Most college students tend to become last-minute crammers fueled by vending machine coffee, hoodie-clad lecture hall ghosts, and TikTok philosophers who’d rather debate vibes than dive into textbooks. But Zaylin Yates and Terrence Pride were cut from a bolder, brighter cloth. While others chased easy A’s, these two ignited stages at Florida A&M, commanding the theater program and student union like a dynamic duo on a mission. Their scripts carved space for untold stories, echoing the laughter, pain, and triumphs of Black and Brown communities. Upon graduation, they didn’t just dream of opening their theater; they worked for a space where representation wasn’t a buzzword but a birthright.
“We both came to South Florida,” says Yates. “We saw a lack of representation and decided to do something about that with our theatre and events.”
For all its talk of breaking boundaries, the theater world has long kept its stages framed in the same narrow lens where Black and Brown voices were too often reduced to side notes or erased. Yates and Pride saw that void not as a closed door, but as an open invitation to kick it wide.
“I loved theatre since I was a kid,” says Yates. “I’ve loved it since kindergarten. But I eventually noticed a lack of Black and Brown professional artists in the theater world, and once we met, we decided to do something about it with Brévo Theatre.”
Yates isn’t just the founding managing director of Brévo Theatre; he’s the sparkplug behind a Pompano Beach powerhouse determined to turn up the volume on young Black voices and give them a stage worthy of their stories. Alongside his creative co-pilot, producing artistic director Terrence “TM” Pride, the duo has been shaking up the scene since 2019.
Brévo isn’t your buttoned-up, politely-clap-after-the-curtain-falls kind of theater. It’s more than that. It’s a launchpad, spotlight, and megaphone all rolled into one that showcases fresh playwrights, fearless actors, electrifying dancers, and visionary directors, some before the world even knows their names.
Together, they’ve turned the theater into a community rocket fueled by fresh stories, vibrant performances, and unapologetic representation.
“We had a thought to open the doors even further to reach more people, even outside of the community,” says Pride. “Pushing forward a monologue competition and promoting up-and-coming artists is something we normally see in high school, but we wanted to see more outside of that with ‘Rooted & Resilient’ and take this beyond the stage and make it a special day.”
On August 23, Yates and Pride will present “Rooted & Resilient: A Monologue Festival” at the Ali Cultural Center.
This immersive gathering stitches together voices of a community that are raw, rising, and unshakably real. Here, fearless artists and passionate changemakers collide in a whirlwind of powerful storytelling, unapologetic performances, and conversations that don’t just inspire but ignite. It’s art as identity, theater as truth, and a celebration of social justice that will leave you buzzing long after the curtain falls.
“We will have workshops to help review, teach, fine-tune, and go over what the talent has done,” says Pride. “We want to help younger playwrights while also making it more than just a couple of hours, but a whole day-long festival.”
The festival will start with the morning lighting up with more than curtains. Local makers will display art installations steeped in racial equity, vendors will drive energies with beats and bites, and live “group chats” will spark grassroots fervor. during a day that promises transformation.
Electrifying workshops like “The Art of Activism and Radical Movement: The Physical Journey to Change,” will invite participants to harness creativity as a force for social justice. Storytelling will take center stage in sessions like “Rewriting the Narrative,” while “Wellness in the Work” will remind changemakers to care for themselves amid the fight.
“Caring for yourself while not burning yourself out is our ‘Wellness in the Work’ and that’s one that will resonate with a lot of people,” says Yates. “Each session will have national talent teaching and inspiring the talent here.”
By midday, the festival’s energy will swell, and the stage will become a crossroads of truth and imagination. Eight fearless finalists will step into the spotlight—four wielding their own freshly-penned words, four breathing new life into powerful performances.
“We put out a call for performance artists and playwrights,” says Yates. “They’ll be guided and learn from guest judges who’ll help them bloom and their voices roar.”
Throughout the day, live chats will ignite conversations on the artist’s role in shaping justice, all under the discerning eyes of guest judges Nicco Annan, known for his portrayal of Uncle Clifford on the Starz drama series “P-Valley,” Dr. Beth Turner of Black Masks Magazine, and Tony Award Winner, Corey Mitchell, who will all bring their artistic insight and passion for equity to the festival’s fierce competition.
“It’s evoking entertainment,” says Pride. “People come and leave here feeling changed and represented. We’ve been in the shoes of the participants in the workshops, and we realized the good things when being in spaces like this, while also realizing what can be improved.
Each monologue is a world unto itself, pulsing with the raw urgency of racial justice, the vibrant pride of LGBTQ+ identity, the unflinching honesty of mental health journeys, and the quiet, resonant heartbeat of lived experience. These aren’t just stories, but they’re lightning strikes of humanity, illuminating the room one voice at a time.
“The nurturing aspect is where we shine and where our focus is,” says Yates. “The theatre is a vehicle driving force for change, community engagement, and to discuss these issues. We have someone named Krystal Barrett coming down from Orlando and teaching about activism through the arts. It might seem like a lot in one day, but everything is intentional, and we might even expand it to two days.”
The workshops will feature playwrights huddling over scripts and performers stretching and bending the rhythm until it lands with goosebump precision and writers tightening dialogue like a sculptor chiseling away stone to reveal the figure within. Everyone here is sharpening their craft, not for applause, but for the truth their art can carry to the stage.
“I read a quote on abandoning hope, “and that collecting stories on issues that matter to us is a way to justify our hope for change, and I see that in something like this,” says Dr. Marie Lovett.
“Rewriting the Narrative: Storytelling Through the Lens of Social Justice” will be facilitated by Dr. Lovett. Eighteen years into her career at Florida International University, she is a professor with the soul of a storyteller and the eye of a former documentary filmmaker who has taught hundreds of students. She first met Pride in 2020 when he was a student hungry to fuse art with purpose, and their conversations about craft and justice outlasted the semester.
They stayed in touch, trading ideas and encouragement until fate handed them a full-circle moment: reuniting for “Rooted & Resilient.” Now, side by side, they’ll channel that shared passion into the “Rewriting the Narrative” workshop guiding a new generation of artists to wield their words like spotlights.
“Now more than ever, we should have some capital invested in our work, and it is critical,” says Lovett. “That funding can help them get closer to certain issues that matter and they’d like to represent and that they’ve spoken on. Especially since they’re cutting the funding for art, which is horrific.”
As twilight nears, finalists will rehearse amid a bustle of tech prep and quiet nerves. When night falls, the showcase will erupt: winners of the performance and writing categories earn $1,000 each. The evening crescendos with “Scenes of Change,” an ensemble performance weaving new works with threads of social justice. The day will close with a communal toast and a spirited group snapshot—an image of unity, resilience, and stories rooted deep in the heart of change.
“These young individuals need support,” says Yates. “Through feedback, training, and now, we can have the opportunity to support them financially. They can even copyright their first play they’ve written. We just want to bring them together and see what can be made the same way we came together to create this theater, and for them to get their boots on the ground and make their mark.”
WHAT: Rooted & Resilient: A Monologue Competition
WHERE: 353 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Pompano Beach
WHEN: Saturday, August 23, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
TICKETS: $15
INFORMATION: 954-545-7800 or brevotheatre.org
