Review Fix Exclusive: Jacqueline Wade Talks ‘Black Panther Women’

Review Fix chats with playwright Jacqueline Wade, who discusses her new production, “Black Panther Women,” which is set for a run at the 13 Street Repertory Theatre in New York City through June 22.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Jacqueline Wade: My inspiration for this project was I read Assata Shakur autobiography I was moved by her story. It was a history I had not learned about going to an all catholic school. From reading this autobiography, I started reading more material about the Black Panther Party what they went through and all they achieved.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Wade: My creative process is to first have the women(actresses) do improvisations based on my play, “Black Panther Women” and the time period. From the improvisations the cast begin to get a sense of the characters and the time period. The improvisations are powerful tool to step into the world of the play. I also have the actresses do research about the time period and their characters. I also talk to them about how it makes them feel to learn about the Black Panther Party and what they went through especially the women. A lot of emotions come to the surface. We always have reflection time during rehearsal. I then proceed to block the play. It is a process. It is amazing and powerful.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Wade: What makes this different or special is that all the women will be playing male and female roles. They will also play Black Panther Women. You don’t hear to much about Black Panther Women. You hear more about the men. There are also a lot of negative misconception about the Black Panther Party and what happened. I want to help create clarity and understanding. The Black Panthers were young warriors-activist fighting for the rights of all oppressed people especially African Americans. Where they perfect, no. However, they tried their best. At the same time, a lot of forces were up against them, Cointelpro, the FBI and so on.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Wade: I learn to understand the world I am living in especially police brutality and that times have not changed. I learn to have more love and tolerance and to constantly seek knowledge and the truth. I also learned that other Black Women especially young African American Women know very little to nothing about the Black Panther Party and the contributions they have given especially the women. I want to expose this play to as many people as possible and to have dialogue about it.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of something like this?

Wade: It feels really major, empowering, and special.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Wade: The ultimate goal for this production is for it to tour so that more people can see it. I’d also like to make a film from this.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Wade: I feel the audience will enjoy getting to know the various characters who made up the Black Panther Party especially the women and their contributions and what they went through.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Wade: Next will be my play, “Miles Davis” about the life and times of Miles Davis.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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