A vindictive theater manager tests the will of a thriving theater troupe trying to perform a Shakespearean classic in ISU Theatre’s presentation of Carlyle Brown’s “The African Company Presents Richard III” tonight at Fisher Theater.

Shirley Basfield Dunlap directs the true story, which features a cast of seven ISU students. Dunlap said many people believe the play is an African American company performing William Shakespeare’s Richard III, but that is a misconception.

“It’s about the first African American company in the United States, called The African Company, and at about a time in 1821 when they performed in their own theater Shakespeare’s play, entitled `Richard III,'” she said. “It’s about their beginning to perform this play and a nearby theater shutting them down.”

Stephen Price, played by Grant Henderson, managed the Park Theatre in lower Manhattan and worked diligently to cripple the success of The African Company, Dunlap said. Price brought in actors and actresses from Europe to boost the Park Theatre’s success.

“In this particular season he was bringing a well-known Shakespearean actor to perform `Richard III’ and he had guaranteed this actor a full house for the run of his visit,” she said. “A few blocks away, The African Company, which was a company owned by … William Henry Brown, was also doing `Richard III’ with an all Black company.”

Price took issue with whites attending The African Company’s version of Richard III, Dunlap said.

“It was just the fact that here The African Company was selling out six nights a week to over 300 patrons,” she said.

Price couldn’t afford to buyout The African Company’s theater for the run of his show, so he took drastic measures to shut down the production.

“What he did was the next best thing – so he thought – and that was to have them closed down by the police,” Dunlap said. “Park Theatre was successful in closing down the theater and then what [The African Company] did was they rented out the ballroom at the hotel right next to the Park Theatre. So it made it even worse.”

“The African Company Presents Richard III” reflects the responsibility the members of the production felt for the African American community, Dunlap says.

“They had a responsibility to the community of African Americans to provide a service,” she says. “This service was to provide a place to go; a place to receive entertainment and so when they were challenged it was a matter of they had a responsibility to the community.”

Damon Johnson, who plays William Henry Brown, said the play is significant because it documents the first African American theater company in America.

“It shows some of the history and the tradition of the African American theater,” he said. “It allows you to see how the world was, to see some of the bad stuff that we don’t really get to notice. The stuff that gets miffed from the history textbooks in my eyes.”

Patricia Coleman, who plays Sarah, a seamstress and former slave, said the play is meaningful because it shows what African Americans went through in the 1800s.

“It is a very important part of our history,” she said. “It is an intricate part of who we are and where we come from.”

Onye Ikwuakor, who plays Papa Shakespeare, a sort of a wise man, said the production shows the strength of African Americans 180 years ago when there was so much opposition.

“It says a lot to the testament and the will of African Americans even that long ago before slavery ended and their will to want to succeed and do their own thing,” he said. “People who come to the show will see, they don’t back down and I think that’s a really important part of it also.”

Dunlap would like the audience to take away several things from the performances, including a sense of brotherhood and togetherness.

“I hope the audience is more curious about the diverse groups that made this country,” she said. “I hope the audience also goes away understanding the need to be responsible to each other and that the sense of `community’ is a habit that we need to endow.”