- Everybody on stage.

So I'm gonna just place it.

- It's a busy day for New Horizon Theater.

Tech rehearsal has just started on their latest production here at downtown Pittsburgh's O'Reilly Theater.

The Sun - and the big boss is on hand to make sure everything runs smoothly.

- I am Joyce Meggerson Moore.

I'm chairperson of the board of directors, however, I do a lot of things at the theater.

- How long has New Horizons been around?

- I came involved in, at the beginning, it was 1992, so we've been in existence since then.

And we have a volunteer corps of people and we raise funds through fundraisers and through writing grants to produce these plays... to - Feed the Beast.

We'll start our 34th season in July, July 1st.

So we have a four event season now.

We started out with one play per season because that's all of the money we had to produce one play and at that time we were doing one person plays too in order to help us save with our finances.

I thought I was just gonna volunteer for the reception of the first play "Home".

And it turns out all of these years later, this is 33rd season, I'm still volunteering.

And that's why I say I do a lot of things 'cause all of the volunteers do that.

We, we write the grants, we have to account for the funds that we spend.

We clean up the theater, we put things back in storage once the plays have been done.

And so there are a lot of tasks that we have to do, and we're always looking for volunteers to help us with this.

- At 33 Seasons, New Horizon is currently the oldest operating African-American theater company in Pittsburgh.

It follows in the footsteps of Dr.

Vernell Lillie's Country Repertory Theater, which ended its historic run in 2013.

- Why is it important to have an African American theater company in Pittsburgh?

- I think we need to show our work on stage.

We need to have people to see us on stage.

We do produce all work, most of the work written and directed by African American playwrights.

So it's important for people to see that we have an outreach program with young people, so it's important for them to see themselves reflected on the stage, and they've been able to do that for all of these years, now.

It's important for young people to know about their history in plays.

And then a lot of the plays we do are actual historical pieces, and it's important for them to, to, to see that on stage and reflected on the stage.

And so a lot of people haven't seen some of the plays that we do.

They didn't know that these were real life people.

Like we did the Ballad of Emmett Till and they didn't realize a lot of people didn't know that story and we were able to show that on stage.

We've done Black Angels over Tuskegee a number of times, and they're able to see, you know, the cast portraying actual people - You've put on some really great historic plays over, over the years.

What does it take to put on a play like the play you did about the Tuskegee Airmen?

- Well, the cast and crew is so great.

We don't have to have airplanes like you see in the movies.

Layon and his group made it look like airplanes were flying over.

And so they're so good at what they do, all we have to do is come up with the props, find the props for them, the, and they take it from there.

- So you're gonna take this ball.

- We've really been blessed over the years to have great directors like Layon Gray, Eileen Morris, Herbert Newsome.

And what we do is they, they'll tell us what props they need to make it happen.

And then I must add that Ernest McCarty, who just recently passed away was our artistic director from 2008 to 2014.

And it was great working with Ernest.

He'd come in and we all volunteered then too.

And Ernest wrote, he was a writer.

- You see, the slaves had this voodoo belief and vision.

- Tell me about your current production.

- Right now we're working on Meet Me at the Oak that was written by Layon Gray, directed by Layon Gray and the set design Herb Newsome.

And so we're happy to have him back.

- Earl, we're gonna have you right here in this position.

- My name is Layon Gray and I am a writer and director.

- I wanna talk about your collaboration with New Horizon.

How long have you been doing it and why?

- Wow.

I've been working with New Horizon Theater, I'd say for the past 12, 13 years.

It's been a beautiful collaboration and I'm excited to say that this play "Meet Me at the Oak," New Horizon will have been, have done all of Layon Gray's plays.

So it's a beautiful thing when you find a company who, who trust and believe in your work and your vision and give you the creative flexibility to, to bring something unique on stage.

- And you can cut across here on your way back.

- Thank you.

- This tree gonna keep us warm.

This tree's gonna put something back in my hand.

- "Meet me at the Oak" is dear to my heart.

You know, when Ms.

Joyce and New Horizon theater company said that they wanted to do "Meet Me At the Oak", I got truly excited.

So it's loosely based on my family's history.

There was a big oak tree that lived on my grandparent that was on my grandparents' land.

And I remember as a little boy, I asked my uncle, what was the tree?

- Ain't just a tree.

- They had it removed and the stump was still there.

And I saw like names carved at the bottom of it.

I said, what's this?

And he told me what he remembered about the tree, how it was used back in the day.

A couple people got lynched from the tree.

So I said, wow, this would be something fascinating to bring into a, a play about this oak tree that stood in this land for so long.

And this family would meet at the Oak to pay homage to all the people who died at this tree, - Sitting right there in his eyes, the pain.

- And wow, this be something very, very wonderful to write about.

- Came by, seen if he was here.

- Papa got business, Mama too.

- What's it like working with Ms.

Joyce?

- Incredible.

Wonderful.

You know, because I've been doing this for like 20, 30 years and you come across some producers or presenters who are usually like, no, this how I want it.

You do it my way.

You do it this way.

Ms.

Joyce come from a creative heart.

So she allows me to tell her my vision and allow me to create it the way I want to create it, which is very rare when it comes to, to presenters.

And that's what I love about working with, with Ms.

Joyce and, and New Horizon Theater Company.

It's just the flexibility and freedom to be free as an artist, to create your vision on stage without the interruption of people telling you how to do it and, and how, how to do it and when to do it.

- He's so cranky, he's so mean face stay looking like he ate a lima bean Papa gonna tan me if he knows I crossed that fence.

- You've been doing this for a while now.

What inspires you about what you do?

- Sometimes I come home, I'm thinking, okay, I'm just gonna close the garage and I'm not going to come back out to do another play.

But I keep going, I keep doing it.

I, I want it to be a success.

I want it to be something that the community is proud of.

And I think they have been with all of the plays that we've produced over the years, we, we keep moving once it start coming together.

It's really exciting though.

Once you hear the crowd out there, it becomes real then.