The upcoming production’s two lead actors will hold free public workshops in Alumni Hall’s 7th-Floor Auditorium.

In a workshop set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Nov. 2, Benjamin Cain (who will play Little Willie) will cover acting techniques, the use of monologues in auditions, and tips on breaking into acting. Cain recently played Loomis in a production of August Wilson’s "Joe Turner’s Come and Gone" by Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, as well as C.J. in Charles Fuller’s "A Soldier’s Play" by the New Horizon Theater. Cain recently finished an off-Broadway and London tour of Tim Robbins’ "Embedded." His film and television credits include "The Temptations," "Dogma," "Law and Order," and "New York Undercover."

Candice Smith (Estelle) will focus on dance and acting preparations for musical theater auditions during a workshop, noon-2 p.m. Nov. 5. Smith, a Pittsburgh native living in Brooklyn, N.Y., received the 2005 Debbie Allen Scholarship. She has worked with Lillie in previous Kuntu plays, including Blues in Jazz Waters, On Sacred Ground, and Black Nativity.

"Little Willie Armstrong Jones" was written by the late Rob Penny, who was a Hill District native, Kuntu playwright-in-residence, and chair of Pitt’s Department of Africana Studies. "Little Willie"’s title character makes entrepreneurial and spiritual choices that are challenged by the community, as he struggles to keep his family stable.

Kuntu performances are held at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. For information on matinees, tickets, and group sales, call 412-624-7298 or visit www.kuntu.org.

Kuntu Rep opens season with Rob Penny's
"Little Willie Armstrong Jones"

by Sharon S. Blake, Oct. 17, 2005

Pitt’s Kuntu Repertory Theatre opens its 2005-06 season with "Little Willie Armstrong Jones"—the story of a brash young man growing up in Pittsburgh’s Hill District—which will run Oct. 20-Nov. 5 in the 7th-Floor Auditorium of Alumni Hall.

Directed by Vernell A. Lillie, Kuntu founder and artistic director and Pitt associate professor of Africana studies, "Little Willie" is the first play in Kuntu’s “Revival on 5th Avenue” season, which will feature works presented by the company during its 30-year history. Kuntu last performed "Little Willie" in 1994.