Rochester’s Darryll Rudy's childhood memories are framed by the racial tensions that would eventually define our city in the 1960's. After college he left for California and was swept up in the counterculture movement which awakened him to politics, art and theater.

Commitment to social issues has brought Rudy full circle; back to the city streets he grew up on to establish and assist outreach programs that help troubled youth, gangs and the homeless to not be marginalized.

Rudy’s latest directing effort falls in line with his message. The one act play, Dutchman, is a highly charged portrait of a doomed interracial romance written during the height of the civil rights movement. The play portrays two characters as being trapped in roles dictated by a racist society.

Rudy says he's attracted to playwrights who see theater as social statement, and plays that help you see deeper into yourself.

“The theme is about the white race oppressing the black race. The dynamic of that is played out by these two characters. There’s also something going on for me at a deeper level."

Rudy says Dutchman still resonates. "I believe we live in a racist society. You don’t have to go very far to see that. So I’m more driven to work with people who are marginalized, on the edge."

Poet and noted playwright Amiri Baraka, the author of Dutchman, will attend Sunday’s performance. Baraka will also attend a final performance of Dutchman Monday evening at 7:30 in the 1510 Lab Theater at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He will take part in an open forum on race and discuss the continued relevance of his play immediately following both performances.

Rudy, along with MuCCC Theater, the theater troupe Many Voices and the Maplewood Performing Arts Centre, is presenting Dutchman Sunday, Dec. 12 at 5 p.m. MuCCC Theater is at 142 Atlantic Avenue.

For more information follow the links below.

MuCCC Theater
NTID