Join an evening of imaginative storytelling and powerful performances as Bottle Tree Theatre brings this masterful script to life for one night only!
The Recipe Book
A monthly reading series spotlighting new works by emerging Black playwrights while honoring lesser-known Black writers whose stories helped shape the field.
Why the Recipe Book?
The Recipe Book takes its name from the act of passing down knowledge—much like your grandma’s sweet potato pie recipe. If not shared, it risks being lost forever.
This series honors that tradition. Each play is a recipe: rich, cultural, storied. We have the honor of passing down the work already gifted to us by prolific but lesser-known Black playwrights such as Shirley Graham Du Bois, Alice Childress, Samm-Art Williams, J.e. Franklin, and Pearl Cleage, while also making room for the living history we’re creating with emerging Black playwrights.
The Recipe Book reminds us that art is not only communal, but also a call to action, a tool of hope, and a blueprint for the future—one that has often already been drafted for us by artists who came before or who are yet to be discovered. The weapons are already in the house. We just need to keep them active—and pass them down.