- That's what's wrong with you young folks, you don't stop and think before you speak.

- Stage acting is like breathing, because before I started acting, I was in corporate America and I was working and I was doing my normal routine, family, kids, church and I didn't know what I wanted to do in life.

But when I started acting and got on the stage it seemed like I began to breathe like a newborn baby.

Hello, everybody!

(audience cheers) Hi, I'm Kenny Dozier.

I'm the founder and artistic director of Kennie Playhouse Theatre.

Kennie Playhouse Theatre is a theater company that really is designed to give opportunities for the underserved African American community, and to get 'em to be able to perform for different audiences.

The beginning is okay, but when you get to talking about Ricky and you get to talking about this, it's serious.

- So- - All right.

- I started the theater company because I thought there was a lack of opportunity for us to do Black plays, celebrate our experience.

And then when you look at some of the things that's going on today, I felt like it's really even more purposeful because a lot of times there are areas you don't wanna talk about, the contributions that African Americans have made and here in America and celebrate those.

It's our story, we come from a period of slavery that went on in America, so you can tell stories about that.

We come from a period of civil rights, you can tell stories about that.

Just knowing that history, you know, I think it's even more important now to tell our stories because they're not gonna get it in their educational systems a lot of times.

So we can tell that story and then have a great time sharing it with the community.

- Cremated?

Ain't that when they burn your body?

(audience laughs) Too much like going to hell for for me.

(audience laughs) - For me, life after 60 is continuing to create a platform where others can come and explore their gifts and find out what their purpose is through theater.

And I think that when you retire, what keeps you living, what keeps you going is you stay connected with people.

As we get older, what happens is we have less and less contact with people, but if you connect to theater, you're back around people, breathing, doing different things, exercising your mind, your physical, your mental, your spiritual.

And I think all those things help you be a vibrant breathing, living organism.

(laughs) (mellow music)