Renowned actor Cheryl Lynn Bruce with her husband, contemporary artist and MacArthur fellow, Kerry James Marshall
Renowned actor Cheryl Lynn Bruce with her husband, contemporary artist and MacArthur fellow, Kerry James Marshall.

The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, Illinois is a haven for creativity and community. So, how befitting to talk with the consummate actress, writer and director, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, in a place that epitomizes her extensive professional theatrical work. The night before our meeting, she received the Spirit Award by the Actors' Equity Association's Equal Employment Opportunity Committee at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, honoring her four decades in the industry. Yet her longevity and success had a humble beginning.

Long before her professional credits, Bruce performed on stage in grade school at St. Columbanus Catholic School in Chicago. There she, along with thirty other Black children, learned dances like the fox trot, the waltz and square dancing for the all-school performance. She describes that time as "magical," adding, "I remember standing at the edge of that stage, a little bit nervous, but mostly confidant that I would do the best anyone had ever done." There is no doubt that she did….

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Judith "Judy" Stephens-Lorenz, is emerita professor of humanities and theatre, Penn State University, Schuylkill campus. She is editor of The Plays of Georgia Douglas Johnson: From the New Negro Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement (University of Illinois Press, 2006) and a co-editor with Prof. Kathy Perkins of Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women (Indiana University Press, 1998). She has published articles in scholarly journals such as the African American Review, Theatre Journal, Text and Performance Quarterly, and The Journal of American Drama and Theatre.