By the Way, Meet Vera Stark
by Lynn Nottage Directed by Lou Bellamy
Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage turns a keen eye toward Hollywood as she tracks the life and career of Vera Stark, a talented black actress who can’t catch a break in the 1930s. Like many of the uncredited black stars of the Golden Era, Vera is relegated to playing the maid to white Southern belles and socialites, but in a world of illusion, nothing is quite what it seems. Evoking Hollywood “firsts,” from Hattie McDaniel to Halle Berry and Lupita Nyong’o, this charming and witty play follows Vera over a lifetime career, only at the end of which is she finally being lauded for her talent.