Plays inspired by Trayvon Martin case coming to Mark Taper Forum

The Mark Taper Forum will join theaters across the country to stage plays about race relations in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin case.

New Black Fest, which supports black playwrights and their work, has commissioned seven playwrights from different ethnicities to pen six short plays as part of “Facing Our Truth: Ten-Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege.”

Dan O’Brien, Dominique Morisseau and Winter Miller are among the playwrights; participating theaters include the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, the GoodMan Theater in Chicago, National Black Theatre in New York and the Centerstage in Baltimore.

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“We’re excited to bring our community together to witness how a select group of artists will approach this tragic event and its aftermath,” Michael Ritchie, the Center Theatre Group’s artistic director, told The Times in an email. “These are events which, if not considered and explored thoughtfully, could fracture communities.”

The presentation likely will be staged sometime next year, Ritchie said.

Keith Josef Adkins, who co-founded New Black Fest, was a member of the CTG Writers Workshop. His play “Salt on Sugar Hill” was presented in the Taper’s 2003 New Work Festival.

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