The recently installed artistic director of True Colors Theatre Company entered Colgate University as a football player. But an injury on the field led him to the theater.
“At 17 and 18, I was a such a meathead,” Jamil Jude laughingly admits. “I loved being around athletics because it pushed me, it motivated me, it gave me a reason to want to fight and be better.”
“I had a lot of free time and a former football player from Atlanta named Will Arnold wrote a play,” Jude said. “And he was like ‘hey, I think you should be in this play.’ It was about racial tensions in the South, and I was so inspired by what Will was able to do. He was able to write a story, create something new, talk about something that was personal to him, and have an audience respond to it. He really taught me about theater’s ability to create community and create change, and I was bit by the bug.”
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