Most may believe school plays aren’t much, once the curtains slowly part and parents in the crowd see paper-made flowers and twinkling fairy lights. However, for Zaylin Yates playing a butterfly in a production of “Sleeping Beauty” was the beginning of his love of the arts. He was in kindergarten in Palmdale, California, and moved to Alabama to finish high school. However, it was at Florida A&M University where he felt he had something to prove.
“I saw a lack of Black and Brown professional artists in the theater world,” says Yates. “At Florida A&M, that’s where I met my business partner, Terrence Pride. We felt like we had something to show and prove when it comes to what we love. So, I asked Terrance if he wanted to start a theater company with me and focus on that and now, we’re here.”
While at Florida A&M University, Yates got an MBA and a bachelor of science degree in business administration, and a bachelor of arts degree in theater performance.
Taking that passion for the arts that he’s had since he was a child, Yates pursued acting. For more than a decade, he’s produced, directed, and performed, in productions throughout the southeast including “Detroit ’67,” “The Colored Museum,” and “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”
“Terrance and I were both in the theater program at Florida A&M,” says Yates. “We would put on different fundraisers, programs, and, long story short, we started our theater company and that is how Brévo Theatre came to be.”
Yates is the founding managing director of Brévo Theatre, a Pompano Beach-based company committed to amplifying the voices of young Black artists and providing them with a platform. His business partner, Terrence “TM” Pride, is the producing artistic director. Since 2019, Brévo Theatre has made it their mission to highlight up-and-coming playwrights, actors, dancers and directors.
“We wanted to create something engaging,” says Yates. “So, we worked on ‘From Us with Love.’ ”
“From Us with Love” (FUWL) is a project by Yates and Pride that they describe as a combination of the lost art of letter writing with community engagement in a visual and emotionally conscious display of handwritten love letters. Each letter is written to be encouraging and sensitive to self-identity, self-awareness, and self-love, according to the creators
“Terrance read about a similar concept that happened in Atlanta that was focused on the Black male perspective and audience,” says Yates. “He was moved and inspired and we wanted to expand on it where people can read a letter and see themselves in it. It’s meant to be inspirational for everyone.”
Armed only with ink of introspection and every word painting the portrait of self-worth, each letter deals with different topics on how one feels in society — such as being a gay Black man, an unlikely leader, and breaking stereotypes.
“We have QR Codes along with letters and different artists designed the envelopes that were inspired by the letter they were given,” says Yates. “The QR codes are so you can submit your own letter – your own response to the letter.”
On Thursday, May 9, the Ali Cultural Arts Center in Pompano Beach presented FUWL and letters were read on stage. Each light beam on stage acted as a brushstroke, painting the air with hues. Fingers danced along saxophone keys, creating music, and letters were read aloud. On the stage bathed in swirling lights, stood singer Brittany Starr James-Watkins.
With every step, her gray and silver outfit shimmered. As she moved across the stage, her glitter boots seemed like a trail of stardust.
“We have such dynamic people here,” says Yates. “The letters are written by people in the community, we have interpreters reading the letters, and this is very ‘in your face’ because it’s not abstract. It’s supposed to be something you can take in without fear of misunderstanding and we want people to identify themselves in the same letter that’s being read to them.”
Pride was one of the interpreters along with Frankie Red. Along with her fluffy beacon of joy, Glitter, Red’s dog resembled a ball of puffy clouds that somehow gained the ability to wiggle and wag its tail. Red, who has been an emcee since high school and working professionally for 10 years, performed and read from the letters.
“When Zaylin reached out to me, it was no hesitation,” says Red. “I’m also a poet, and it felt good to add elements of theater when reading the letters, and as a thespian, I had a lot of fun adding a Southern accent for Nik Harris or a Jamaican accent to G Wright, and speaking in Espanol for Joan (Godoy).”
Red also had an idea for future letter readings that they be accompanied by costume changes to embrace each writer’s essence.
“I want to give the city of Pompano their flowers,” says Red. “I love to see that people want to curate these things in Pompano and I’d encourage all cities to bring art.”
Yates and Pride are next bringing Marci J. Duncan and Kerry Sandell’s play “Dissonance” to South Florida with a performance on Friday, June 14 at Arts Garage in Delray Beach and two shows at Broward College-South Campus in Pembroke Pines on Saturday, June 15 and Sunday, June 16. The 90-minute, two-person original play is about race, love and friendship.
“You don’t know how many times I was told “no” when we had an idea or wanted to collaborate with someone to make something happen,” says Yates. “We had to fight to prove ourselves. But ever since I was that butterfly in that school play, I stayed consistent, and with shows like ‘From Us with Love,’ I think we proved ourselves and that all you really need is love.”
UP NEXT
WHAT: Brévo Theatre Presents “Dissonance”
WHERE: Arts Garage, 94 NE 2nd Ave., Delray Beach and Broward College, South Campus, 7200 Pines Blvd., Pembroke Pines
WHEN: 8 p.m., Friday, June 14, 7 p.m., Saturday, June 15 and 5 p.m., Sunday, June 16
TICKETS: $35 and $49 (including fees)
INFORMATION: brevotheatre.org
