Stage Players
Stage Players: Derrick Sanders
A short profile of Chicago director and producer Derrick Sanders.
TRANSCRIPT
- Nobody ever came to me and said,
"Hey, you look super talented!
Let me offer you this thing."
I'm Derrick Sanders.
I'm a director, a producer, and the director
of the August Wilson Monologue Competition of Chicago.
I kind of learned my style of directing
and working with August and director Marion McClinton.
Wrote a letter to Marion saying I wanted
to assistant direct him.
He said "Yeah, sure."
I bought a one-way ticket and I slept on my friend's couch.
With no deal, no contract, nobody paying for me.
And I said "You know what?"
"I wanna start a theater company".
Stories from the African diaspora, classics and new work,
just gotta choose the city.
Decided to come to Chicago.
At the time, they had
five African-American theater companies,
we'll come in and be the best.
We started Congo Square Theater Company, known,
primarily, I guess for doing August Wilson.
I co-founded it with Reginald Nelson.
We did a play called "King of Coons,"
we were the first to produce Lydia Diamond's "Stick Fly."
Tenacity, you got to take a chance on yourself.