In Touch With Albert Brownlee, Artistic Director
By Betty Miller Buttram
FWIS Contributing Writer
Every play needs a director who will bring the words from the playwright’s mind to the page and then to the stage. The director focuses on the words, transforms, and brings the characters in the written play into a stage performance. From October 4 through October 12, 2025, the play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” written by Lorraine Hansberry, will be performing on stage at Purdue Fort Wayne Studio Theatre, and the Director is Albert Brownlee.
Brownlee began acting as a youth with the Fort Wayne Youth Theatre in the 1980s. He is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Theater and English, as well as Indiana University where he received his MBA degree. He became involved as an undergraduate at Clark Atlanta University in an art theater group. In his senior year he enrolled in a director’s class and produced and directed a full-scale show on campus. Once he left Clark Atlanta in the late 90s and outside of doing a drama ministry for his church, he didn’t get into the community theater stage again until 2012 when the Civic Theatre did “Dreamgirls.” From there, he began acting in various community theaters throughout the region and first directed a show for Genesis Outreach, Inc. in 2017, “For Colored Girls…,” and since that time he has annually acted in and directed multiple productions with the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, the University of Saint Francis, Arena Theatre, Three Rivers Music Theater, First Presbyterian Theare, The Clark Atlantic University Players and Fort Wayne Youth Theatre.
Brownlee became an employee of Genesis Outreach, Inc in 2000. Genesis started in 1988 as a community development organization that serves homeless families, homeless individuals, and others overcoming drug addictions and works for family unification and children who are actively involved in DCPS. In 2012, he was voted by the Board of Directors to serve as the CEO, and he served until 2019. In 2020, he resigned his position, returned to law school, and received his degree in 2023. In 2023, Genesis offered Brownlee the position of Chief Compliance Officer.
The Genesis theatre art started in 2016 because Brownlee wanted to create an annual gala and wanted to do something different and because of his background in theatre and time served as CEO, he presented the idea that Genesis should produce something unique instead of a banquet or silent auction. In 2016, Genesis produced “Ain’t Behaving” in partnership with First Presbyterian Theater. It was a great success and raised funds and awareness for Genesis Outreach and that was the purpose of the event.
When asked where he gets his plays; are they already produced; and does he consider new plays? Brownlee responded.
“The one thing that Genesis does is that they are very dedicated to telling stories that have been rarely told by the other local theaters in town. These are stories that are centered around communities of color or communities of diversity. I usually pick plays that have a central theme to minorities where other diverse communities' stories don’t get told.
All our shows produced by Genesis will always have a central character or central theme that will give minorities, specifically people of the Black communities, because our stories are not told; they are not regularly told. “A Raisin in the Sun” has been done in Fort Wayne before but asking when, it was done in 2000; 25 years ago. That means that there is a whole generation of people or children who have grown up who have never seen it; who don’t even know about it because of today’s rhetoric; it’s no longer required reading like it was for many of us when we went to school. “A Raisin in the Sun” is not only powerful for the Black community but also what many don’t understand is the piece itself is the first play that was ever produced on Broadway that was written by a Black woman and that happened in 1959 and that should be celebrated; that should not only be celebrated but that should be known. And why people don’t know facts like that is because we don’t talk about it, we don’t tell our stories. I’m committed to whatever space or what realm in educating not only my own people but the community around us that we were here, we made a difference, we make a difference, and we still matter regardless of the rhetoric of today.
I think this show is so essential, not only because now we have a whole generation of kids and families who know nothing of it but also, the themes of this show are so well into today; from dreams deferred, from the housing crisis, the separation between the rich and the poor; the separation between black and white, and all the things that erupt out of this story. You have three different types of dreams. You got Mama, who is hoping for the dream of home ownership and a better life. You got Walter Lee who is hoping for financial success; he’s hoping for the American Dream, I need to make my own way. Then, you have Beneatha who is hoping for an education. And these are still issues affecting the Black community today…education, housing, and finance. We have to tell our stories from our voices and it’s a difference when you have lived the experience.”
Tickets for “A Raisin in the Sun” are available online at https://our.show/raisin or by calling 260-744.2800.