"By the Way, Meet Vera Stark"

"By the Way, Meet Vera Stark": Sly Satire Skewers Hollywood Racism

Covering 70 years of Hollywood stereotypes, Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's faux biographical comedy "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" follows the life of a headstrong African-American actress who began her career in the 1930s -- a time when her only shot at success lay in stealing small scenes in big Hollywood blockbusters. Seventy years later, film buffs reflect on the life and legacy of the controversial star, whose eventual fame and fortune came at the price of perpetuating dangerous stereotypes. Nottage artfully blends comedy, drama and social commentary for a thoroughly entertaining and thought-provoking picture of the cultural climate that shaped Vera Stark. Clever and illuminating, this production draws on screwball films of the 1930s and uses today's fascination with celebrity and controversy to reflect on whom Stark might have been if she'd lived in a different time. Catch "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre.