Event

Layon Gray's BLACK SPARTA

BLACK SPARTA

Written & Directed by Layon Gray

Black Sparta is inspired by the Dahomey Amazons, an all-female military regiment of the Fon people of the Kingdom of Dahomey. The Dora Milaje in the Marvel film Black Panther are based on the Dahomey Amazons who are the only documented all female official frontline combat arm military unit in modern history.

Dahomey shared with the Spartans an intense fighting method and sense of collectivism. Tough, violent blood-and-guts women single-mindedly devoted to hardening themselves into ruthless instruments of battlefield destruction, these machete-sword, slinging lady terminators were rightly-feared throughout Western Africa for over 250 years, not only for their fanatical devotion to battle, but for their refusal to back down or retreat from any fight. Their motto was "conquer or die.

They existed from the 17th century to the end of the 19th century. European narratives referred to the women soldiers as Amazons, because of their similarity to the semi- mythical Amazons of ancient Anatolia.

Black Sparta begins in 1892; thirty years after the transatlantic slave trade has been virtually at an end. France has already taken over apart of Dahomey and has established a colony called Porto-Novo. They have made it very clear that they want more. Their invasion is unwelcome and the Dahomeans will not go quietly.

November 9th, 2019 @ 7:30pm
November 10th, 2019 @ 3:00pm and 7:30pm
November 11th, 2019 @ 3:00pm

Kelly-Strayhorn Theater
5941 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15206