On March 5, 2026, the Department of African American Studies continued our tradition of Night at the Theatre, a gathering that brings students, faculty, staff, and affiliates together for a University Theatre spring production. The tradition, started by Emeritus Professor Sandra Adell, is based on the premise that witnessing art together is its own form of scholarship.

This year, our community gathered to see Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s cullud wattah, a play set within the long aftermath of the Flint water crisis; we witness this through the lives of a Black family experiencing environmental racism, grief, and questions of survival.

During intermission, students found themselves, unexpectedly, in conversation with Dickerson-Despenza (photographed left). The playwright spoke candidly with them about the first half of the play, the theories and questions already forming, and her return to Madison. Dickerson-Despenza graduated from UW–Madison in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in English Education and is a proud graduate of the First Wave program.

Following the production on March 5th, the conversation continued as faculty member Dr. Andrene Wright-Johnson joined representatives from Nehemiah (Justified Anger) and Urban Triage (photographed left) for a talk-back, connecting the world of the play to her research in urban politics and Black political behavior. cullud wattah raises questions that exist far beyond the theatre.