Dehkontee Artists Theatre, Inc. (DATI) Tripartite Anniversary Gala & Fundraiser
Date: Saturday, December 16, 2023, from 5 PM-1 AM
Venue: Philadelphia International Church, 100 Sharon Avenue, Sharon Hill, PA 19079
Admissions: 1. Grand Patrons ($1,000); 2. Patrons ($500); 3. Supporters ($250); Ordinary ($100)
Purpose of Fundraiser: To construct first school of performing and visual arts and center for
peace and cultural studies in Liberia.
Payment Methods: 1. Cashapp: $JosephGbaba (tel.) 267-9731709; 2. Via mail: write money
order or check to: Dehkontee artists Theatre, Inc., P. O. Box 143, Clifton Heights, PA 19018;
3.Via DATI Wells Fargo Checking Account#3931972677; Routing#055003201; 4. International
Transfer:WFBIUS6S.
Dehkontee Artists Theatre, Inc. (DATI) Presents:
“The Frogs and Black Snake in Frogsville”
In Celebration of DATI’s 39th Anniversary of Its Founding &
42ND ANNIVERSARY OF RABBI PRINCE JOSEPH TOMOONH-GARLODEY GBABA, SR., ED.D.
AS PLAYWRIGHT, POET, THEATRE DIRECTOR, ACTOR & PRODUCER
Bowie Center for the Performing Arts, 15200 Annapolis Road, Bowie, MD 20715
January 9, 2016 @ 7:30 p.m.
Brief History of Dehkontee Artists Theatre, Inc. (DATI)
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞: 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝐉𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐆𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐚 — 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐈𝐈
By Derek M. Moore
In this series, I want to look at Joseph Gbaba not only as a playwright, actor, and educator, but as one of those Liberians who helped keep our stories alive. But before the books, before Dehkontee Artists Theatre, and before the audiences that would come to know his work, there was a young Liberian whose journey began far from the spotlight.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬
Ask most Liberians about Joseph Gbaba and many will recognize the name. Some will remember the plays. Others will remember the performances, the students he taught, the actors he mentored, or the cultural institutions he helped build.
Yet there is a curious problem.
For a man who spent much of his life preserving Liberian stories, surprisingly little has been written about his own. That says something about Joseph Gbaba, but it may say even more about Liberia.We have preserved power better than we have preserved culture.
We document presidents, debate politicians, and argue about soldiers, coups, and revolutions, while many of the artists, teachers, playwrights, musicians, and cultural workers who shaped Liberia’s cultural identity are left to survive through scattered photographs, fading programs, newspaper clippings, and the memories of those who knew them.