BACK ON HOME TURF: Taylor Pickett-Stokes, center, returns to her alma mater, Mercer County Community College, with the Underground Performing Arts Collective’s performance of “Black Girl Magic” March 1-3.

It will be something of a homecoming for Trenton native Taylor Pickett-Stokes when she takes the stage at Mercer County Community College’s (MCCC) Kelsey Theatre with the Virginia-based Underground Performing Arts Collective (UPAC) and their presentation of Black Girl Magic March 1-3.

The show combines poetry, monologues, and conventional drama with film. Sister, a young Black woman, is struggling to find a place of acceptance in the world. Guided by the Ancestors, African Warrior Queens, Sister comes to a place of self-reconciliation and acceptance as she is given a glimpse into the lives and legacy of Black women, past and present. Taylor-Stokes plays multiple roles, including Harriet, Stacy Abrams, Mahalia Jackson, Celie, and a church medley singer.

Pickett-Stokes is a graduate of Hamilton High School West and graduated from MCCC in May 2013 with a degree in fine arts and a minor in psychology. After Mercer, Pickett-Stokes transferred to Montclair State University, majoring in theatre studies, with a minor in sociology, graduating in 2015. Since then, she has traveled and worked with at-risk youth, the homeless, and formerly incarcerated individuals. She will be completing dual master’s degrees at Rutgers University in social work and public affairs and politics in May.

Pickett-Stokes credits her time at Mercer as an inspiration to take on new challenges and expand her horizons, and embrace her love of the arts.

“If not for the wonderful people and teachers that I had at Mercer, I don’t know how my life would have played out otherwise,” she said. “Being a student at Mercer allowed me to take advantage of opportunities that have changed the scope of my approach in life, such as study abroad, theater, relationship building and giving back. My pursuits after graduation were built upon those very core things that I obtained while at Mercer. I learned to build meaningful relationships inside and outside of the arts. I feel that the arts are a universal language, so it is foundational to a lot of the connections I have made and maintained over the years.” 

Performances of Black Girl Magic are on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m. Performances will be at the Kelsey Theatre on MCCC’s West Windsor Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. Tickets are $20-22. Visit kelseytheatre.org.