KNOXVILLE — A new black student theatre group at the University of Tennessee will present its first performance here April 3.

Strange Fruit on Stage Productions, a group formed last fall to create more roles for UT’s African-American theatre students, will present “The Colored Museum” at 8 p.m., April 3-6 and also at 2 p.m., April 7 in the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre. A $5 donation, which goes to UT theatre scholarships, is suggested for admission.

“Many of us are seniors and needed more stage experience before we graduated, so we formed this group,” Chris Brown, one of the group’s founders, said. “The faculty and theatre department at UT have been very supportive of our effort.”

Blake Robison, who heads UT’s theatre department, said the play is “a landmark in the history of African-American drama” that satirizes black and white stereotypes.

“We are proud of our students’ efforts to help expand our company’s repertoire into a cultural institution,” Robison said, “producing not only classical theatre, but also a wide variety of fare, from musicals to the avant-garde.”

The Clarence Brown Lab Theatre is a 100-seat black box venue located inside the Clarence Brown Theatre. The Lab Theatre serves as home to productions sponsored by All Campus Theatre and productions directly related to undergraduate and graduate class projects.

For more information, call the theatre office at 865-974-6011.

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