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World
Premiere Production from Children’s Theatre of Charlotte Explores Teen Race
Relations
This
March, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte will break new ground with “The
Drama Club” (Mar. 13-22), a world premiere production for middle
and high school audiences. This commissioned piece from regionally acclaimed
playwright Bob Inman explores race relations in today’s high schools. With
inspiration drawn from the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court
case, “The
Drama Club” explores a modern dilemma that schools continue to face: how
do we truly connect with each other and what are the stakes if we fail?
Directed
by Children’s Theatre’s Artistic Director Alan Poindexter, “The
Drama Club” focuses
on two young actresses - one white, one black - whose competition for the lead
in the fall production has repercussions throughout the entire school. As
tensions between the two girls spread, students must wrestle with their peers,
their prejudices and themselves as they search for ways to turn conflict into
community.
During
his career as a journalist, playwright Bob Inman covered the Civil Rights
movement in
Montgomery
,
Alabama
as well as
Charlotte
’s cross-town busing in the 1970s. In
“The Drama Club”, he explores how the history of race relations
in
America
affects the relationships today’s students have with each other.
“Are our students truly
connecting across racial, economic, ethnic and cultural barriers, or do the old
poisons of mistrust and discord still lurk below the surface? Who’s working to
make things work?” he asks. “’The Drama
Club’ is about all this, and it’s about more than race. It’s
about differences – how we try to blur the lines between the many ways we’re
different and explore the things that bind rather than separate.”
To
broaden and enhance the impact of this important piece, Children’s Theatre is
working with a variety of community partners on activities surrounding the
production. The Theatre plans to host talkbacks with members of the cast and
artistic team after performances, and to provide a follow-up historical workshop
for school groups who attend the show.
The
Theatre has also organized a series of free monthly events called the TEENS
& RACE: THEN & NOW series. Leading up to the production,
these public events offer teens opportunities to consider issues of race, the
Civil Rights Movement and how choices made by previous generations have led to
current conceptions and misconceptions. The TEENS
& RACE: THEN & NOW series will conclude on Sunday, March 8
with the premiere of “Souls of Our Students”, a documentary featuring local
high school students sharing heart-felt stories about how it feels to be
‘different’ in an increasingly diverse community. A collaborative project of
Mecklenburg Ministries, Charlotte Coalition for Social Justice, Temple Beth El
and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), this documentary will be incorporated
into the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools 9th grade curriculum.
“The
Drama Club”
and these surrounding activities are made possible in part through a McColl
Award from the Arts & Science Council. The production is also part of
Imagination Begins with US - The US Airways New Plays Festival for Families. For
more information, please visit http://www.ctcharlotte.org/DramaClub.htm.
Performance
times and dates are:
Friday,
Mar. 13
7:30 pm *Fab Friday* (1/2 priced performance)
Saturday,
Mar. 14
2:00 pm
Sunday,
Mar. 15
2:00 pm
Saturday,
Mar. 21
4:00 pm
Sunday,
Mar. 22
2:00 pm *Signed*
Performances
will be held in the McColl Family Theatre at ImaginOn,
300 East 7th Street
. Front Orchestra tickets are $24.00; General Admission tickets are
$18.00. For tickets to the productions, call the Children’s Theatre Box Office
at 704-973-2828 (10 am-5 pm, Mon.-Fri.) or visit our website: www.ctcharlotte.org.
NOTE: This
production contains mature themes and strong language and is recommended for
middle and high school audiences.
Children’s
Theatre of Charlotte is supported, in part, with an Operating Grant from the
Arts & Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Inc., ArtsTeach, and the
North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources,
and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation
deserves great art.
Time Warner Cable: the 2008-09 Media Sponsor of Children's Theatre of Charlotte
US
Airways: the 2008-09 Official Airline of Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
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