Charles Dumas, Narrator
Charles Dumas has directed, written, produced and acted in more than three hundred plays, films and TV shows. He has also appeared or voiced over a hundred commercials for TV and radio. He is an ensemble EMMY Award recipient for his appearance in SEPARATE BUT EQUAL with Sidney Portier. He was awarded the Beverly Hills/Hollywood best actor award for B.C. ASTORIA. He received a PA award for playwriting and was the first Hendler Fellow in screenwriting at the American Film Institute.
Dumas is a strong supporter of Black theatre. He has been nominated for the AUDELCO Award six times. He was a Ward finalist for best play by an African-American for BROTHERS KEEPER. He received his AEA card in 1984 in DISTRICT LINE with the Negro Ensemble Company, where he appeared in nine plays including the national tour of the WE Plays. Dumas has acted in or directed eight plays by August Wilson. He co-directed the August Wilson Theatre Festival and Seminar which produced as performances, readings or panel reviews all of the Decade series while Wilson was still alive.
Dumas is a professor emeritus from Penn State University where he was the first African-American to receive tenure in the theatre department. He was the first person to direct a show written by an African-American on their mainstage (A RAISIN IN THE SUN) He also taught at Temple University, the University of the Free State in South Africa, SUNY at New Paltz. He was a Fulbright Fellow at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Some of his students over the years have included: Keegan Michael Key, two time Emmy Award winner Ty Burrell, Fulbright awardee Cynthia Henderson, Carla Hargrove, Divine Joy Randolph, Stori Ayers, and Herb Newsome. Dumas recently appeared in two Tyler Perry projects soon to be released.