When May and Charles Thompson joined the hundreds of other Americans headed south during the summer of '64 for a massive voter registration drive, their lives changed forever. Campus activism had been met with calls to their parents and threats of expulsion, but in Mississippi the stakes were much higher. White supremacists responded with violence that left three civil rights workers dead, many wounded.
Now in 1995, 30 years later, the couple still searches for ways to heal from the damage done them. Unable to confide even in her best friend Rosa St. John about the spirits that haunt her, ...Read More
When May and Charles Thompson joined the hundreds of other Americans headed south during the summer of '64 for a massive voter registration drive, their lives changed forever. Campus activism had been met with calls to their parents and threats of expulsion, but in Mississippi the stakes were much higher. White supremacists responded with violence that left three civil rights workers dead, many wounded.
Now in 1995, 30 years later, the couple still searches for ways to heal from the damage done them. Unable to confide even in her best friend Rosa St. John about the spirits that haunt her, May has convinced herself that if she can just get her beloved but unrecognizably changed Charlie to leave Detroit and cross the bridge into Canada, a new life is still possible. When Rosa's friend Tyrone Washington instead lands Charlie a job as a truck driver, however, the hot old madness of Freedom Summer boils over, threatening all of their lives.
Acclaimed playwright PEARL CLEAGE [Flyin' West, Blues for an Alabama Sky] looks hard at the lives of two unremarkable people trapped in the aftermath of a remarkable time in Bourbon at the Border, putting a human face to all of the "unknown soldiers" of the civil rights movement. Lyrical but clear-sighted ("a tingling story of the ghosts of a Mississippi summer," said the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Ms. Cleage refuses to romanticize the Mays and the Charlies, even as she pays due honor to the sacrifices they made...and that may still need to be made, again, today.
For Bourbon at the Border's overdue local premiere, director ED BISHOP has assembled a first-rate creative team: DAVID RAPHEL on set design, VERONICA RUSSELL on costumes, RIKKI GEE on sound design, ZALIA BEVILLE on lights, and MICHAEL MARTIN as production manager. The cast is just as exciting: Veteran hands ADELLA GAUTIER and ROSCOE REDDIX, Jr ae joined by talented newcomers LATRICIA HUSTON and RICK JAY. ____________________________________________________________________________
WHAT: Bourbon at the Border, area premiere. WHO: Producers American Theatre Project/ZAP Inc. and Marigny Theatre, with Clove Productions. Director Ed Bishop. Playwright Pearl Cleage. Designer David Raphel. Production manager Michael Martin. Featuring Adella Gautier (May Thompson), Roscoe Reddix, Jr (Tyrone Washington), Latricia Huston (Rosa St. John), Rick Jay (Charles Thompson). WHERE: The Marigny Theatre, 2240 St Claude Avenue [behind All Ways Lounge], New Orleans. WHEN: Previews Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10, 8pm. Opens Friday, September 11, 8pm. Thursday-Saturday 8pm until September 26. HOW: All tickets $12.50, general admission. Group rates available, 504.361.4627. For reservations call 504.218.5778. ____________________________________________________________________________
PLEASE NOTE: Strong language and mature themes make this unsuitable for children under 13.
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