About Parker

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#CC9980" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Black Theatre Alive...</div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Futura Md BT" ><A HREF="http://64.226.23.86/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=PP" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://64.226.23.86/miva/merchant.mvc?Sc"><U>Order  Now!!!</U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE AWAKENING"><U>Home</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OUR SPONSORS"><U>OUR SPONSORS</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MUSIC PROVIDED BY..."><U>MUSIC PROVIDED BY</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Critics Corner"><U>Critic's Corner</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Set Design"><U>Set Design</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet The Characters "><U>Meet the Characters</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Performance Rights"><U>Performance Rights</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.mapquest.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.mapquest.com/"><U>Mapquest</U></A></div> <bR> <div> OTHER SITES</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parkersplays.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parkersplays.com/"><U>Parker's Plays</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.waitin2endhell.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.waitin2endhell.com/"><U>"Waitin' 2 End Hell"</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>Parker's Place</B></div> <div> P.O. Box  580236</div> <div> Elk Grove, CA  </div> <div> 95758</div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>"THE AWAKENING"</B></FONT>    |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="THE AWAKENING"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OUR SPONSORS"><U>OUR SPONSORS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MUSIC PROVIDED BY..."><U>MUSIC PROVIDED BY...</U></A>   |   <B>About Parker</B>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Critics Corner"><U>Critic's Corner</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Set Design"><U>Set Design</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meet The Characters "><U>Meet The Characters </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Performance Rights"><U>Performance Rights</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <div> About Parker</div> <div>   <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" bgcolor="#000000" style="border:2px solid #FFFFFF;"> <tr> <td align="center" style="font-weight: bold; font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#FF6600;">Join Our Mailing List</td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" style="border-top:2px solid #FFFFFF"> <form name="ccoptin" action="http://ui.constantcontact.com/d.jsp" target="_blank" method="post" style="margin-bottom:2;"> <input type="hidden" name="m" value="1101347838689"> <input type="hidden" name="p" value="oi"> <font style="font-weight: normal; font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:16px; color:#CC6600;">Email:</font> <input type="text" name="ea" size="20" value="" style="font-size:10pt; border:1px solid #999999;"> <input type="submit" name="go" value="Go" class="submit" style="font-family:Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:10pt;"> </form> </td> </tr> </table> </div>   <div align="center"> <a href="http://www.constantcontact.com/safesubscribe.jsp" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.constantcontact.com/ui/images1/safe_subscribe_logo.gif" border="0" width="168" height="14" alt="" vspace="5"/></a> </div>   </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><IMG SRC="17680400.jpg" border=0 width="384" height="576" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5"></FONT><B>“THE AWAKENING”</B> is the first of William a. Parker’s full-length drama’s to be written. Drafted in the late 80's, it received it’s first presentation at California State University, Sacramento, in 1992. After being rejected for a grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, Parker raised monies privately. Thus, William's spirit as a<B> PLAYWRIGHT and INDEPENDENT PRODUCER</B> was born. Driven by a need to be heard and pushed further by a need to strike balance between Himself, God and the Universe. William names God as the <B>EXECUTIVE PRODUCER</B> of all the order, dis-order, positive, negative, consenting, dissenting or otherwise construed quills in his written, verbal, social and most often anti-social, artistic, political, intellectual, spiritual quiver. </div> <bR> <div> He also names God as the responsible party for introductions to all of the many wonderful people whom God has used and continues to use to construct his fluid development, Chiefly, with regards to his life as a playwright, he is grateful to <B>New York Producer / Director</B>- <I>Woodie King, Jr</I>, who Parker believes is still not fully aware of the fact that, he, too, is a draftee in this campaign. So, Wood... when I start talkin’ crazy, man... just keep noddin’ your head and sayin’ I heard that, like you do. Woodie gave me my proper introduction to the world as a playwright. I am forever grateful. </div> <bR> <div> There are many others, Donovan Cummings, Paul Carter Harrison, Eugene B. Redmond, T. Michael Gates, J.W. Lewis. Artist such as Bill Cobbs, Art Evans, Ella Joyce, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, Garret Morris, Obba Babatunde, Adilah Barnes, April Barnett, JudyAnn Elder, Glynn Turman, Karen Malina White, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and of course my Alum, my colleague, my friend BeBe Drake. I send my love to each of you, always... even if I owe you money. Keep lookin’ it’s comin’  </div> <bR> <div> <B>IN THE BEGINNING WAS...</B></div> <div> Surely, Parker’s walk with God began in the womb but he notes <B>August 23</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>rd</B></FONT><B>, 1983</B>, as the date of his true <IMG SRC="188ee5e0.jpg" border=0 width="238" height="350" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">spiritual birth. Living in Los Angeles at the time, Parker was in pursuit of an acting career. He had just completed his work at California State University Sacramento, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Drama, and, so, he moved to Los Angeles to check out the industry. </div> <bR> <div> One night, while sleeping, Parker recalls that before his closed eyes... as if being projected onto a movie screen, he remembers the words; “For what shall a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and loose his own soul”- Matthew. Unable to sleep, Parker sat on the edge of his bed and began talking with God. It was more like a debate really. One that I would ultimately loose but I am the better man for it and I thank God that he is a great debater. </div> <bR> <div> No lights went on and off and there was no sound of thunder and lightning crashing... just God’s voice in my head and me talking with him, You see, he wanted me to give my life to him and this was a difficult thing for him to ask of me because as a teenager, I had given my life to Christ and because I really had no knowledge of him and was virtually guided along by other who also didn’t know a damn thing about who God was... I was a miserable teenager. So, I told God that my life was just fine and I didn’t want to parts of what he had to offer. Ultimately, through his patience and gentle persuasion, he convinced me that he loved me and that all he wanted was for me to have life and life more abundantly. He promised to take good care of me. Now, this was beginning to sound like love to me. Like something a father would say... and having grown up without a father, poor and in the projects of Stockton, California, this expression of love and desire for relationship was simply overwhelming... and, so, I accepted Christ into my life. But... I told God that it was gonna be his job to make a new man out of me. </div> <bR> <div> <B><U>A MAN WHO DON’T KNOW GOD AT WORTH...</U></B></div> <div> Needless to say, he has done just that. “THE AWAKENING” reflects the coming together of many things in my <IMG SRC="18e5eef0.jpg" border=0 width="350" height="239" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">life. I always say, that a man who don’t know God ain’t worth much. This is something I came to know after I accepted Christ. <I>Notice that all through this piece I ain’t said nothin’ about joinin’ CHURCH. ‘Cause that’s what a lot of us do and joinin’ a CHURCH ain’t got nothin’ to do with knowin’ God.</I> That’s another piece and I’m sure that God will work that conversation out of me soon enough. </div> <bR> <div> To summarize about how this piece came to be, I will simply say that in 1984, after returning to Sacramento, I had another of those long conversation, debates, with God on the stairs of the University Theatre at CSU, Sacramento. I was on campus to enroll in the Masters Program when God said, “No, I want you to write plays for me.” I laughed... sat on the steps and we talked. Ultimately, remember that God is an excellent debater, I relented once more and God began to direct my footsteps. </div> <bR> <div> I didn’t know it then but I later realized that agreeing to walk with God means that while he will take care of you, while you will experience immeasurable joy, happiness and success... your life will be marked with many trials and tribulations. Gad sat me under a wonderful Pastor/Teacher who set me on fire regarding THE WORD OF GOD. I learned quickly that now person who carry’s God’s words to and fro lives a life of simplicity. I also realized that in order to walk by faith... you must be willing to declare yourself in sane to conventional wisdom and understanding. You must be willing to say what God put’s in your mouth and believe the impossible. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="18ce65e0.jpg" border=0 width="230" height="350" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="5" VSPACE="5">“THE AWAKENING” was the beginning of my spiritual, social, political, religious and economic consciousness regarding my duties as a man and, therefore, my responsibilities as STEWARD of God’s creation. You see, there were two things that God has made absolutely clear to me in my 46 years on this planet. There are two primary things that God wants relative to our creation; 1) God wants to love man as a son and have fellowship with him. 2) God has given all of mankind one primary responsibility- Take care of his creation. </div> <bR> <div> He promised that every person who has ever been born will die and give account for his STEWARDSHIP. Stewardship over everything that he has given you, time, money, children, talents, ideas, wealth, riches, power etc... So, my work is my submission to what I believe is a voice that guides me to talk to all of you. Wrong or right, like it or not... I’ve declared myself insane. So, if what I write offends you, provokes you, inspires you, moves you, thrills you, saddens you or even confuses you... Just remember that I’m just a crazy man trying to please a God that I have never seen but is convinced that he is alive and has commissioned me to write for him. </div> <bR> <div> “THE AWAKENING” is my plea for all African people around the world to remember the God in you. It is through spiritual consciousness that we will once again experience freedom from this NEW SLAVERY. </div> <bR> <div> With Love,</div> <bR> <div> Playwright / William a. Parker</div> </td> </tr></table></body>