- About NOMMO THEATRE -
NOMMO THEATRE is devoted to creating work that entertains, provokes thought, and ignites healthy debate. Founded by Mitchell Ferguson and Bashi Rose, theatre is used to present the Black experience with all its ritual, spirituality, and resistance intact. Since 1994 NOMMO has produced original work in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.
The term Nommo comes from the Dogon of Mali, but the name NOMMO THEATRE was actually inspired by its popular use during the Black Arts Movement by literary artists such as Larry Neal and Paul Carter Harrison.
". . . Nommo force--Mojo or Soul--urging the body to retain the potency of its rhythm, its life force, while they push on in unified cadence, OUH-AAH OUH-AAH OUH-AAH, summoning the revitalization of the ancestors, the rhythm of of their grunts and groans assuming the choral configuration of a song, a hymnal which eluded the slave skipper's apprehension, a testament around which the essence, Nommo, coalesced with the spirit, thereby initiating the index from which all Black experiences would necessarily emanate in the future."
- Paul Carter Harrison (The Drama of Nommo)
- NOMMO Founders -
Mitchell Ferguson, Co-founder of NOMMO THEATRE, was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. He studied acting and play-writing in workshops at the New York Public Theater, taught by Ed Bullins; acting at Center Stage (Baltimore), and musical theater at the Cultural Arts Institute. He has performed in No Place to be Somebody and The Taming of Shrew at the Baltimore Harbor Shakespeare Festival; South Pacific, The Island by Athol Fuguard, Locks & Links which he co-wrote, directed and acted in. He was also an artist in residence at the Baltimore Museum of Art for their Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodoun exhibit. He worked with Young Audiences of Maryland for five years, performing in public and private schools throughout the state.
Bashi Rose, Co-founder of NOMMO THEATRE, was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. As an actor, playwright and director, he has performed or directed in venues such as Theater Project, Creative Alliance, UMBC, Howard University, MICA, Arena Players, Center Stage, Morgan State, Studio Theater, and other venues. His play, Forteez Bluntz Chickenhedz 'N' Uva Necessateez has been read or produced at Artscape, The Hip-Hop Theater Festival, and Classical Theater of Harlem's Future Classic Series. Bashi recently worked on a production of August Wilson's Fences with the D.R.A.M.A.Group at the Maryland Correctional training center in Hagerstown, MD.
PHOTOS: Timothy Christmas