Message Theater (A Lexington Kentucky based theater company serving Fayette, the surrounding counties and beyond) was founded in the fall of 1987 by Frank X Walker, Bill Caise, Rev. Thomas Aaron, Keith Griffith and Patrick J. Mitchell. The mission: to fill the cultural void in the artistic community. They did several shows telling the African American experience (Fiction and non-fiction). They traveled with their shows beyond the county and as far as Owensboro and Marshall University. As a result of their efforts the community embraced the invitation. Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” opened and closed to packed houses and standing ovations. Topical subjects like race and police brutality were approached with Dennis McIntyre’s “Split Second”, women in prison with Peter Deanda’s ” Ladies in waiting” and P J Gibson’s “Long time since yesterday”. Original works were produced by our writer in residence Frank X Walker “Post Time” and “Star Black” which were both well received. The Theater community also embraced us as well with Lexington’s Children’s Theater hiring Message to teach classes to their teens and The University of Kentucky fine arts department producing August Wilson’s “Fences” and Shakespeare in the park produced their first predominately black cast in Lonnie Elder’s “A Soldiers Play”.